Tariff red flags, unfounded panic, and stuff.

From my response to Facebook chats etcetera.

I WOULD rather hope for new economic strategies (tariffs etc) in 2025 than "smartly" send doomsday signs. All these tariff red flags are "future tense" negativity pitched by liberals. Meanwhile, Mr Trump expects to sit with the Chinese next year and whatever deals they agree on, decides what's up. 

       Joe Biden (or his emissaries Antony Blinken and Janet Yellen) failed to break the Chinese on the trade table several times, mainly due to Joe's inconsistent or mostly aggro tactics vs the CCP. 

       Anyhow, the facts (after and during): Grocery prices are up 20 percent in the last 4 years. Current inflation rate is 2.4 percent. Economists forecast 3.1 percent as 2024 ends. Last year, it was 4.1 percent, down from 8 percent in 2022. In Mr Trump's last year, 2020, it was 1.23 percent. In pandemic time, 2019, it was 1.8 percent.

       Why the Chinese? No brainer. Over 40 percent of U.S. imports come from China. Some that come from elsewhere (like Mexico) somehow have Chinese investments or loans in them. If manufacturing is done here in the U.S. mainly, with over 8000 U.S. companies already operating in China, expect prices to go even higher. Of course. The last year the U.S. had a trade surplus was in 1975. 🏛🗽🏛

Farms. Agriculture. Food. Stuff.

From my response to Facebook chats etcetera.

A LONG time ago, China and Japan closed their ports to Western "outsiders." Before the Opium Wars (1839-1860), China’s protectionist policy limited trade with the West to the port of Canton (now Guangzhou). Meanwhile, the only Japanese port that was open to the West in the 1630s was Nagasaki, or a small artificial island called Dejima, but only a few Chinese and Dutch merchants were allowed to trade in Japan then.

       Well, the U.S. was seeking new markets for its manufactured goods and raw materials, and Japan had been practicing isolationism for 220 years! No way. Year, 1853. President Millard Fillmore ordered Commodore Matthew Perry to use “gunboat diplomacy” to establish trade relations with Japan in 1853. Of course, Mr Perry succeeded. And then came the Boxer Rebellion (1899 to 1901, Qing Dynasty) versus the Eight-Nation Alliance of foreign powers (you know who led the group). The Boxers were defeated so the Alliance forced the dynasty to submit to a punitive settlement that included opening new ports to trade with European and American traders. 

       Of course, Spain, Portugal, Britain, Netherlands, and other European powers were already embroiled in power play out there, who'd get to the region's massive resources. For example, old Burma had one of the earliest oil diggings, a major reason why the British came. Etc etcetera. Sans war (which of course happened) there's nothing wrong with trade between countries. So I don't get why many Americans dislike trade with China, when back in history, the West had to use an iron arm to pressure the Chinese to do business. 🍍🥥🍅

AMERICA is the world's #1 consumer market, regardless of China. The Chinese can sell and invest in other countries, especially with its BRICS bloc buddies which are huge economies, plus those “little” countries that they handed investments and loans. But since the trade pact of 2000, U.S. corporations have gained a lot of economic benefits from China as well. As we speak, 8,000+ US companies are operating there, including giants like Microsoft, GM, Boeing, Coke and Apple Inc. Yet China isn't even a top 15 FDI country in the US (#1 is Japan).   

       Meanwhile, sure we can perhaps boycott Chinese products per sinophobia. Yet the APIs in America's endless supply of drugs, silicon in our computers, and many more products that don't show "made in China" actually came from China. 🍍🥥🍅

AMERICA will have to sell (or export) its produce, still is.

       And Americans are still consuming its produce (from local farmers), in abundance, so much so that 40 percent of food in the U.S. is wasted or thrown away, annually. Meanwhile, it is not the fault of importing countries such as China and Mexico why our market is clogged with their products or products made by them or bought by U.S. companies from them to sell us. 

