I am just amazed at the idiocy of the DDS base. They are on a different realm. A simple Google will reveal this:

I have yet to read Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go (I have a copy of it here somewhere) but his explanation of why he didn’t let his characters rebel against that dystopian world, that hopeless and helpless situation of just being clones of humans for organ harvesting, is more telling. From a writer’s perspective, it is more fascinating to think and show how people navigate narrow paths and try to find sparks of joy in that bleak kind of life.

Somehow, Ishiguro gave me a glimpse of why people remain static, remain poor, or remain in loveless marriages. Perhaps, I should be more understanding and have more patience towards people who are static because not all people are like me who had the strength, the temperament, and the will to fight bigger forces head-on to effect change. Perhaps, I should broaden my mind that many people are just content to survive and make the best of the bad hand they’re dealt. That perhaps, they leave it to people like Madame to fight for change because those things are too big for them. Because not everyone is like or built like Katniss Everdeen of the Hunger Games series. Not everyone is like the rebellious androids in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (a.k.a. Bladerunner) who gained consciousness and empathy—who became sentient—and escaped or fought the oppressive system.

And maybe, just maybe, this is the reason why the Philippines will always be like this. Many like to remain asleep maybe because survival alone takes a lot of energy.

How can I work if this kitty keeps on invading my space? I shifted her so I can work.

But then she moved closer to me. 🤦🏻‍♀️

In today’s soap opera episode, pa-victim Kitty Duterte has been ranting on social media about how his father is being mistreated and her clothes were torn by those who forcibly took his father away, yada yada yada…

The audacity. Especially when they’re playing this card…

They’re all optics. He has played this game over and over for years.

I remember joining protests along Edsa several times, even though it was a bit dangerous, because the extra-judicial killings and the overall presidency of this madman are not something a democratic country should tolerate.

What I’ve been fighting for is my country, not personalities. A lot of Filipinos are under this personality cult, just like the MAGAs in the US.

Meanwhile, some tea has been spilt. According to the grapevine, Duterte tried going to China to seek protection from his overlord, Xi Jinping. Apparently, CCP abandoned Duterte and didn’t protect him from the ICC, just like what the US did for Israel’s Netanyahu when the latter was indicted by ICC. Duterte was in HK when the overlords told him to leave China because they cannot turn away Interpol (because China is part/member of it even though it has withdrawn from ICC). This is the reason why Interpol caught up with Duterte at NAIA yesterday.

I cannot forget the stories covered by my colleagues in mass media. Kian delos Santos‘ senseless murder—and many more like him—lived in my mind for years. Just reading about those stories gave me literal nightmares. The Philippines was a killing field in those Duterte years.

I wonder how our photojournalists haven’t gotten PTSD for taking photos of harrowing images like this above.

Rodrigo Duterte is Idi Amin reincarnate. He should pay for all the lives he took.

“Tama na po, may exam pa ako bukas!” Those last words by Kian still break my heart

I had my morning walk when I went to the community weekend market. My fridge was pulled out by the local Panasonic service center yesterday so I can’t cook. I don’t have food that isn’t canned or instant in my house as of now. 😢 I had to buy brunch and dinner from the community market to tide us over today.

It was really weird that the local government unit cancelled classes last Thursday because of the supposed heat wave forecast earlier last week. What’s laughable was that yes, it was hot but it wasn’t really different from a typical early March heat. The next day, there were light showers, then the next day, and the next day… My brother posted on social media, poking fun (sarcasm) at the LGU for this idiotic decision.

We are chasing the limited school days left before we radically shift the school year back to the original June-March schedule because of climate change—school kids and personnel cannot bear the extreme heat of late March, April, and May. Meaning the 4Q grading period for elementary and high school is very rushed because the school year needs to end by May then kids come back to school for SY 2025-2026 by July. Next school year (SY 2026-2027), the calendar should start by June.

Why did the SY even shift to the weird schedule that we had the past few years? The pandemic altered our SYs. Public schools weren’t prepared to do remote learning so it took them a while to figure out how to execute it so it so the SY got pushed back to October. Some schools started in September while my kids’ school then in QC were able to start theirs in July and end in May.

