Compilation of short MORNING THOUGHTS.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page.

Asians in America are seldom uneducated. They finished 4 years of college back home. Then they study more here for better financial headway. Many are already Communication grads yet they take nursing course/s for practical reasons. Business degree-holders but janitors for now; lawyers and engineers later. Doctors at home but right now CVS salesclerks; surgeons later. Yet not so vocal about politics? They don’t see the point. Waste of time. But they vote.

      I am an Asian. Why do I know? For years, I wrote for/edited Asian/Filipino newspapers in New York City and Los Angeles, apart from a long career as journalist/editor back home. 

      Not many know that Asians are top English speaking people in the world, besides of a number of other languages that they are fluent with. Top English speaking countries or most English speakers in the world: United States, India, Pakistan, The Philippines, Nigeria, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Denmark. So when an Asian doesn’t talk much while in a crowd of “English speakers,” it doesn’t mean they don’t know what’s going on. They just prefer to hush. ✏️📝📌

In 1945, the U.S. Army Air Forces conducted an air raid, fire-bombing Tokyo toward the end of World War II. The attack destroyed nearly 16 square miles of the city, resulted in as many as 100,000 civilian deaths and left about one million residents without homes. That was America’s response to the Pearl Harbor bombing. Unending lesson. We can stop this current war by simply this: Quit handing weapons to Ukraine, pull troops out, and continue talking on the table.☮️☮️☮️

News: “President Biden's vow to make Vladimir Putin a `pariah’ on the world stage and label him a war criminal could be a risky personalization of the war.” I follow the news 24/7 and I followed the President’s nonstop dissing from Day 1, which easily evolved into personal jabs, of Putin. It may please your Rambo vs Drago Cold War fix but this ain’t Hollywood or Olympics. Biden has got to pull back a bit. Worse, the media is even goading China to join in. Whacked.

       Can’t we allow Peace up front sometimes? Leadership doesn't get hurt when shit happens. Right now, it is the people of Ukraine and Russia who are getting it. You see, Volo has lots of “secret assets” stashed somewhere and Vlad ain’t poor. Offhand, Joe has amassed $8 million just from his book and speaking engagements. Their personal economics are just fine. But with the way arms and stuff are being handed left and right along with nonstop murkthrows

within/around the propaganda dartboard, the fires of war may spread into the entire region. That is not a remote possibility. Not even talking about the global economic whip that an unresolved difference/s between superpower economies excise on global trade. ☮️☮️☮️

Only 50 percent on average vote in U.S. presidential elections. All Potuses had 50/50 (or lower) approval ratings, besides JFK (who didn’t complete his term). Which means, despite the rowdy partisanship divide on social media, only half of America minds politics that much. They mind rent or mortgage, cost of gasoline, price of toilet paper and carton of milk. They mind 7.5 percent inflation and $7.25 minimum wage. That's the time that they’d mind about a president. 🗽💵🗽

True, pets in the house train/ed me more than I trained them. But Arrow is different. She takes “learning” to a new level. Here, we got stocks of food. We are prepared for zombie apocalypse, covid apocalypse, brandon apocalypse etc. Arrow observes us. So she keeps or buries her leftover foods all over the living room: Between couch cushions, among her toys, in fact—even under my bed pillow! She checks her “bone collection” every now and then. Smart babedawg! The name is Arrow. 🐕🦴🐕

Some people are still in denial. Because you’re supposed to be Left? The U.S. is the world’s top economy and the most influential. But the 7.7 percent inflation bites! Hard. True, most nations deal with high costs of gasoline. But the U.S. has the highest inflation rate among rich countries. China, 2.2 percent; Japan, 0.8 percent; Europe av, 3+ percent. I feel for parents with 3 kids who drive them to school then go to work, 6 days a week. That’s reality in the gut. 