       The economic system that governs the U.S. which benefits huge American corporations does that. NAFTA, WTO, and as I said U.S./China trade pact. The last year the U.S. had a trade surplus was 1975. Hint: EPA was born in 1970. Overproduction (agriculture and manufacturing, including oil digging and mineral mining) does mess up the environment but we need to consume, right? As we desire a cool air. Hence, we gotta buy or import from others. The U.S. is already #1 producer of oil and natural gas yet we are still buying. Clogging the internal market with all these makes them relatively financially affordable to consumers (check gasoline prices in Europe, for example). Etc etcetera. 

       Bottomline, how do we fix this? Government leadership? How? This is America Incorporated. Maybe cut our consumerism? How? I don't know of any American with no maintenance meds or computer run gadgets or a car. Even U.S.-owned guns are manufactured elsewhere. Ergo, just enjoy life. Imagine the people in Gaza or Sudan. We got life, they don't. 🍍🥥🍅

WE  should not assume that others don't or they don't do "their best" to help make this world a better place. Me? But "support to the livelihoods of farmers" is a long discussion. But I will do away with the word "our." I view farmers in China, Philippines, Mexico, the U.S.--Afghanistan, Mali, and Lithuania etcetera--with the same level of humanity. But not how I view Big Corporations who buy their produce and market them home-based or overseas and the government leadership that implements "rules" on the trading table.

       In the micro. I try not to throw away food or I "recycle" leftovers for dinner. I. cook my food or try not to eat food from fast food counters or restaurants. That's how I was raised or grew up. I am not a picky eater either (although I was a vegetarian for many years in my younger life). I eat anything that is farmed, manufactured or whatever my personal economics can afford. As long as they are called Food. Yet I don't really ponder if my dinner was farmed by migrants or white people, black people, Chinese or Mexicans. I try not to lose my appetite with drama. Instead I trajectory my displeasure towards the Bigger Power (no, not God, LOL! I mean political power of profit). 🍍🥥🍅

[Photos: World Bank. AZoSensors. Minnesota Department of Agriculture.]

Words and Stuff and Love

Previously posted on my Facebook page. Or written years ago, unedited/not updated.

IT seems so effortless. I say words or write poems to try to comfort worried hearts and ease clouded minds. As though I had it all figured out—that healing wounds or making someone feel better is something that I am “good at.” Like that silly song, “Handy Man” is saying: “I fix broken hearts, I know I truly can.” But do I know what love really is? I don't know. 

       It's an individual truth. I am confident I know somehow how to project love yet do I know how it really works? Depends on the person receiving and giving, right? Interplay of negotiations. Interface of compromises. What I share in the area of love, relationships and all these sweet shenanigans don't necessarily work for me. How I wish that I am the dude who receives advice rather than the one giving it. Yet it doesn't lessen my joy when someone—either here on Facebook or in my little shows—tell me, “You made me feel better.” 

       That's cool. That's all the hero I need to be. 💖💔💝

WHEN I look at some relationships, I wonder what really works? Yet I have been a witness to many relationships that work and those that didn't. There seems to be a pattern (at least with people that I know). Most of those that end in divorce appear to stand by the dictum, “I do my thing, you do yours” and “I keep my own money, you spend yours.” In other words, they try to sustain their singlehood freedom while under one roof. They tend to idealize family and explore new dimensions yet they fight a lot or they don't talk a lot. 

       The other one is what the first one calls “uptight” and conservative. This kind of couple shares all as per conjugal belongings—bank account, decisions, church, problems, even friendships. They even share one email address. They “lose” their individual-ness (as opposed to individuality) in a synergetic whole and functions as per an agreed plan and direction. They have more laughter than arguments. They don't put so much ado on how to correctly raise children—they worry more about education and trust fund. 

       Most of these unions carry on to their 30 year anniversary or longer. Of course, a relationship isn't black and white or polar extremes. Just saying. 💖💔💝

Farms. Agriculture. Food. Stuff.