Apparently the schools here in my hometown followed the calendar of our university, which had an academic calendar aligned with its counterparts abroad (mainly ASEAN) starting 2014. So when my kids moved here, they had a long break from school, starting May to  September. But Twin A and I were still in the hospital that time so the two of us didn’t really feel the start of the SY until mid-October.

Now that the school days are being rushed, my girls are complaining that projects and lessons are crammed too much. They’re panicking. Today we spent the rest of the afternoon looking for an old-style buzzer for Twin I’s project. It was tough since hardware stores are closed on Sundays. I don’t know how she would be able to buy that tomorrow after school…

Trump and his overlord Elon Musk are the most hated characters globally today. The implementation of the tariffs on Canada and Mexico and Trudeu’s reciprocal tariffs have sent Wall Street to slide. What the idiot Republicans and MAGA people have not realized is that this will really send inflation rate to the stratosphere. Do they realize that Canada supplies nearly 60% of US’ petroleum imports??? Yes, the US produces its own oil but it’s not enough to meet domestic demand. And now they’re imposing 25% tariffs on more than half of their imported fuel?! How idiotic.

Let’s talk about timber—a commodity that is mainly used for housing, which is a basic human need. Immigrants have stopped showing up on construction sites so bringing new housing inventory to the market will slow down. To rub salt on the wound, the cost of timber will jump, which will then make homes more unaffordable to the middle class and low-income groups. To think home prices are one of the metrics that we business journalists watch out for/report (aside from core inflation and jobs data) to gauge the US economy.

Trump is shooting America on the foot with this brainless move. 

Speaking of immigrants, Boston and the rest of the East Coast are fighting back. This Tiktok video is funny but ICE will not have an easy time. This is no joke since the Boston Police has already clashed with ICE because of their raids. Businesses are keeping ICE at arm’s length. Citizens have sirens to warn immigrants of forthcoming or ongoing raids…just like what the anti-Nazi citizens have done for Jews in WW2 in another form.

@lulacorg

In cities like Los Angeles, neighbors are using megaphones to warn each other about ICE operations, reminding families of their rights and stopping unlawful detentions. ICE relies on fear and misinformation, but the law is clear: they cannot enter without a signed warrant. People are taking action—informing their neighbors, recording encounters, and refusing to open the door. This isn’t just about one city. Communities everywhere can do the same. Know your rights. Speak up. Protect each other. #AbolishICE #KnowYourRights #CommunityDefense #NoMoreRaids #WeKeepUsSafe #LULAC #fyp

♬ original sound – LULAC

People have been rejoicing over the ICE vehicle that had burst into flames in Philadelphia (but news reports said there was no evidence of it being a terrorist act)…

@ma2thestig

Good luck with that #ice #borderczar #boston #bostonstrong #fyp

♬ I’m Shipping Up To Boston – Dropkick Murphys

Funny how in the comments in various social media platforms say Bostonians would throw all the Tesla vehicles over the Boston Harbor/Massachusetts Bay and make it an electric Tea Party.

Well, Boston, France won this round!

You know the French ain’t taking shit from neo=Nazis. If they have to bring out the guillotine, they would. 

The world is conspiring against Elon. He lost a USD 22bn business in Latin America when he slandered Carlos Slim. SpaceX’s rocket had burst into flames last week. Schadenfreude, that’s what the rest of the world feels right now.

Hoping I could get something here…

I had to scrounge for stories and I am now going to trade shows that I normally wouldn’t have bothered with. At least I got three prospective interviewees today. I just need to use my powers of persuation.

It’s kinda sad though that there is so much artistry in this country but either the works are copied by the Chinese or the artists are pirated to China because they don’t have enough support back home.

I have heard this from several craftsmem/creatives. As I said here before, the Paete wood carvers and taka makers have lost their livelihood to China. You know what? Filipino ice carvers win first place in Canada. They have learned carving when they were still in Paete. They had to move abroad so they can make a living.