dungeonbaby

Hola pece-tizens, what have I missed?

Politics and Lit

Spotify, gotta have music. Viber/WhatsApp, gotta keep in touch with friends and fam. FB/Parler/YT, gotta have news. My gym and banking apps, gotta get things done.

Where's the furthest you've travelled during the pandemic?

Unsafe or selfish drivers doing stupid things on the road, unfortunately. I'd say 6 to a good solid 8.

What are your top 5 apps and why?

Hiring a Troll Manager to ban the trolls, yes.

What pushes you over the edge of sanity (makes you lose your sh*t)?

Probably you, db.

 

I'm too nice to subject any of you to that

@GotP eavesdropping on people who think you can't understand them and not bothering as much with translations

Which section of MTC is underappreciated and why?

If 2020 taught us anything, it's that plans - especially big plans - are overrated

If mtc was a city, who would be in the running for its mayor

People in power love a frightened populace

Will social distancing still be a trend at the end of this year

I shudder to think of a president kamala.

Body odor of the musky variety at the gym. Not sure how that'll work out with all these face barriers we're being told to wear now.

When do you feel most invisible to people?

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers, lauded as a "staggeringly talented writer" by the NYT, has managed to occupy top shelf in different residences. I've moved house a lot through the years but the hope to get past the title page of this book stays unchanged and brightly aflame.

Bereft of other ways of communicating, a playlist of curated songs is a powerful way to get a message across. Transmission will take its slow time but nothing communicates quite like music can.

I say say it if you feel it, life's too short to worry about appearing too eager. But really, days???

How afraid of getting covid are you?

Had to look up the meaning of the word I'd have to say big hands.

What physical, non-sexual quirk would demonstrate to you that a person might be fun in bed?

Taho! And suman ☺

Cities like San Francisco, Chicago and NYC?

 

Hopefully, the GOP regains its hold on the Lower House which will make Kevin McCarthy speaker. I admire how the Republicans defended POTUS during the sham impeachment hearings. I will never forget Jim Jordan, Doug Collins, Mike Johnson, Matt Gaetz, Andy Biggs, Debbie Lesko, Louie Gohmert, etc. and how they defended they tried to push back against the committees headed by those jokers, Schiff and Nadler.

Yup.

Matt Gaetz et al. are good to watch but sometimes it feels like all the grandstanding amounts to nothing.

Now how about that Hunter lad and his laptop...good grief. Practically crickets from the Biden campaign team and the media.

LS,

Doing everything they can to avoid people talking about their misdeeds. Schiff is a liar. Pelosi is the definition of a limousine liberal with her ice cream and mask-wearing hypocrisy. The party is pandering to extreme leftists like AOC, and mainstreaming idiotic ideas like defunding police despite zero data saying that is a smart move. Did you hear about the Minneapolis city council regretting its plan to defund the police because of the ensuing crime? You can't make this ridiculosity up. People need to open their eyes and see how Democrat-run cities are faring in terms of economy, law and order, covid response.

Interesting PoVs from Camiar and Dungeonbaby, though I would like to ask a question that I hope you guys could answer.

 

According to Camiar, there are "no" leftists in the USA, so what/how would you (individually) describe the "wilder" Democrats?

Wildly illogical or wildly scheming.

Communists and anti-Semites historically band together, and "The Squad" - current rockstars of the Democrat party because of their popularity with woke millennials - are exactly that kind of a clique. I should say cabal. AOC is a communist in Neiman Marcus outfits, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib are oppressed anti-Semites. Lol.

Bernie Sanders is a communist, there's just no way around it. He was winning big in the Democrat primaries until the DNC decided they couldn't win the presidency with him (for now). That's the gracious version of my opinion, and I'm sure some will say Biden won fair and square. (Funny how in 4 years he was all they could come up with after all their posturing against old white racist men).

Now you know I like Camiar, but when he replies this way:

 

But unlike you, a lot of Pinoys still expect the US to protect them.

 

Fortunately, it seems that it had finally sunk in to the minds of our new generation of military leaders that US will only protect its own interest. To protect ourselves, we have to gain at least a minimum level of credible defense capability. We now have brand new warships and warplanes. It's still not enough to stop China in a shooting war but it's a hopeful start to a long journey towards being able to stand up for our own.

 

The US will not go to war for us. They want us to go to a proxy war FOR THEM, purportedly for the defense of freedom in the Asia Pacific region, but actually it is to prevent their enemies from reaching the US West Coast.

