Showing posts with label Philippines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Philippines. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 22, 2025

Philippines gold artifacts, no mines


AI depictions should not be taken literally.
(Time forge StoriesBUTUAN, Philippines. This city served as the former capital of the Rajahnate of Butuan before 1001 until about 1521. The city used to be known during that time as the best in gold and boat manufacturing in the entire Philippine archipelago, having traded with places as far as Champa, Ming, Srivijaya, Majapahit, and the Bengali coasts. It is located at the northeastern part of the Agusan Valley, Mindanao, sprawling across the Agusan River. It is bounded to the north, west, and south by Agusan del Norte, to the east by Agusan del Sur, and to the northwest by Butuan Bay. More

Saturday, January 13, 2024

Race matters? O-Rod, Nazi Barbie, Nicki, Billie

Crystal Quintero, CC Liu, Seth Auberon, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
One might assume Olivia is Latinx, but she's a blend of Asian (Filipina) and white. Taylor's a Southerner, beloved by Nazis. Nicki' Black from the Carribean. It shouldn't matter, but it sure does to the music industry.

Nicki Minaj on Billie Eilish's white privilege
and the implicit bias of a racist industry

Castas: hierarchy of the 16 "races"
It's not that we hate TayTay "Nazi Barbie" Swift, Inc. That's a little hard to avoid. It's just that Black artists do not get the push from the pop music industry to be the top stars when they have all the talent to be.

Remember Nicki Minaj complaining about that, drawing comparisons to Billie Eilish's career trajectory.

There was an article in Cosmopolitan ("It's Time for the Music Industry to Stop Excluding Black Women from Pop Music," by Starr Bowenbank, March 2021 issue) complaining about the same thing in 2022. Have things changed?

Record label execs, please get it together.
The industry promotes the heck out of the next Great White Hope (Aryan goddess, Barbie lookalike, Nazi princess). But anyone who's the slightest bit "ethnic" gets marginalized in a clear case of colorism.

(The darker a person, the more prejudice and implicit bias against that person). It's as if that European-Spanish Castas (lineages, castes, races) Chart still rules supreme everywhere Europeans went and set up colonies, from the shores of Mexican beaches to Plymouth Rock to Tel Aviv, Israel.

"Are You Gone Already?" Nicki Minaj (featuring Billie Eilish)
If we get them to collaborate (or at least mash them up), maybe that will solve the discrimination?

Can I cuss, JimKim? - Sure, it's live TV. We'll bleep it. - That's cool AF

Sunday, December 17, 2023

O-Rod's oh no: Taylor Swift is Person of Year

Taylor "Nazi Barbie" Swift Time Magazine cover, December 2023; Olivia Rodrigo (Saturday Night Live, 12/9/23); Key of Awesome; Bart Barker; Team Olivia (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Who in the Hades does Olivia Rodrigo think she is, putting Tay-Tay (Taylor "Nazi Barbie" Swift) to shame and giving Queen Bee (Beyonce) a run for her money? You're already top of the pops, girl, so slow down. We can't hardly keep up.

Oh, we get it. No rest for the wicked. Rival T-Swift has just become Time Magazine's person of the year for 2023, making millions on tour, getting accolades one can hardly believe she deserves, and making an s-ton of money, which is what really matters in this society. Bravo, Swift! Frenemies? Can we be the best of enemies, Vampire?

What if they were to join forces like early Lana Del Rey and Lady Gaga?

What if boys invented "Vampire" rather than whomever Olivia Rodrigo got the idea from? Then they'd make a metal version of yelling, full of Rodrigo's emotion but more umphh in the music. Olivia rules. Just ask Elvis Costello. She's young, she needs ideas.

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Audiobook: Smedley Butler: 'War is a Racket'

Smedley Butler, LibriVox Audiobooks; Pfc. Sandoval, Sheldon S. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly


War Is a Racket by Major General Smedley Butler read by John Greenman | full book
(LibriVox Audiobooks) War Is a Racket by Smedley Butler (1881-1940) read by John Greenman in English.