       Worse, the government just redirected fund meant for Covid relief into sending more arms to Ukraine. Are we seeing the same waste of taxpayer’s money (as we did in Afghanistan) on another prolonged war? 😩🥺😢

A most-shared newslink per Ukraine War: News about Christopher Wynne, an American, who runs Papa John’s 190 stores in Russia—amidst the Ukraine crisis. Sure, many are calling for a ban of Russian products and sanctions on Russia. Yet what do sanctions/ban do to a targeted leadership and their business? Opening for a rival business to get in. Think oil/natural gas. Economic sanction? The ultimate victim? The people. At least Mr Wynne tries to feed as he earns.

       Says Christopher dude: “At the end of the day, they appreciate a good pizza.” And has humor. But on account of war, though he ain’t in Kiev (or Kyiv), that doesn’t mean he’s beyond danger. He is. The guys who sell the arms are not in the line of fire. But the guy who sells the pizza is. ☮️🍕☮️

St Patrick’s Day! Drink but don’t drive! When we mention Valentine’s Day and Christmas, the sourpuss howls consumerism and anti-Christianity. But not on St Paddy, right? Saint Patrick, who was born Maewyn Succat in 386 A.D., was a 5th century Romano-British Christian/Catholic missionary. On this day, overall beer sales go up more than 150 percent. Valentine's Day spending in the U.S. is around $24 billion. Saint Valentine or Valentine of Terni is also a Christian.

       My point: Let days such as this—Christian, Pagan, Buddhist, Islam etcetera—gather us for fun and goodness. Dark historical backgrounders are all past tense. We have now. Meanwhile, consumer spending is common sense; don’t blame the day. Drinking is common sense as well; don’t blame St Paddy. ☘️🍻☘️

A friend unfriended me because I responded to his (partisan-ignited) denial of the current economic shudder with: “Trump tried to prevent this war in 2019 by not handing military aid to Ukraine. For that, he was impeached.” You see, I “judge” a president as president, not as my drinking buddy. Hence, I won’t last two minutes with Trump. But I’d spend hours with Obama talking about bracketology and stuff. With Biden? I’d probably sleep while he’s talkin’.☮️☮️☮️

About Dogs and Cats and their Buddies.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page.

FOR unknown reasons, mermaids are also instinctively terrified of cats. Of course. I mean, are mermaids real? But I am sure hoomans who smell like mermaids are terrified of cats. 👩‍🦰🐬🐱

CATS can read body language or they can analyze the behavior of other cats and human companions. They can read/interpret human vocal intonations. But I am not sure if other cats, besides Ching and Fizz and Cyd then, can also read. Fizz reads whatever she googles, of course. And all the books in the bedroom and magazines in the bathroom. And she keeps on bugging me why there is no bird in “To Kill a Mockingbird.” 🐱📖🐱

CELLPHONES help us in making our lives easy and convenient. They help us communicate with our loved ones and carry out our work efficiently. Furthermore, they also do the work of the computer, calculator, and cameras. And a lot of other things, too. Innumerable. Without a cellphone, the world will end and humanity will perish as well. That’s what Fizz tells me everyday. 📱📲📱

THERE are lots of reasons that cats love boxes, but the main one is because they're confined, enclosed spaces. Cats are ambush predators and finding confined places where they can hide, hunt prey and feel safe and warm is an instinctive behavior. In the house, Fizz and Ching got no one or nothing to ambush–other than spring toys and us for a backrub. 🐱📦🐱

CATS simply find certain features — a blush of red, a feathered flourish — to be appealing. And that innate sense of beauty itself can become an engine of evolution, pushing cats toward aesthetic extremes or artistic greatness. You get that? Aesthetic extremes or artistic greatness. That’s according to Fizz The Wiz. 🐱🐱🐱

NO one can tell if dogs get a “mental block” of some sort although dogs can show symptoms of anxiety and depression, which can go hand in hand. They can also develop compulsive behaviors when they're struggling with these mental health issues. If you think your dog is depressed, you may consider an upgrade of squeaky dosage in her toys. 🧸🐕🪆

WHY are cats obsessed with boxes? Safety and security is probably the number one reason as to why cats find boxes so appealing. Hiding or seeking an enclosed space is a typical cat response to stress or fear. It's instinctual. And as ninjas who are experts in covert operations, ambush, intelligence, and espionage, cats use a box as “safe house” when hiding after they knock a glass off the kitchen counter, or as their nerve-center base for their assignments. 🐈🎁🐈‍⬛