From my response to Facebook chats etcetera.

A LONG time ago, China and Japan closed their ports to Western "outsiders." Before the Opium Wars (1839-1860), China’s protectionist policy limited trade with the West to the port of Canton (now Guangzhou). Meanwhile, the only Japanese port that was open to the West in the 1630s was Nagasaki, or a small artificial island called Dejima, but only a few Chinese and Dutch merchants were allowed to trade in Japan then.

       Well, the U.S. was seeking new markets for its manufactured goods and raw materials, and Japan had been practicing isolationism for 220 years! No way. Year, 1853. President Millard Fillmore ordered Commodore Matthew Perry to use “gunboat diplomacy” to establish trade relations with Japan in 1853. Of course, Mr Perry succeeded. And then came the Boxer Rebellion (1899 to 1901, Qing Dynasty) versus the Eight-Nation Alliance of foreign powers (you know who led the group). The Boxers were defeated so the Alliance forced the dynasty to submit to a punitive settlement that included opening new ports to trade with European and American traders. 

       Of course, Spain, Portugal, Britain, Netherlands, and other European powers were already embroiled in power play out there, who'd get to the region's massive resources. For example, old Burma had one of the earliest oil diggings, a major reason why the British came. Etc etcetera. Sans war (which of course happened) there's nothing wrong with trade between countries. So I don't get why many Americans dislike trade with China, when back in history, the West had to use an iron arm to pressure the Chinese to do business. 🍍🥥🍅

AMERICA is the world's #1 consumer market, regardless of China. The Chinese can sell and invest in other countries, especially with its BRICS bloc buddies which are huge economies, plus those “little” countries that they handed investments and loans. But since the trade pact of 2000, U.S. corporations have gained a lot of economic benefits from China as well. As we speak, 8,000+ US companies are operating there, including giants like Microsoft, GM, Boeing, Coke and Apple Inc. Yet China isn't even a top 15 FDI country in the US (#1 is Japan).   

       Meanwhile, sure we can perhaps boycott Chinese products per sinophobia. Yet the APIs in America's endless supply of drugs, silicon in our computers, and many more products that don't show "made in China" actually came from China. 🍍🥥🍅

AMERICA will have to sell (or export) its produce, still is.

       And Americans are still consuming its produce (from local farmers), in abundance, so much so that 40 percent of food in the U.S. is wasted or thrown away, annually. Meanwhile, it is not the fault of importing countries such as China and Mexico why our market is clogged with their products or products made by them or bought by U.S. companies from them to sell us. 

       The economic system that governs the U.S. which benefits huge American corporations does that. NAFTA, WTO, and as I said U.S./China trade pact. The last year the U.S. had a trade surplus was 1975. Hint: EPA was born in 1970. Overproduction (agriculture and manufacturing, including oil digging and mineral mining) does mess up the environment but we need to consume, right? As we desire a cool air. Hence, we gotta buy or import from others. The U.S. is already #1 producer of oil and natural gas yet we are still buying. Clogging the internal market with all these makes them relatively financially affordable to consumers (check gasoline prices in Europe, for example). Etc etcetera. 

       Bottomline, how do we fix this? Government leadership? How? This is America Incorporated. Maybe cut our consumerism? How? I don't know of any American with no maintenance meds or computer run gadgets or a car. Even U.S.-owned guns are manufactured elsewhere. Ergo, just enjoy life. Imagine the people in Gaza or Sudan. We got life, they don't. 🍍🥥🍅

WE  should not assume that others don't or they don't do "their best" to help make this world a better place. Me? But "support to the livelihoods of farmers" is a long discussion. But I will do away with the word "our." I view farmers in China, Philippines, Mexico, the U.S.--Afghanistan, Mali, and Lithuania etcetera--with the same level of humanity. But not how I view Big Corporations who buy their produce and market them home-based or overseas and the government leadership that implements "rules" on the trading table.