CHAPTERS:
  1. 00:00:00 - 01 - Chapter 1: War is a Racket
  2. 00:12:39 - 02 - Chapter 2: Who Makes the Profits?
  3. 00:30:51 - 03 - Chapter 3: Who Pays the Bills?
  4. 00:43:54 - 04 - Chapter 4: How to Smash This Racket!
  5. 00:53:35 - 05 - Chapter 5: To Hell with War!
U.S. Army Major General Smedley Darlington Butler's expose of American corporate imperialism. Maj. Gen. Butler said, "I served in all commissioned ranks from second lieutenant to major general. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street, and for the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer for capitalism. I suspected I was just part of the racket all the time. Now I am sure of it."

Summary by John Greenman and americanswhotellthetruth.... More info: librivox.org/war-is-a-racket-... LibriVox: Free public domain audiobooks (librivox.org).

Monday, November 25, 2019

Dancing in "Happy Jail" (Netflix)

Netflix Docs, 8/5/19; Real Stories; Pfc. Sandoval, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
The Philippine jail known for a viral Michael Jackson dance video comes under the management of an extreme ex-inmate, sparking controversy and criticism.

Happy Jail (official trailer)
Happy Jail is a five-part docu-series goes inside the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC), a unique Philippine jail where DANCING is part of the inmates’ exercise and rehabilitation. CPDRC shot to worldwide fame when its 2007 performance of “Thriller” went viral, but 10 years later it faces intense scrutiny when an ex-convict facing a life sentence is hired to run it. Happy Jail is directed by Emmy Award-winner Michele Josue (Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine).

The viral dancing Filipino prisoners


(Real Stories,  April 16, 2019) Prisoners in Cebu are considered the most dangerous offenders in the Philippines. But thanks to four hours of dance lessons a day, their behavior has been transformed. Content licensed from JourneyManPictures. Any queries, contact at: owned-enquiries@littledotstudios.com. Check out new website for more incredible documentaries in HD and ad-free: goo.gl/LwMcmY. Watch more full-length documentaries: bit.ly/1GOzpIu.
NETFLIX is [one of] the world's leading internet entertainment services with over 151 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries, and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on any internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause, and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments.

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

USA: “How to Hide an Empire” (video)

Democracy Now! March 5, 2019; Pfc. Sandoval, Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly


Daniel Immerwahr on the History of the Greater United States
How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States is the title of a new book examining a part of the U.S. that is often overlooked: the nation’s overseas "territories" [possessions, protectorates, occupied lands, outposts, corporate slave colonies/"guano islands," 800 overseas military bases] from Puerto Rico to Guam, Hawaii to former territories like the Philippines, and its eight hundred military bases scattered over the planet. Democracy Now! speaks with the book’s author, Prof. Daniel Immerwahr, who writes, “At various times, the inhabitants of the U.S. Empire have been shot, shelled, starved, interned, dispossessed, tortured, and experimented on. What they haven’t been, by and large, is seen.” Immerwahr is an associate professor of history at Northwestern University.

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

NPR: Bones in cave may rewrite human history

(NPR,; CC Liu, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Archaeologist Armand Salvador Mijares was digging in this island cave in 2007 when he discovered an ancient bone unlike a modern human's (Callao Cave Archaeology Project).
.
Ancient bones and teeth found in a Philippine cave may rewrite human history
The realm of the Mountain King (Edvard Grieg)
An unusual species of human [Hobbit?] apparently lived on the island of Luzon in the Philippines as recently as 50,000 years ago.

Based on teeth and bones found there, scientists suspect that these early humans probably stood less than 4 feet tall and had several apelike features.
Trolls and fairy princesses were real.
Yet, the researchers say, the bones are distinctly human -- from a previously undiscovered species.