THE most common reason people unfriended their imaginary friends is because they posted controversial comments, often pertaining to religion or politics. That reason shouldn't come as a surprise, especially in such divisive and polarizing times. You also get unfriended for driving an SUV, blowing leaves in autumn, going to Church, or because you prefer Krispy Kreme over Dunkin Donuts. 📱📲👎

CATS have small stomachs, the size of a ping-pong ball. So their eating patterns can involve several breaks rather than eating an entire portion in one sitting. Or most cats are sophisticated, well-educated or meticulously trained on good manners and table etiquette. Good stuff that Cyd then taught Hershe, Chloe, Georgia and Riley, and now Fizz and Ching teach Arrow, with new modifications. Sophistication isn’t always found in pets or animals. Or humans. Cats invented it. 🐱🍽🐱

DOG cognition experts, who are cats, say the average intelligence of a dog equates to that of a toddler. But that was a long time ago. Through the years, dogs developed a high level of knowledge, especially when they live with cats. Cats teach dogs many cool things. Such as ninja expertise. Examples: Quick reactions and movements imperceptible to the human eye, break through walls with a bare paw, or suddenly appear inside a heavily guarded counter or couch, because they are invisible. 🐕🧐🐈

The Immigration Issue that is Ignored.

Response to Facebook posts by Friends. 

JUST the facts, if people believe in them, anyhow. <>In 2021, the number of illegals (unauthorized immigrants) in the U.S. per official records was 11 million; in 2024, 14.8 million. Pew Research data: 8.3 million in 2021; in 2024, other data says 11.4 million. Numbers vary a lot based on source. Yet clearly, the number of unauthorized immigrants significantly increased in Joe Biden's time. 

       <>Mr Biden ended the Merida Initiative in 2021. This agreement. (mainly funded by Washington) which started in 2007 between the United States and Central America was meant to curb drug smuggling and human trafficking to the U.S. <>With Merida as partly his weapon, Barack Obama deported an average of 400,000 in his first 4 years, the current record (beyond 1954's Operation Wetback). 

       <>As Joe let in a record number of migrants (in some point, 4,000 to 6,000 a day), he also sent back home over 300,000 in his last year, 2024. <>So far, Donald Trump has sent 107,000--focusing on (like Mr Obama did) those who have criminal records, no kin or adapting family here, not taken in by churches or NGOs, or didn't qualify for asylum (the program has exceeded quota for years now). 

       <>50 percent to 70 percent of U.S. farmworkers are illegals. (Think as well of factory workers etc.) But they are grossly underpaid, work long hours (including children and elderly), no benefits, housed in unlivable trailer homes, no protection when calamities hit (of course, they are not counted). Those who are let in (per above) get 3 different kinds of "papers" to be able to work while awaiting legalization. 

       <>Because of the laxity in border controls in the last 4 years, the southern border was a mess. The Triad crime organization in Asia and traffickers mostly in Eastern Europe and other criminal elements elsewhere hooked up with Mexican cartels in the facilitation of migrants to the U.S. Obvious reasons, obvious intent. <>This immigration issue is long but the issue has to be discussed beyond partisanship zeal and anti-Trump fervor. 🗽🏃‍♀️🏃

AND More Day’s Politics and Stuff.  

THE way I look at these things. <>President Trump is negotiating for the end of (Ukraine) war so he can seal the "rare earth" etcetera trade with Mr Zelensky per all the U.S. arms aid since 2022. Mr Trump seems like holding the billions$ package okayed by Congress last year. <>I believe Vlad Putin also wants to end this war; military expenses start to negate the oil revenue. <>But the EU and NATO ain't stopping the war. They want to keep it going, put more money on "Defense" in deference to their economic problem and internal issues (such as "return" of the migrant issue). 