       In the micro. I try not to throw away food or I "recycle" leftovers for dinner. I. cook my food or try not to eat food from fast food counters or restaurants. That's how I was raised or grew up. I am not a picky eater either (although I was a vegetarian for many years in my younger life). I eat anything that is farmed, manufactured or whatever my personal economics can afford. As long as they are called Food. Yet I don't really ponder if my dinner was farmed by migrants or white people, black people, Chinese or Mexicans. I try not to lose my appetite with drama. Instead I trajectory my displeasure towards the Bigger Power (no, not God, LOL! I mean political power of profit). 🍍🥥🍅

Visual credits: Asia Pacific Curriculum. Steam.

Post-November 5 Stuff. From Social Media Chats.

Facebook Friend: “Are you curious why Donald Trump won?”

I wasn't really "curious." But I formulated my pre-election insight on current reality. I believe those who voted for Mr Trump decided per sheer practical sense. The economy isn't doing good despite the Biden/Harris camp's efforts to "fix" it a month or so before November 5, which is obviously insincere or blatantly campaign related. 

       Meanwhile, a huge bloc in Blue's side, the progressives, thumbed down Kamala for her unclear stance on Gaza. This bloc is reinforced by RFK Jr.'s minions + somehow the Conservatives and "disengaged/unaligned" allied with them on anti-war due to the fact that amidst a failed economy, taxpayer money continuously is tossed to two ongoing wars. 

       Of course, there are other pressing issues such as the migrant crisis which proved Mr Trump was right for his stance to improve the borders. (And I am not even talking about foreign policy in which The D scored a few victories during his term vs Joe Biden's failures.) 

       Team Kamala focused more on disparaging Donald Trump for his (admittedly) crass personality instead of elaborating on programs. A sure blunder. I am still lost as to what really was Ms Harris plans for America other than the abortion issue.

Facebook Friend: "Trump's win is Russia's win."

How'd Russia win? 

       But this is what I see: The EU needs to recover economically (.04 percent growth as we speak) so the region needs Russian oil/natural gas imports soon. So the end of war means Nord Stream 2 is back. I am sure U.S. giants already got into Kyiv's Naftogaz. So what is the point in wasting more resources in a continuing war?

       Also Bibi Netayahu is cooler with Vladimir Putin than with Joe Biden. Note, Israel snubbed Mr Biden's call to send arms to Ukraine in 2022. Of course, Donald Trump has a more accessible line to the Kremlin. Meanwhile, what power can calm Iran out? China, top buyer of Tehran oil/natural gas and top FDI country in MENA. Syria? Note: Before the war, the Arab League welcomed Syria back. Saudi Arabia, de facto League boss may start talking. Meanwhile, Riyadh has a lot of fun projects, no need for longer war. So gotta fix it; Donald plays golf with MBS. 

       Bottomline, the region doesn’t need wars for obvious reasons. Etc etcetera. Who wins? No one wins, no one loses. They just share profit via trade in peace, no fighting, then they play soccer. 🏛🗽🏛

Blackrock et al and the corporate giant in U.S. elections.

From my response to Facebook chats etcetera.

BLACKROCK, Lockheed Martin, General Motors, Apple Inc. etc etcetera. All billionaires or giant corporations, including foreign giants, give to PACs. Since Barack Obama days, the Democratic Party has been out-PAC'ing the Republican Party, presidential and midterm elections. In 2020, Joe Biden raised a record $1+ billion, which Kamala Harris surpassed weeks or a month ago before November 5. 

Yet does it really matter to ID who these wealthy people or giant companies are? What we know, there are two ongoing wars right now. The Middle East tempest keeps on escalating. As anti war activists or peace advocates, we need to help stop these wars. Are we trying to stop wars or are we, in fact, trying to push a political party or presidential candidate over the other?