The first clue was a bone that surfaced in 2007. Archaeologist Armand Salvador Mijares was digging in a cave on the island of Luzon and found a toe bone.

He says it didn't look like a modern human bone. "There's something peculiar with this bone," he recalls thinking. But one bone wasn't enough to say for sure who or what it belonged to. More
 

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Comedy: Authoritarians (video)

John Oliver (HBO/LastWeekTonight, 11/18/018); Sheldon S., Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly
"Just Another Week in Hell," This Modern World (Tom Tomorrow/Daily Kos)


John Oliver discusses the growing number of authoritarian leaders around the world, their common characteristics, and whether or not one of them is currently our president. (Here's looking at you, Don Trump). Connect with Last Week Tonight online for news about jokes and jokes about news: Last Week Tonight, Facebook, Twitter, hbo.com/lastweektonight.

Friday, June 3, 2016

Comedy in Time of Trump (Lit Fest Pasadena)

Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Jimmy Dore (litfestpasadena.org, facebook.com/litfest.pasadena); Nate Silver, Trevor Noah (Comedy Central; TheLip TV
LitFest Pasadena 2016 (litfestpasadena.org, facebook.com/litfest.pasadena)
.
Lummis Day at Oxy (Obama's alleged school)
Lummis Day at Oxy, Lummis House (Mota Day) this weekend (coloradoboulevard.net)
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LitFest Pasadena, Saturday June 4, 2016

The stage is set for the fifth annual LitFest Pasadena -- Southern California’s free books and authors festival. Location: Pasadena’s Playhouse District. Join in a FREE full-day of events beginning at 10:00 am at Vroman’s Books, the Southland’s leading independent bookstore. Things spread out through the afternoon and evening to storefronts, restaurants, and bars in the gentrified walkable neighborhood that is the city's legendary Playhouse District. Schedule
"The Incredible Trump: Victory within Grasp" (Tom Tomorrow/thismodernworld.com)
    (7:34) Dutch politician Geert Wilder speaks against Muslim refugees in the Netherlands, and the Philippines elects the crude and blunt Pres. Rodrigo Duterte. Is Trump already creating disastrous effects thanks to the same Republicans who forced the Bushes on the world?

    Saturday, May 31, 2014

    Los Angeles EVENTS, June 2014

    Amber Larson, Seth Auberon, Kat, Wisdom Quarterly; Pacifica Radio L.A. (kpfk.org)
    Lummis Day Festival of Northeast Los Angeles, June 1, Highland Park (lummisday.org)

    The revolution will be televised thanks to Uprising TV with Sonali Kolhatkar. Attending the launch party at Cafe Club Fais Do Do, L.A. (uprisingtv.brownpapertickets.com)

    Brazilian Summer Festival, Ford Amphitheatre, Hollywood, L.A. (braziliannites.com)

    Rebuild the Philippines, June 8, Greek Theatre, Hollywood (greektheatrela.com)
    Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, June 4-8, 2014, Egyptian Theatre, Hollywood (lagff.org)
    Dances with Films Festival, Hollywood, California (danceswithfilms.com)
    Pacifica Free Speech Radio L.A., Santa Barbara (KPFK FM 90.7, 98.7) post fund drive

    Tuesday, April 29, 2014

    Cowboy-Indian Alliance: No tar sands! (video)

    Ashley Wells, Xochil, Wisdom Quarterly; Amy Goodman (DemocracyNow.org, April 28, '14)
    Cowboyindianalliance
    Cowboy-Indian Alliance protests Keystone XL pipeline in DC after Obama Admin delay
     
    Thousands of people rallied in Washington, D.C., on Saturday calling on Pres. Obama to reject the Keystone XL pipeline. 

    The protest was organized by the Cowboy Indian Alliance, a group of ranchers, farmers, and tribal communities from along the pipeline route who have set up the "Reject and Protect" encampment near the White House. The rally came a week after the Obama administration announced it had again delayed a decision on approval or rejection of the pipeline that would carry super-polluting tar sands oil from Alberta to the Gulf Coast. 

