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Of course it can.

If you provoke somebody long enough and strong enough at a certain point he will react accordingly and has all rights to do so.

If you take piece by piece from somebody don't be surprised if he says stop at a certain time.

Don't cross the red line. That's the best way not to give other people a justified reason to defend their rights and belongings.

Simply said, just don't f*ck around with other people, neighbors or even countries.

 

In the past, tourists could only stay for 2 years. The only difference was more frequent Visa Runs. No big deal. 3 years was just acknowledging what people were doing and realizing that was money lost every time the tourists went for a Visa Run. But each new set of politicians have to bring it up and justify their existence.

Take Canada for instance, (as I know my own country) "There is no statutory limit on the number of times a person can extend visitor status. Instead, the officer will consider the history of the applicant, the purpose of the visit, and whether there is a valid reason to continue visiting."

 

That's enough to make a man go Bananas........Resolution's: Maybe keep my thoughts to myself !!!!
A Happy and Peaceful New Year to you all......JB

 

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