Facebook Friend: “They are two wings of the same bird and share most of the same donors. Elon musk is Trump's biggest donor. They're all a bunch of `fine’ people aren't they? We absolutely have to try to overcome this evil but I'm sad to say we're outpowered by the domination of big money buying everything and everyone. We lost our government and democracy a long time ago. Elections now are wishful thinking unfortunately, in my view. In another kind of world, it would be markedly different. But we're not there until we complete the shift.” 

       Shift? This is America. I don't think America ever changed from money money money at least since the U.S. defeated the Spanish armada in late 1890s or when the U.S. dollar became the world's reserve currency as the IMF and World Bank were born in 1944 Bretton Woods. America: The world's #1 economy, #1 consumer market, #1 producer of oil and natural gas etcetera. (But also #1 in military spending per shooting of others and frequency of mass shootings of its own.) 

       Meanwhile, I don't get it why we heap blame on America's rich (800+ billionaires) and private industries (as opposed to China, India, Russia and oil rich Middle East, where major industries are state-owned; except Big Tech in China is privately owned)--over blame on our government's obvious complicity in this gargantuan discrepancy in social status. The rich of America (or the world) will continue to get richer and we can't do much about it. But we can alter leadership or elect leaders who could lessen the wide Rich/Poor gap. 

       Or cut the massive so-called "defense" budget to fix FEMA's budget deficit, for example. Yes, regardless that politicians receive huge-ass campaign money from the rich per quid pro quo deals. Tough, isn't it. So in my older age, from my life of mostly Left-wing idealism, I blurred my paradigm line. My advocacy is focused on helping to end wars, whoever sits as POTUS or as a majority in Congress. And less violence in the streets. 

       But with the super wide divide in America, tough tough "ambition." But I ain't gonna lose sleep over it as long as I have a turntable to play endless Bee Gees, LOL! Life in America is a blessing to many like me and my kin. It's just that we are so damn dramatic or sentimental sometimes. We whine a lot and ignore the pleasures of the Bee Gees. But hey there's Prozac and Zoloft and lots of beers and whiskey, streaming TV, and Amazon and Temu boxes for my cats, Chewy for my dog. 🏛🗽🏛

Facebook Friend: “Things are shifting dramatically. If you leave the headlines and look at the people around you. People are changing dramatically and their attitudes are about coming together in amazing ways just to help and care about each other. Nothing changes unless we do. I cannot depend on the government to be what we want them to be. But we can come together and build in a new way. Perhaps you don't believe that? Seeing the love, just here in Asheville, gives me hope again.”

       After Hurricane Helene? I don't think so. The community grief was overpowered by the election run-up. Whether we read headlines, Facebook, or go to a store, it wasn't like the year 2000 anymore. But again, as I said, there are blessings but NOT what I am experiencing since the day I stopped my newspaper and events. I can't even start a grownup talk with longtime friends without that name tossed in the middle and here we go again with the hate. 

       There are clear reasons why depression is up among the young and mass shootings stay high (after the 1999 Columbine, at least). It was so different when Asheville still had Bele Chere and I could easily make friends at Malaprops, Vincent's Ear or Pritchard Park. Easily, people stereotype me as this and that these days. I mean, liberals even think I am so clueless about U.S. politics because I came "from a Third World" country. How ignorant that is! 

       But I repeat, I may sound dramatic, but I am cool. I just wait for the end of Tuesday (November 5) and carry on, whoever wins. If I am still young, and my personal circumstances are different, I'd easily fly back home (I will still do that, I don't wish to die here). I asked my housemate who is older than me, a white American, if this was America then. I know. It wasn't. But if I say what she thinks, she'd easily be profiled as well as this Right or this Left. No way to really know people if you are already "figured out" in the first sentence. 

       Asheville isn't even like the year 2000, as I said. And the sad thing? The blame is heaped on one man who I believe professes an ideal that for so long I hoped America's foreign policy would be. Anti-war or anti-NATO. He isn't maybe that old man in truth and he has reasons. But a day, just a day, rest from bombings and shootings elsewhere means a lot. 🏛🗽🏛

Post-election. Mr Trump's mouth. And stuff.