       <>So Mr Putin to the EU: Wanna fight, let's go fight more. Trump to EU/NATO: Wanna fight more? Go spend your own money. Wanna buy more arms? We are selling more. LOL! <>But of course The D wants to end this war shenanigan so he can continue his plans in new Syria, Afghanistan, + deals with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the Arab League, haggling and hawing with China, and there's more in Asia (Vietnam, Japan, SK, Taiwan, India, Indonesia etc). 

       <>So to pressure the EU on Ukraine, here are tariffs for you to swallow! Of course, China also wants to end this war. The EU needs China for obvious reasons. If Europe continues to focus on war rather than its collective economy, China can squeeze them thin (huge trade deficit). <>Sadly, Europe believes this is still 16th century and the British East India Company still rules the trade roost and Russia is old Singapore. ☮️☮️☮️

Compilation of short MORNING THOUGHTS.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page.

Does the West really want Peace? I am very frustrated how governments of the U.S. and Europe preferred to send more weapons and other military equipment to Ukraine, instead of maximizing diplomatic avenues and peace negotiations with Russia. Defense? Kiev has a huge army + U.S. forces. End of war is more imperative. More arms mean more fighting. More deaths, more destruction. Yet historically, it is the West that is forever involved in wars. Another Afghanistan? ☮️☮️☮️

I don’t dig it when people respond with newslinks or memes. Especially in these days of war when what we toss in here ignites more confusion than calm. I don’t care if that link or meme came from a Rock `n Roll God/dess or Wonder Woman. I am old, therefore old-school. Tell me, when you talk with real people in person do you hand them a googled page on your cellphone or flash a placard with a face of some guy who looks like your ex'es alcoholic ex? Speak your mind! 😞😟🤓

Gasoline price, per gallon in California is $4.94 for regular and $5.23 for premium. In North Carolina: $3.65 and $4.28. National average is $3.72. Last time gasoline was that high or higher was in 2008. I was in California. Of course, many will point at the Ukraine situation for this mess and the auto-blame goes to Vladimir Putin. But that was already the situation before Vlad’s shenanigan. Inflation was 7 percent and now it is 7.5 percent. Putin is simply the convenient excuse.⛽️💸🚧

We are atrociously gullible. Clickin’ and sharin’ on a whim. The current “fad” obviously is Ukraine. Saw that grandma with the dirty finger? I saw that photo several times in the last ten years. The “Ghost of Kyiv” that “shot down” Russian MiG fighter jets? Cured pic from the video game “Flight of the Intruder.” Good-looking “Ukranian women” wielding assault rifles? PR photo-shoots. Gal Gadot has a lot from her days as an Israel Defense Force soldier and as Miss Israel. 🤨📷🧐

When provoked, I cuss—but directed to the person of intent. My language can be as nasty as the next irate dude. But I wasn’t raised in a household that spoke sentiments in foul wordage. The traditional address of respect “po” and “opo” was obligatory. I am uncomfortable with cursing on social media. One arrogantly told me: “Who are you to tell people what a cuss word is and what isn’t?” I mean, if you don’t know what a cuss word is, I rest my case. 🗣👤👥

My (night) dreams are perennially hyperactive. Lots of people are there. Family, kin and friends. Then and now in the Philippines and America. The constant presence is my mother who passed away in 2005. In my dreams, she is younger mostly. My slumber journeys are well-structured activities. I guess our mind doesn’t really stop when we sleep. Very alive. When I finally wake up, I feel tired. Exhausted. When I open my eyes, cat and dog go: “Wazzup, dude? Fix our breakfast!” 🥱😴🤪

Presidential election in the Philippines is in May this year. The latest survey places Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. as frontrunner by over 40+ percentage points over its closest rival Leni Robredo. Memory of Bongbong’s dad’s 20-year dictatorial rule is hard to erase due to obvious reasons. But this new pre-vote data is alarming. Leni campaigners should veer away from too much dissing and shaming. Time to focus on real programs and elaboration of policies.