    Neilyoungprotestskeystonexl
    Neil Young protests Keystone XL pipeline
    Gary Dorr of the Nez Perce Nation, an organizer of the Reject and Protect encampment, Art Tanderup, a Nebraska farmer and Cowboy Indian Alliance member who took part in the protest, and actress and activist Daryl Hannah, who has been arrested three times for protests against the Keystone XL discuss the continued resistance to the pipeline. More



    Ralph Nader on TPP, GM Recall, Nuclear Power, and "Unstoppable" movement
    Ralphnader
    Ralph Nader on "Unstoppable" movement
    Ralph Nader has a new book, Unstoppable: The Emerging Left-Right Alliance to Dismantle the Corporate State. He points out the common concerns shared by a wide swath of the American public, regardless of political allegiances.

    Powerplant2-vogtle
    Japan, U.S. expand nuclear power programs
    Both the Left and Right oppose mass government surveillance, nebulous business free trade agreements, our unreformed criminal justice system, and finally punishing the criminal behavior of bankers and Wall Street traders destroying the economy. Nader, who is a longtime consumer activist, also discusses the U.S. push for the sweeping Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, General Motors’ new bid to escape liability for its deadly ignition defect, the revived nuclear era under Obama, and challenging U.S. militarism through the defense budget. More

    Wednesday, November 13, 2013

    Did climate change cause typhoon? (video)

    Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Amy Goodman, DemocracyNow.org, 11-13-13
    Eye of Typhoon Haiyan (a.k.a. Super Typhoon Yolanda) travels over islands (wiki)
    "Listen to the people, not polluters" (DN at the UN Climate Summits)

    What would the devas say?
    It's 90+ degrees in sunny SoCal as Thanksgiving (a rare Thanksgivukkah) approaches. But the temperature is about to drop and rain is looming by the weekend. My petty chores need doing to contribute greenhouse gases to the global warming problem. Meanwhile, people are dying crushed under flimsy houses demolished by the super storm in the Philippines. Better send a check. More importantly, better address climate chaos and think of a better solution than the "magic of the marketplace" after captitalizing on the sale of "carbon credits" as major polluters, multi-millionaires like Al Gore, and Wall Street dream. We can all go vegetarian, waste less, bike more, plant trees, pre-cycle (buy in a way that minimizes post-consumer waste) and recycle, stop war, promote peace, turn toward sustainable power sources (like free energy), conserve water, collect rainwater, boycott multinational corporations, thwart the NSA and CIA, share, love, meditate, care, go green, vote green, occupy...
     
    Science on climate change
    Desperate survivors of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines are struggling to receive aid in the aftermath of the worst storm in recorded history. In Tacloban, a city flattened by the typhoon, survivors marched in a contingent three miles long to seek water and food at the local airport. Eight people died in the province of Leyte when a crowd of thousands stormed a government rice warehouse in search of food. The victims died under a collapsed wall. On Tuesday, Philippines Pres. Benigno Aquino cited a lower death toll for Typhoon Haiyan, saying he believes around 2,500 people were killed. Initial estimates put the toll at around 10,000. More than 670,000 people have been displaced. The United Nations, meanwhile, has launched a $300 million appeal for relief aid. Speaking in Manila, U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said the Philippines is facing its worst-ever crisis:
    "This is such a major calamity for the Philippines, a country which over this year has already seen so many crises, but by all accounts, this one is the most deadly and destructive. While it’s still too early to tell the full scale of the destruction, it’s clear that the needs are huge."
    Typhoon a "manifestation of climate change"
    Haiyan/Yolanda's eye (wiki)
    Appearing with U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos, Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario thanked international donors for providing aid [after Yeb Saño declared he would respectfully be going on hunger strike until action is taken by this body of world officials at the U.N. Climate Change Summit]. But he also issued an appeal for action on global warming, saying climate change worsened the typhoon’s scale and strength:
    "From the devastation, it is clear, though, that much more aid and assistance will be needed. And we thank the international community for its continued generosity and support. The unprecedented scale and strength of Yolanda [known as Haiyan in the US], a typhoon that occurred at a very late time of the year, is a clear demonstration of the changing weather pattern. Whether the world faces up to it or not, this is a manifestation of climate change." More
    Yeb01
    An emotional Yeb Saño at U.N. Summit
    "Stop this madness!" - Filipino Climate Chief Yeb Saño begins hunger strike fast to protest global inaction on global warming and climate chaos.
    "Get it done!": After stirring Durban speech, student Anjali Appadurai initially banned by U.N. in Doha.
    A Carbon Tsunami in Doha (Nov. 12, 2013) On the opening day of the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Doha, Poland, the chief climate negotiator from the Philippines gave an emotional appeal to the world to address the climate crisis following...