From my response to Facebook chats etcetera.

SANS his obnoxious mouth, I do believe the American people chose wisely in reflecting Donald Trump. Internal matters (mostly economic) and especially external matters (look out BRICS has been making G7 nervous), the U.S. needs a new set of policies. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris failed. 

COMPARISON to Adolf Hitler? Again, revisit of History 101 is necessary for an attempt to comparatively analyze Adolf Hitler and Donald Trump. The Nazi fuhrer ordered the burning (to death) of millions; the GOP prez wants to end wars. Do we need to reread books? My granddaughters know these already. 

       Many Don's haters actually believe his obnoxious mouth has the power to fatally take out millions? 

       Meanwhile, I don't understand German, maybe beyond guten tag, danke, and guud so I don't understand what Adolf said in his speeches. (BTW, I recommend the German series "Kleo" on Netflix. You see. I don't listen to Donald talk about stuff and things but just seeing his photos makes me think he was cursing in Tagalog? LOL! ☮️☮️☮️

A FRIEND says “'di ko feel” the result of the U.S. election. Or he's not feeling it. So I said I can feel it. Because I “feel” many Americans’ disgust upon knowing the taxes that they handed to the government are wasted in wars.

       Because that's how I feel about life. I am a lifetime anti war activist. Anti U.S. bases in the Philippines;" anti military aid in the U.S. And I wasn't just sitting and typing up words. I was out there. Philippines or America. So I am consistent. 

       Mr Trump's dirty mouth doesn't drop bombs (at least after his MOAB drops in April 2017 in Afghanistan and Syria). But he evolved into an anti-NATO expansion dude. But still with a dirty mouth, LOL! I don't care. Donald had two peace talks; Joe/Kamala had two ongoing wars. 

       (Meanwhile, I don't really mind "dirty" mouths. I was trained by Joe Burgos, LOL! Filipino journalists know Joe.) 

       Also, can't we rest the "feeling cool" and immaculately correct girth sometimes and just read the writings on the wall as is? Spade is spade + my personal economics from 2016 to 2020, regardless of Covid were the best--in all my three decades in America and I am not even a billionaire, LOL! 🏛🗽🏛

A FILIPINO (or Filipinx) issue.

Leni/BBM is not Kamala/Trump. This is a long discussion. Meanwhile, leadership of a nation is not a gender issue. And the Philippines is hardly the United States. The comparative analogy doesn't fit at all.

       There was a Dilma Rousseff or Park Geun-hye or Gloria Arroyo as there was a Petro Poroshenko or Idi Amin or Ferdinand Marcos as there was a Margaret Thatcher and Angela Merkel and dudes who led just fine. Many variables played out in leadership life. However, I believe, woman/man/gender based policies could work at local (government) levels. I was part of an NGO research that led to the Local Government Code in the Philippines in Corazon Aquino’s time from late 1980s to the 1990s. I wonder what happened to that Law. Yet I saw it (probably) worked in disaster management in communities? People-based initiatiaves? ☮️☮️☮️

WHEN we get older and seen enough, heard enough, Donald Trump's mouth or seemingly crass demeanors don't matter anymore to the point that it’d ruin your 24 hours. Anyhow, Mr Trump is POTUS, leader of the world’s most powerful nation. He is not my dad, uncle, or housemate. So I simply live by what his stewardship of a government does to life. Economics mostly.

       And since I am a lifetime anti-war advocate, I side with his take on NATO military aid.Never in my lifetime have I known a U.S. President who didn't favor military solutions to global issues. The closest was Jimmy Carter but he was so ineffective in handling the economy. Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s political pragmatism and business shrewdness is unmistakable. He doesn't have an ideology, in fact. Just a leader who deals with spade as spade. 

