[Don’t want to read the article? Watch the video instead.]
Today is Friday, August 25, 2017, the first day of the rest of our lives… Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift – that’s why they call it the present!
Welcome to the Philippine Dreams weekly Livecast, where I make at least a half-hearted attempt to address issues that could affect foreigners living, studying working or doing basically anything in the Philippines.
Imma Sick
I don’t know what the hell I caught, but I have had it since Tuesday and it’s pretty much pulled the wind out of my sails. The bad fever is mostly gone but the incredibly sore throat lingers. When I was picking up some prednisone at the pharmacy, I asked if they had a lot of people coming in recently complaining of sore throats. She nodded her head and replied that people were coming into the pharmacy every day to buy medications. It was a pharmacy of course, so I think something might have gotten lost in translation. Regardless, I’ve pretty much been living on Ramen noodles with pulled Chooks To Go chicken and copious amounts of ice cream.
Which brings us to this week’s corporate sponsor!
This Weeks Corporate Sponsor is Nestle “ice cream.” Having established a veritable stranglehold on the Philippines over the past 100 years, Nestle is the go-to for your frozen dessert concoction nwwsa. Doing away with the coastal elitism of any actual milk and cream, Nestle “ice cream” is composed of delicious, nutritious and completely hydrogenated coconut, palm and/or palm kernel oils. Yes, Nestle – go and out and get some today!
Weather – Rainy season continues to hang around the area, with nightly rains, occasional flooding and mostly sunny and warm days. The past 24 hours have been an exception to that, and our roving meteorologist in Bacong, Henry Velez, notes that we’ve had a good long soaking over the past day.
Google Hangout: The next Sunday Night Q&A Hangout will be occurring Monday morning at 9 AM my time. For those on the East Coast, that would be Sunday night at 9 PM. You must have a connected Hangout email and would prefer folks make use of a microphone. We conducted a Hangout test a few weeks back and it went pretty well. If interested, please send an email to me at myphilippinedreams@gmail.com.
Patreon: Shooting and editing video (and now photos), writing blog articles and responding to subscriber comments and private messages is actually work. A great deal of work. If you’ve found it to to be of some value, consider supporting the ongoing efforts on my Patreon site.
And continued thanks once again to everyone who has supported this site – both financially and with continued positive (or constructive negative) feedback. It is much appreciated!
TRIVIA QUESTION
Last week’s trivia question: You can see examples of this skin discoloration on the leg of nearly every Philippine citizen. After a foreigner has been here for a while, they tend to suffer from the same malady. And no, I’m not talking tan lines here.
The correct answer was muffler burns (also known as Thai Tattoos) and Abe H. and John R. were sent a free copy of my ebook, Chasing Your Philippine Dream: An Expat’s Guide to the Philippines.
This week’s trivia question: Five hundred teachers from the United States arrived in the Philippines on August 21st, 1901. After being quarantined in Manila Bay for two days, they went forth across the archipelago to set up schools and establish English as a new national language. The precursors to the modern Peace Corp, these intrepid educators are now known as the WHAT?? The first two correct answers emailed to myphilippinedreams@gmail.com gets you a free copy of our book, a $10.95 value at any of your local book retailers.
Free Stuff
I’ve mentioned it before, but if you really want to read an excellent book on life in the Philippines, go to the project Gutenberg site and get a free copy of “The Great White Tribe in Filipinia.” Written by Paul T. Gilbert, the book chronicles his experiences as one of the first educators sent to the Philippines in 1901. It is an excellent read, and is one that I can’t recommend enough. The link is down in the video description box. And it’s also right HERE!
Balikbayan Box Update
Well, it’s been nearly a month since the new BB box regulations went into effect (original article HERE) and thus far, I haven’t heard of anyone being hit for the stipulated tariffs and taxes as of yet. Our neighbor just received two boxes this week and other subs have received their own and none report being charged any additional fees. If you’ve had different experiences, PLEASE contact me so that I can update my records.
Viewer Comment
The first viewer comment comes from Linda Lowther who commented on my video, Giving Money to the Family.
Linda: This guy is kind of hot in a way. At least he stays in shape…not like the typical old wrinkly fat white men who expose young brown girls to their ugliness. I guess I can support this one.
Me: This comment is kind of complimentary in a way. As for supporting these ongoing operations, you can find my patreon HERE.
And you do realize we are all going to get wrinkly and fat, right? It’s pretty much inevitable and certainly better than the alternative.
Bird Flu in the Philippines
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol reported that the Australian Animal Health Laboratory had confirmed the presence of bird flu in a few areas of Pampanga. The secretary first reported on August 11 that that what had killed thousands of birds was an outbreak of avian influenza type A subtype, H5. He also reported that the outbreak had been limited to the Pampanga area and that the strain of avian flu was not transferable to humans.
Shortly thereafter, he lifted an initial ban on the transshipment of poultry products from Luzon to the rest of the Philippines. In an effort to reassure the public, Secretary Pinol stated that he would ask President Duterte to take part in a duck and chicken “embryo festival.”