    Climate change denial after typhoon Haiyan

    Ashley Wells, Pfc. Sandoval, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Mitch Jeserich (L&P, KPFA.org)
    The most powerful storm in recorded history over the Philippines and Vietnam (wiki)
    NAFCON is a national multi-issue alliance of Filipino organizations in the U.S.
     
    Aid the Philippines (nafconusa.org)
    Some climate deniers have a point. Not all global warming is due to human activity. But some is. We can hardly stand by as the Koch brothers and other corporate elites profit from the status quo.
    One famous climate denier, Coast to Coast's host George Noory, recently explained that no one wants to see the environment polluted, but that is different from the climate chaos we are experiencing. No, Noory, it is not.

    Is anyone coming to the rescue this time?
    Our pollution is exactly the problem: This is how human activity (cars, grossly inefficient gas combustion engines, oil drilling and spilling, military imperialism, nuclear power and accidents, deforestation, coal mining, tailings, mountain top removal, fires, chemical manufacturing...) is adversely affecting climate or general weather patterns. It is making the planet inhospitable. As creatures die off, ecosystems are disrupted (and as ecosystems are disrupted, creatures die off). We are creatures, earthlings. We are doing more to damage the planet and make the climate chaotic and deadly than any other group of inhabitants.

    Ordinary sun spots and flares emanate on a cyclical basis, and Earth's atmosphere used to protect earthlings until the corporate complex found it more profitable to deplete.

     
    One-on-One with Jane Goodall
    Dr. Jane Goodall asks us all to go veg (VT)
    Lesser of two evils Al Gore brought attention to the issue with "An Inconvenient Truth."  Sadly, Gore is a billionaire whose family originally made its money from  ranching. Ranching (raising animals for slaughter and human  consumption) is one of the most polluting industries, second only to  automobiles. Gore conveniently left that out of the movie. As Dr. Jane Goodall, famous for her work with primates, has said: Go vegetarian,  and go a long way to saving our environment. That is one thing we can  all do to save the world, while climate deniers keep getting rich by  polluting it more.
    Yoigc Sun Salutation (worldiniowa.com)
    They fear losing money, no matter what the cost to the rest of us, the 99%. But Gore and the so-called "liberals," who continue Bush-era policies and plans, have a scheme in mind. Climate deniers are right to say that "carbon credits" and creating a magical marketplace for polluters is a joke and a crime. Carbon is not the problem. It is natural and increasing. Let's check methane, which contributes much more to warming and ozone depleting. We ignore real pollutants (cow exhaust, monocrop farming, permafrost thawing, Fukushima spills, fracking, tar sands, deforestation to make way to raise and slaughter cows, pig farming and slurry ponds...) to focus on distractions. Climate deniers falsely claim volcanoes are to blame, so let's just keep running over a billion gas combustion engines daily (in factory machinery, generators, cars, and so on). Help save the world and the animals on it.
    (nafconusa.org)