       He knew how to deal with Russia, Saudi Arabia, or China. He had a trade pact with China but Joe Biden (continually) failed to break China after several times sending (State secretary) Antony Blinken and (Treasury chief) Janet Yellen to Beijing, on separate occasions. Mr Trump ended the Afghanistan war, the U.S.’s longest and costliest war, which Mr Biden messed up. Donald had a peace talk with North Korea, too. Joe has two2 ongoing wars; the Middle East tempest has weirdly escalated in just months. Donald Trump has the ability to end these wars. Let’s see. His foreign policy playbook is clearly the antithesis of Joe Biden’s or most POTUSes. 

       Ukraine is no brainer. Vladimir Putin wants to end this shit. Economically hobbled E.U. needs (.04 percent growth) Moscow’s is oil and natural gas. The D can easily deal with Vladn. MENA? Don plays golf with MBS and so Saudi Arabia and the Arab League won't add more fire to the conflagration, hopefully. The region doesn't need a long war as investments spike (top FDI China and India or BRICS). Look at how Saudi Arabia diversifies in the area of fun (sports, rock concerts etc). Meanwhile, Mr Trump talks to China (promises trade pact 2) and so China talks to Iran. Beijing is Tehran's top economic savior and Iran desperately needs China to keep buying its oil and natural gas. Etc etcetera. All these negate the filth in Donald Trump's mouth. LOL! But I gotta see how things happen, or don’t happen. 🏛🗽🏛

Minorities. CEO pay. Politics and money, and stuff.

Responses to posts in Friends’ page/s.

WHEN they say "minorities," would that mean those who are non-whites? The poorest would be either the Native Americans or blacks. Or would that be the illegal migrants whose presence doesn't really affect the U.S. economy more than they heighten partisanship squabbles in the legislature? 

       Anyhow, the highest income group per household are the Asian Americans, not the whites. Meanwhile, the problem area/s aren't really the CEO/boss pay compared with the lowly employee. 

       First, the economic well-being of America is based on its political structure or governmental system (also, corporations are private entities as opposed to state-owned etcetera). Second, an elected leadership and a bipartisan Congress can actually fix that rich/poor discrepancy, narrow it at least. But they don't. 

       Then we go to how the rich fund the PAC campaign money of presidential or political candidates. True, the richest man (Elon Musk) supports Donald Trump but weeks or 2 months ago (?) Kamala Harris has already raised her campaign fund to over $1+ billion, breaking Joe Biden's PAC dough in 2020. Of course that money came from the rich, mostly. So we talk of quid pro quo and then we go to why the boss's salary exponentially spikes while the minimum wage stays $7.25. 🏛🗽🏛

Undocumented Migrants, and other stories.

My share in Facebook banters. In Friends’ Page/s.

THERE is a deluge of "immigrant" memes lately that infer a misleading advocacy. I am an immigrant but not someone who crossed the border without a passport and visa. Whether I was poor or not where I came from is beside the point. We kept that fact in us as we headed abroad to America. But we get here respecting America's border or immigration law, regardless that my country was forcibly claimed or colonized by the United States centuries ago. 

       My vision was clear: We are here to seek a better life and the only way to gain that is to play "fair." Find a job legally as we seek a higher education (irrelevant that most of us are already college graduates back home), and then get a better pay. These days, Asians are the most (college) educated and highest paid household per ethnic grouping in America, more than Whites. 

       Meanwhile, letting illegal immigrants in (because America should welcome anyone) doesn't help them at all. They are technically enslaved by landowners or farm owners and factory owners (in exchange for "staying") or paid half the minimum wage and no benefits, housed in trailer homes, 8 to 10 people in a house for 3. Many are used by drug cartels as couriers and mules. 