 

In WW 2, we fought to disrupt the Japanese timetable and successfully prevented them from crossing the Pacific Ocean to bring the war to American shores. What do we get in return? Nothing. They pulled McArthur out of the Philippines and abandoned us to the Japanese. President Quezon put our sentiments accurately in his words after hearing about the "Europe First" policy and that the US sent large amounts of supplies and planes to Europe instead of the Philippines: "...For thirty years I have worked and hoped for my people. Now they burn and die for a flag that could not protect them... Where are the planes this sinverquenza is boasting of? Que Demonio! - how typically American to writhe in anguish for the fate of a distant cousin while a daughter is being raped in the backroom!..."

 

Today we are nothing to the US but a part of an island chain forming a defensive buffer zone between China and the American West coast. That fact doesn't go unnoticed by the Chinese, as well as by our own military leaders.

 

China occupied territories in our EEZ. They did it because they could. And they know the Americans won't lift a finger to stop them. We only fired off diplomatic protest because that's the only course of action we can do.

 

Vietnam, on a moralistic point of view, did well on their own in standing up to the Chinese on SCS conflict using unarmed Vietnamese "fishermen" to harass the Chinese vessels. I admire them for what they did. But just like us, they're not strong enough and they, too, failed to stop the Chinese encroachment.

 

I don't know from where you're coming from denigrating the Filipino's will to fight. I can only guess it's borne of your ignorance. Get to know our soldiers. You'll be surprised.

 

 

I don't doubt our military's bravery for one second, maybe you've forgotten my posts here.

I doubt the Filipino people as a whole. Look how long it took them to be angry at China dropping bases on our shores. I wish I was wrong but I doubt I am. We are a frightened (and hungry) nation, and I don't say that with any joy.

November last year. Pero parang ang tagal na.

Pilipinas o abroad sa susunod mong lakbay?

Neonatal care for a small animal

What's the hardest thing you've ever had to do for an animal? (Di po counted ang hayop mong ex)

Hindi naman siguro basta-basta mangaaresto yung mga militar at police kung walang ebidensiya, especially, that the court knows about this. Kung hindi ka terorista, hindi ka dapat matakot sa batas na ito.

I think that's kind of Jopoc's point. Ang hirap ng inaasa natin sa "hindi naman siguro basta-basta" at "hindi ka dapat matakot kung hindi ka terorista." We've had some leaders we didn't trust so we can imagine how we'd feel if we left important things up to their interpretation. Where the law has problematic loopholes that should be of concern to us all.

All the evidence in the past, and I'm talking general history here, suggests that as a State expands its power it becomes less trustworthy rather than more. Thus his argument/appeal to put more safety nets in for the public.

 

But i am not fawning on China when I say they will soon dislodge USA as the World's dominant power. I just see it as an inevitability. But it is not just because of China's effort to strengthen themselves, but more so because of the American society continuing in their downward spiral. America no longer respect the values they used to stand for. They pledge to "One Nation under God" in their Pledge of Allegiance, and yet today, they declared reading of the Bible and praying to God in schools and courts of justice unconstitutional.

The America you complain of here is the left in general, the Democratic party in particular which has been showing its true colors again. This is the America that loves socialism, communism, and China but hates religion and their constitution.

China toppling the US is not an inevitability. Pre-covid you'd be laughed off the stage arguing that.

 

Do you think US is a deterrent to Chinese encroachment? The Chinese already know that US will only push back if their own selfish interest is at stake. Don't count on the US to protect our sovereignty. We have no one to rely on except ourselves to fight for our own interests and for our freedom.

And the US does have an interest in open seas.

I don't expect the US to protect us. I expect them to want to maintain good relations here and not want China to take over a nation it once counted as an ally. That's not saying I think they will go to war for us. But a strong America is good for keeping a bully at bay. People who say the Philippines will fight China off on her own are living in a fantasy land. They're already here, how long have I been saying on these threads that occupation is key? How long has China occupied our territories? Ten years? Are Filipinos fighting yet? Tinalo na nga tayo ng Vietnam, na maliit at dating kulelat, sa tapang e. And you want to bank on our people? lol good luck with that, we can't even stomach fighting obvious terrorism in Mindanao.

 

Abraham Lincoln say Freedom is the last best hope of earth.

No, he was referring to America (the Union).

Final note on this reply, I notice the words you use for America: selfish, trampling on others' freedoms, etc. Have you ever used those words to describe China or do you reserve your deepest hatred just for America? Because it's really weird that someone would prefer China as a world power, a proven tyrant even to its own people, a nation that has committed the most murders in history, to the US. Your anger is great and it shows.

Consider, too, the government's track record for implementing laws. Taking even recent examples like the lockdown with unclear rules and their uneven implementation.

Sa isang banda napaka-Draconian, sa kabilang banda naman napaka-lenient. Ito yung konteksto ng pagpasa nitong batas. Gustuhin man ng tao na maniwalang magiging patas ang implementasyon, di ganyan ang nangyayari.