       Most voters in the Philippines these days are the young who, despite knowledge of the Marcos regime, didn’t experience those misery. Internet/social media influencers should start on a positive/light campaign feed over negativity/darkness barrage. Election back home is multiparty so if Leni’s people couldn’t sway BBM’s loyalists, why not focus on persuading followers of the other candidates to Leni’s side? Votes add up. 🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭

Product marketing these days? Honesty isn’t a virtue. Words that rule: Rebranding, influencing, market economics. For example, news says when Neil Young quit Spotify he’d lost around $750k a year. Maybe. Fact is, Neil neither lost nor won since he doesn’t own his songs anymore. He sold them to the U.K.-based Hipgnosis Fund for $150 million. Quitting Spotify was a sly business move since he and other older rockers don’t really earn much on audio streaming. 

       Spotify’s top-selling artists: Justin Bieber, DaBaby, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny. Top downloaded, global: Drake, Taylor Swift, BTS. Neil Young’s entire catalog is now available for streaming on Amazon Music, with most albums also featuring handy links if you want to buy the CD or vinyl. Now, if Hipgnosis doesn’t get ROV (return of investment) on a given time, expect Neil to diss Jeff Bezos. LOL! There’s a lot more to say versus Amazon, of course. 🎼😂🎼

Protests in works of art is a fact. But the “protest” is within the art. The art has to appeal first to a majority for the “protest” intent to work. If art or protest ceases or fails to cut across paradigm/political lines, it is a mere whine. Self-serving, divisive noise. “Woodstock” in 1969 effectively worked to help advocate anti-war mindset because it gathered as a musical convergence more than (as) a protest howl. Music has the sublime ability to get people of differing thoughts together. ?☮️🎼

I always read complaints that there are less black or African American coaches in the NBA. Inequality? Yet per 2020, the NBA is composed of 74.2 percent black players—and only 16.9 percent white players, 2.2 percent Latino players of any race, and 0.4 percent Asian players. In the NFL, it is an equal 57.5 percent black. In NCAA basketball, we also notice a lot of young recruits from Africa. Or do we just dig whining about a lot of things rather than just enjoying the game? 🏀🎽🏀

America's Wars.

Response to Facebook posts by Friends.

PRAGMATICALLY speaking, at least after the Vietnam War (1975, also the last U.S. trade surplus) or Cold War (1991, also end of Warsaw Pact), when was the time when Americans per se (Left and Right) didn't approve of war? Wars that are so far from our comfy couches? Maybe against the invasion of Iraq in 2003? Was the Left's disapproval mattered? 

       But the Left has changed from that point. In fact, when Barack Obama took over in 2009, anything that defined U.S. military brinkmanship was ignored by supposedly anti-war or anti-military aid activists in the next 8 years. The Occupy Movement in 2011 was a loud example of wasted “dissent” energy.

THE weird thing about this new challenge to President Trump to strike Iran (which he took)? The Left seems more elated that the decision to hit the alleged nuke weapon sites proved to them that, after all, pro-war, more than they are saddened that this conflict may escalate and ignite more horror. 

       To cool idiots: The U.S. doesn't need to invade or "join" a war (George W was the Master Idiot) to tell the world America is doing it. Ukraine and Israel, hello? Your taxes went there, regardless of Mr Trump. For one, Mr Obama upgraded the Israel military aid ($3 billion annually) with a 10-year $38 billion gift in 2016. That'll end next year. So these wars should extend that deal when it ends next year. A Congress rationale. 

       Ever heard of "arms for oil" bilateral deals in the desert? Since the birth of Israel in 1948? Meanwhile, the BRICS trade bloc is moving in MENA so the other side of U.S. 1 Percent doesn't like that, of course. With his handshakes with Saudi Arabia et al, The D wants to share the love with China and its partners but the hawks of Washington and the New Left don't want that. 

       My main point: The Left has abandoned their anti-war crusade in the name of their "anti Trump" hate. ☮️🗽☮️

FEMA and President Trump. And Stuff. Or the subject of The D allegedly “canceling” relief aid funding.

Responses to Facebook chats.