       The new wave of (undocumented) migrants also fear racial discrimination yet they are a convenient tool for partisanship caterwaul. And since record numbers (4,000 to 8,000) have been crossing since early 2021, fiscal management of the asylum system has been bankrupt. So they are ferried here and there like cows. We don't even know how many of them died when hurricane Helene hit; they are not counted. Etc etcetera. 

       The story in Mexico or Central America and their political and economic relationship with the U.S. vis a vis the migrant crisis is another huge discussion subject. 🗽🏃‍♀️🏃

THE immigration issue has gone whacked to super whacked. However, by digging deeper into the issue, we can connect dots per several factors. 

       Drug cartels and narcopolitics that date back to 1980s, bribes from street cops to presidents, NAFTA economics, business convenience to U.S. factories and farms, and how the migrant issue evolved as a tool for Washington partisanship intramurals. 

       Yet the amazing record number of crossings from 2021, 5000 to around 10,000 a day, is unbelievably massive. And confusingly unabated. Towards the border, cartels facilitate their "trek," don't we know that already? Of course migrants get “help,” that in itself is a huge story. How the illegal drug infrastructure runs and operates in the U.S. market is similar to how giant corporations run.

MIGRANTS carry out jobs for cartels. They had to. Gotta do it or their families that they leave behind are dead. Sure, they also take advantage of the various benefits and privileges that they get from the U.S. government. Etc etcetera. Sure, our government is aware of this. 

       How much did Donald Trump ask to strengthen the walls and upgrade border enforcement? Spare change compared with the taxpayer money tossed to Ukraine in its lost war vs Russia. 

       Now the media paints Mr Trump as a Nazi for securing the border? In fact, it is more inhuman to let this staggering number of migrants in. They are heading to an uncertain life in America despite the government dolouts. Remember, Mexico and Central America are not Gaza or Beirut. Their government can do something but not doing anything seems to be the most convenient “recourse.” 

       Mexico's economy gets pumped up somehow with cartel activity. As leadership's personal coffers get fed. Meanwhile, I am not against asylum but the number has exponentially spiked in just 4 years! No way to backtrack because each day the number increases. Immigration fiscal management has been bankrupt for years now. Etc etcetera. 🗽🏃‍♀️🏃

U.S. Aid to Other Countries / Guns Guns Guns.

My share in Facebook banters. In Friends’ Page/s.

<>U.S. Aid to Other Countries. 

“GAVE it all to foreigners" requires some elaboration. 

<>Foreign aid or USAid. Each time a development aid is handed out, an economic quid pro quo ensues. Zoom in on bilateral talks priorities, import/export. Etcetera. Military aid is meant to protect US corporate interests in a region in competition with a rival superpower or trade bloc. In most cases, "aid" only favors the leadership in a recipient country as stipulated in the quid pro quo, though not divulged to the public. Aid doesn't really benefit the people. <>Record number of migrants who almost randomly cross/ed the border. Asylum approval is fine but the massive border breaches are now a huge budget crisis. These undocumented migrants gain benefits, true. But the powers that reap gargantuan benefits are usually ignored in favor of partisanship politics. <>In all it is all about how the U.S. government deals with foreign policy and immigration, which could change, per change in leadership. 🏛🗽🏛

<>Guns Guns Guns. 

I WAS exposed to kin who were war veterans and law enforcement officers when I was younger. An uncle taught me how to use guns, especially .45 pistol and Armalite rifle. Yet I grew up and old not wanting one in my hand or ownership. As a young journalist, I covered narcos raids, gang violence (crime beat), countryside wars, and coup d'etats. I saw deaths, buried some, and mourned many. I don't like guns because I experienced what firearms are capable of. Yet I am not against arms per se as a defensive weapon, obtained strictly and safely kept at home. 

       But in America, especially with a high level of mental health ailments and heightened degree of hate, 120.5 ownership per 100 is just too much. This is an American cancer with seemingly no cure because, like others crisis areas, it is tackled as a Left vs. Right wrestle more than it is a danger zone for all of us. ☮️☮️☮️