“On the suggestion of the stakeholders, and I agree with this, we will ask the President to join us whenever he’s available next week in an duck, chicken, and fertilized duck embryo festival in San Fernando. We will ask the President to eat balut with us to assure the public that if the President is not afraid to eat balut, then all the more should the public not be afraid.”
BREAKING REPORT: Beep-Beep-Beep – This Just In!!!
Contrary to previous reports, the Australian government has recently notified the Philippines government that the breakout strain is actually H5N6, a somewhat pernicious variant of avian flu that can indeed be transferred to humans.
Well, I hope President Duterte didn’t attend that embryo festival…..
And, uh, who exactly has “embryo festivals?”
Subscriber Question
RacerX : Ned, did you experience the eclipse in the Philippines on August 21st?
Me: Why yes we did and it was pretty dang cool. It started at about 6 PM and didn’t let up until about 5 AM the next morning. I got a little crazy and actually looked at it without eye protection. Despite all these “scientific experts” saying that you can permanent eye damage from looking at it, I don’t have any issues whatsoever. Our internationally beloved President Trump looked at it as well and he seems to be doing fine.
Next Viewer Comment comes from Pattaya! Exciting! News! Fun!
Pattaya Exciting News Fun says: Why do men trust women so much? Women are dangerous and evil.
Me: Women say the same thing about us.
Pattaya Exciting News Fun says: Hello. But we are dangerous in a different way to them. She’ll marry you, sleep in the same bed as you, but all the time planning and plotting to destroy you when you’ve done nothing but good for her. She’ll tell you some man is her brother and as soon as you turn your back and go to work to provide for her she’ll sex her “brother” in your martial (marital) bed. In fact i saw a video earlier in the year about homeless westerner in Thailand. These men took Thai brides and the wives divorced them and kicked them out into the street. Under Thai law she gets the house and everything so these men just sleep outside by the beach and beg for money to get 1 meal per day. They cannot go back to their original home land because of embarrassment or poverty
Me: Sounds like the typical divorce in the US.
Pattaya Exciting News Fun says: You’re right. Good day
That interaction came to a quick conclusion. And Mr. Pattaya, I checked your YouTube channel, which is to say the very least, rather interesting. And in case you didn’t know, the “masseuse” with the huge feet and red dress rubbing you down in your bed is certainly a ladyboy.
To which long-time subscriber and dear friend of the channel, Aaron Wilson added: “Not that there’s anything wrong with that!”
Bloody Week in the Drug War
The drug war continues unabated in the Philippines, with recent operations over the past few weeks resulting in the deaths of 82 of the nations citizens. A recent hullaboo occurred when a high school student was killed over the course of one of these police operations. The investigation of the death of 17-year-old Kian Delos Santos has been handed over to the Philippines senate after conflicting stories emerged over the the incident. Autopsy reports from the Public Attorney’s forensic lab revealed that Kian had three gunshot wounds – two behind his left ear and one in the center of his back. This conflicted against a report from the PNP police crime lab that noted only two gunshot wounds behind the left ear. The shirt worn by the victim has also disappeared, which could contribute to verifying the forensic results. A number of police officers involved in the shooting incident and the overseeing police superintendent have been relieved of duty as result of the investigation after CCTV footage showing police dragging the young man’s body into a nearby alley contradicted their submitted testimony.
CNN Philippines published an article on its site noting that 31 minors have been killed since the war against drugs (addicts and pushers) commenced. The article seems to have ruffled some feathers in the government as the Philippines Justice Secretary noted this past Thursday that the minors slain in ongoing police operations were simply “collateral damage.”
“Regarding what they said about 31 minors killed, this is collateral damage” The Justice Secretary said.
The ready-to-rumble President of the Philippines viewed the CCTV footage of the slain teenager and was not pleased. Although he had repeatedly stated that he would not allow any police to go to jail for doing their job, these guarantees did not apply to those killing fellow citizens in cold blood.
“You are not allowed to kill a person who is kneeling down, begging for his life. That is murder,” President Duterte noted. “Let us be clear on this.”
As a result of this latest killing of a minor, a bill requiring police officers to wear body cameras during drug operations was filed last Wednesday by Representative Anicento Bertiz III. The Representative noted that she filed the Kian Delos Santos Bertiz Body Cam Act of 2017 “in honor of Kian and other minors who perished in police operations so that untimely deaths will not be in vain.”
Final Viewer Comment
Alex: Can a foreigner own a condo?
Me: Yes.
Alex: Can a foreigner own an apartment?
Me: No. Only a condo.
Alex: What is the difference between a condo and an apartment?
Me: Google explains it in this LINK.
I’m sorry, but I can only do so much…..
And finally, the battle against ISIS in Mindanao still sputters on, Russia seems to have quietly invaded the Ukraine, and apparently there are some “fine people” among the American neo-nazi crowd.
Time to get another Pilsen delivery….