LAST year FEMA experienced a significant backlog in processing disaster declarations. The total amount of backlog was $9 billion or more. Also in 2024, the U.S. allocated $66.9 billion to Ukraine (figure out how much was military aid, and add those from Feb 2022). To Israel's war, between 2023 and 2024: $17.9 billion. This: The cost of each F16 fighter jet sent to wars in Joe Biden's time? $25 million to $70 million. 

       Three days ago, after shuffling money from elsewhere, Mr Trump approved the release of FEMA funds to 8 states. Repeat: Budget deficit last year was $9 billion. A report says he "canceled" FEMA funding in some communities. Nope. 

       Reorganizing, reviewing, and redirecting funding or even delaying them is NOT “canceling” as Left-wing media narrates it. Meanwhile, there is still huge-ass money allotted for Ukraine and Israel signed by Congress that can't just be erased, especially the $38 billion 10-year upgraded arms aid to Israel that Barack Obama signed in 2016. When we say Israel, we talk of the powerful Israel Lobby or AIPAC in Washington. Etc etcetera. 

       We were hardly hit by Hurricane Helene here in Asheville but WNC isn't as poor as calamity hit Mississippi or Oklahoma, which had to be prioritized--as Mr Trump continues to work on ending wars and striking trade deals. 

       How's Asheville? How am I supposed to compare post-typhoon Philippines (or Mississippi, the U.S. poorest) with post-hurricane Asheville, which is upper middle class? Downtown bars are again filled with beer bitches. 🏛🗽🏛

BRICS and China. And Stuff.

Responses to Facebook chats.

WITH BRICS expanding while it also/already included massive markets India, Brazil, South Africa and Indonesia, China is sure to hold on to its deposits of pertinent minerals to counter Mr Trump's tariff spikes. The US is world's #1 consumer market but with prices going up, buying behavior will change. Yet we know The D is pushing pieces on the chess table as gambits and variations, hoping to break the Chinese. But the CCP has the trade leverage and may even lure US allies to the table, with loan/investment sweeteners. 

       Mr Trump is also hoping for more FDIs but I don't think he (or any POTUS) can convince US giants to leave China; they may even expand to India and Indonesia. Bottomline, Trump tries to stock up chips leading to the stalled second phase of his trade pact with Xi Jinping. First phase was in January 2020. He hoped to continue the negotiations but he lost the 2020 election and Joe Biden's China playbook was different, totally hawkish (dare China to armed hostilities in South China Sea via Taiwan, which of course didn't work). 

       In just 4 years, China firmed up its economic clout: RCEP was formed in Nov 2020, right after Trump's loss. 14 Asia Pacific economies on Beijing's side. Then before the Gaza war, UAE, Egypt, Iran (+ Indonesia and Ethiopia) joined BRICS. Of course, China brokered the Saudi Arabia and Iran handshake before the war. Today: Trump's focus is wobbling. He overshot his expectations of (easily) ending the Ukraine and ME wars. Not the way it was in 2016. These wars are taxing him out, losing more trade chips. But let's see 🇺🇸☮️🇨🇳

FB Friend: “I seriously doubt we are ever going to see any upside to what D is doing, looking more and more like a loser's hand. He is steering the race car into a 10 car smash up.”

DONALD Trump knows that his playbook isn't going to work. Joe Biden's hawkish playbook didn't work as well. I don't think any other China policy will ever work for the US, or any other POTUS can fix this or bring manufacturing back to the US, due to several reasons. The only way is to sit with the Chinese and find a common ground, but they have the leverage. 

       The D is simply stocking up chips for the 2nd phase of his trade pact with China, which got stalled and messed up when Mr Biden took over. (The 1st phase took place in January 2020.) In Biden's time, China "went to work" as the US busied itself with two wars and internal Left vs. Right caterwauling. They did that during the Cold War; they bought lands NSEW of the globe to prime the Dragon up for its trade expansionism. 

       The last time that the U.S. had a trade surplus was in 1975, so they know what they were doing or planning. Anyhow, Mr Trump is showing his loyal minions that he is doing something per his campaign pledge. 🇺🇸☮️🇨🇳