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The Philippines has welcomed this and have said it is a good thing to help with the West Philippine Sea situation. I do feel bad for France as they bargained in good faith to build subs for Australia, but you also can't blame Australia for taking the USA up on better equipment. Any country in the world would have made the same decision.

Strategically it makes good sense for the USA to enter into this contract, and it should reap long term benefits. It will create stability in a region dominated by China's forces, even though this is still years down the road. The subs don't build themselves overnight. However just the knowledge it is coming is enough for China to take a good hard look at what they are doing, and what they hope to accomplish.

This is no way has any bearing on the Afghan fiasco. After 20 years we should have expected and deserved more than what we actually saw happen, but it also shouldn't be a surprise when you look at the history of the country, including Russia's adventures there just a few short years prior.

Bottom line is the more countries rally behind moves like this and push back on China, the more difficult it becomes for China to just take over. They have their hands full with Taiwan and Hong Kong now, it becomes very hard to put up fights on multiple fronts.

 

IMHO, the flu will always be here, of varying seriousness, with varying names. Over the years, we will hopefully learn to deal with it, as we have all "flu's." This one is very new, so people are not yet developing natural immunity, plus it is mutating into more serious stuff. We know this one is bad, it's killed huge numbers of people, the numbers are debatable. All we do know is that UN-vaccinated people are being hospitalized and dying more, althou again numbers are debatable.

I'm guessing in a year or two, they will make a multi strain vax like they do now, maybe slip a covid vax into it to avoid the anti-life crazies. It WILL be an annual thing, like now. I know that we will have to figure out some way to avoid "lockdowns," otherwise, economies the world over will collapse.

 

Canada has to be one of the very best choices for OFWs - I would not recommend any going to most of the Middle East (as I am sure many would agree) and not even to the UK. Canada has great respect for its immigrants - many governments could learn from them.

 

Perhaps a consideration for some. I have a boy turning 10. I want him to be able to take care of my wife later in life, so a good education is necessary. So we prioritize our limited money and life style to send him to a private school since he was 2 and supplement that with the Kumon math program the last two years. I’ve seen from a few of his classmates, there are some very bright kids. So I believe there is not a heredity IQ problem here, just an extremely bad education system.

 

The following is the steps I took to get a visa
1. Had my GF send me the birthing center copy of the birth certificate
2. Made an appointment with the Philippines Consulate in Chicago to sign an affidavit of admission of paternity. Cost 25 dollars and pre-paid return envelope (they only take UPS or USPS. Plus travel costs to Chicago from Kansas city.
3. They sent the affidavit to me a couple of days later.
4. Sent the affidavit and the birthing center birth certificate back to Dumaguete
5. GF took to the LCR in Dumaguete and they rejected because the consulate failed to sign the back of the birth certificate
6. Sent paperwork back to USA then to the consulate in Chicago
7. Received signed paperwork and sent back to GF in Dumaguete
8. LCR wanted to reject again because they didn't like the way the consulate did the paperwork but my GF talked them out of that. Requested endorsement to PSA.
9. A couple of weeks later the endorsement to PSA was ready, GF then went to PSA and got a copy of the birth certificate
10. GF sent the PSA birth certificate to me in USA. The consulate said they would take the endorsement to PSA or an PSA copy of the birth certificate for my visa. I would recommend the PSA birth certificate because that is what immigration and airlines wanted to see. With the endorse to PSA letter you could get a visa but I don't know if you could get immigration to take it.
11. Sent my visa package to the Philippines Consulate in Chicago consisting of the following:
... Visa application form 2-A (with passport size photo)
... my passport with copies of my data pages
... Travel itinerary
... Proof of financial capacity ( latest bank statement)
... Copy of PSA birth certificate
... copy of GF id
... notarized letter of support from my GF stating purpose of travel and that she guarantees my moral obligations while I'm in the Philippines
... money order of 40 dollars to the consulate. This is for 3 day service but its 30 for 7 day service. The visa is for single entry and must be used in 90 days
.... pre-paid return envelope via UPS
A week after I sent my visa package I received my visa. I arrived in Manila last night and they stamped the visa good for 60 days.
That's what I needed to do in a nutshell

 

We had an LSI return from Siquijor to Sibulan last month and we were able to get approval for home quarantine. You need to start with the LGU office (office of the Mayor) and they will direct you to a medical office where we had to schedule a medical team to come and inspect our home. We have a maids quarters, and you need something like that, with sleeping quarters and CR completely separated off from the main house. The team took pictures and then went back to the medical office and got the doctor to approve. We then had to go to our Barangay hall and get approval from them. Then with all of those approvals in hand we had to go back to the LGU office and get their approval and a special COVID Shield certificate. The returning person was picked up by an ambulance with a team in full PPE gear and brought to our house where they had to remain in the maids quarters for 14 days. Someone from the medical office may come by unannounced at any time for inspection, after 5 days they came and did a COVID swab test (which was negative, took 7 days to get the results). So, it can be done if you have the facilities for it and go through a lot of work to get all of the needed approvals.

 

Um, er..I’m in two minds about this. The forum owner seems to be more proactive of late and that seems to me to have lifted the tone somewhat. I’d been at the end of one or two stinging personal attacks a few years back (they just stung, bit surprising, no harm done other than to the ego for 5 minutes) and putting a stop to that imho has improved the general tone.

At others I’ve thought some moderator actions have been a little harsh and outside my comprehension. I own that, maybe there’s some stuff I don’t know about going on in the background. He’s the mod, he owns the d*mn thing and has to live with the ball ache. But overall, not a bad and probably un rewarded job. General win I reckon.

As for the political stuff, I welcome views n opinions, I might learn from them to change my set in their ways outlook. I think the freedom to express them without pillory or personal attack is just as important as me commenting on those I disagree with to the same standards. Racist etc views being the exception. No place for that.

so Mod/Admin, not a bad job, thanx for the space, guess we could all a thing or two, huh?

 

He may actually be a very clever man.

Adding organic matter to sand produces loam - the best growing medium for most plants. So maybe soon you will see him plant a coconut in the same spot.

Or not.