Southeast Asia's Sinking Cities And What's Being Done About Them

 All my friends and relatives back in the Philippines are complaining of the terrible heat waves for quite sometime now.

Even some schools consider going back to remote learning like what they did during the pandemic as the heat is so unbearable. That's how bad it is.

Heat indices as high as 46 C or around 115 F are recorded. 😰

The bad news is this is going to be the new normal in the years to come. Those climate crisis skeptics in the Philippines (and I'm sure the country has its share of them too) will finally have their rude awakening. 😱

Sadly, the Philippines is among the countries predicted by many climate scientists to suffer the most from the impact of climate crisis, thanks to the major greenhouse gas emitters of the world like China, United States, EU, India and Russia. 🥲

And it's not just heat waves. Sea levels are also fast rising. Another new normal are super-typhoons and longer and severe droughts. Water resource becomes a major problem.

Many cities especially in Asia are sinking with rising sea levels. At least, Widodo of Indonesia is doing something about it. He is actually building a new Indonesian capital named Nusantara and is being built inside the jungles of Kalimantan in Borneo with the initial phase set to be inaugurated by August of 2024. The whole new city is projected to be completed by 2045.

There are many expected challenges ahead for the Indonesian government, that's for sure. But what about Manila?

Manila is among the fastest sinking cities on the planet, sinking at around 10 centimeters per year. Anong plano ng gobyerno? 🥹

I feel sick in my stomach just thinking about what's waiting in the future for the next generation.🥲

Why Many Evangelicals Hate Muslims

 The hatred against Muslims felt by many evangelical Christians in America (not all, mind you) is so sad when you consider that the religion of Jesus Christ is based on love. Where's the love? 😢

And it's not made up by liberal left-wingers, as they often claim. The evangelical pastor from Texas in this video confirms it himself.

All these hateful talking points from hateful white supremacists and Christian nationalists among mostly evangelicals are so venomous and corrosive.

To these people, even good hearted Jews who condemn the evil done by Israel against the Palestinians in Gaza like US Senators Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer are branded antisemitic and not Jewish enough. As if they are more Jewish than the Jews themselves.

To these people, anything Muslim or Islamic is already evil. They readily see the evil done by Islamic fundamentalists but don't see the evil done by Christian fundamentalists aka themselves.

To these people, ALL Palestinians are guilty of the crimes committed by those Islamic fundamentalist Hamas. Hence, killing all of them, children and women included, is justified in their eyes. How so Christian or so they think. I would rather call myself an atheist.

Even if thousands upon thousands of those Palestinian kids and women are killed or starved to death, this people don't see them as humans anyways so they don't feel any guilt at all just like those Israelites in the Old Testament who claim they were told by their God to massacre all Amalekites and the other tribes in Canaan.

Those Israelites claim they were strictly told by God to kill ALL men, women, elderly, children even the animals of Amalek. And they can have their virgin women for themselves too.

So strict was the instruction for genocide that when the prophet Samuel learned that Saul spared the king's life, the prophet beheaded King Agag himself right before Saul and his court. Really? Wow. 😱

In fact, Netanyahu in present-day Israel often uses the example of the Amalekites as an inspiration of the IDF to kill their enemies in Gaza.

These Christian nationalists, most of them evangelical Christians, are truly living up to the expectations of Jesus or so they think...how truly loving people in the spirit of Christ...again, or so they think. 😭

It is for the same reason that Donald Trump pander to the hatred of these evangelicals to get their support by pretending to be one of them and went as far as selling Bibles or claims that he loves the Bible even if he knows nothing about it or claims that Christianity is under attack in America the way many evangelicals (and only them) see it.

This is the sad state of evangelical Christianity in America today.

Watch this video from a truly enlightened evangelical pastor and fully understand what it means to be a true Christian. 😍

On Christianity, Islam and Judaism With Their Overlaps and Contradictions

 

Another food for thought.

My response to a friend from down under who criticized me for admiring Maimonides, a famous 12th century Jewish rabbi, while at the same time accusing me of "mocking" the Old Testament. I have my reasons. Let me share them with the rest of you. ✌️

Yes, it's true that, as Christian, I don't believe the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible should be on equal footing with the New Testament just as Paul correctly stated that Christians are no longer bound to the Mosaic law of his own childhood faith.

In my opinion, putting the OT and NT together in the Christian Bible is the reason many believers are confused about their faith especially many evangelicals who still think the Jews are God's chosen people who need to go back to Zion in order for the so-called rapture and other end-times events they believe will happen will materialize.

From that perspective alone, we can now understand why many evangelicals want the Jews to run the whole of Palestine by hook or by crook in order for the end-times to happen. I know it's a bit weird.

Supposedly, based on our faith, that should not be the case anymore as Christians are considered the new chosen people of God, not the Jews. At least, that's what we are told to believe.

The OT serves only as historical reference for Christians being the faith of Jesus and his disciples. I saw Judaism as the faith of the Jewish people who historically were quite parochial in their view of their God and themselves and very tribal in the belief that their God is theirs alone. And quite violent too.

Violence has no place in the Christian faith. But many Christians are confused about it and still behave like their Judaism cousins. Very tribal and parochial.

Jesus himself corrected the Jews of his time on their wrong understanding of their faith when he expounded to them the issues of anger, adultery, divorce, oaths, retaliation, and love of enemy. These are the so-called six antheses which appear to be opposite of what Moses taught. Actually, they are not. He simply corrected their misconceptions.

But, like other religions including Christianity and Islam, Judaism as an institution is hardly static. It, too, grew over the centuries both in theology and philosophy. In fact, their specific eschatology only developed rapidly at around the same time as Christianity in the 3rd and 4th century CE considering that it was around for thousands of years before that.

I respect and admire Maimonides as a person in general just like I respect and admire Gautama Buddha. He was a 12th century Sephardic Jewish rabbi who singlehandedly reordered, reorganized, humanized and summarized the written laws of his faith for the benefit of the other faithful. That's on top of his being a philosopher, astronomer and physician admired by both Jews and Muslims alike in his time.

That's why many Jews look up to him. Of course, like most Jews, he did not believe Jesus, another Jew himself, met the criteria of what their faith is expecting for the long-awaited messiah.

I don't have to share the faith of the people I admire the most as a person. I'm open-minded enough to recognize that God revealed himself in many religious traditions. But their traditions may retain much human flaws, which is quite normal.

For one, I cannot reconcile myself with the faith of the Jews based on the very parochial view of a God willing to commit genocides against other nations and expect me to believe that it is the same God Christians believe as an all-loving deity who loves ALL of humanity. That's too contradictory.

Again, the quirkiness of our many religious traditions reflects our human side. It is not all divinely perfect as it has its human imperfections as well. Even Christianity has its share of imperfections. But we can all transcend beyond those imperfections and appreciate the universal God that holds all of humanity together. It is for this reason that I remain respectful to other faiths and expect others to respect mine too.

Between Ashkenazi Jews and Palestinians

Those Ashkenazi Jews like Netanyahu who love to deny the rights of Palestinians over the land of Palestine and claim that only Israeli Jews are descendants of the Israelites and the Jews of Biblical Israel will be forced to eat their words when shown scientific DNA evidence that their hated Palestinian brothers are probably closer to their Israelite lineage than them. 😉

A 2020 study found that Ashkenazi Jews and modern Levantine
Arabic-speaking peoples like the Palestinians share common ancestry, but Ashkenazi Jews have a higher European-related component (41%). There's a substantial genetic overlap between them.

Most Palestinians descended from local inhabitants who converted after the Islamic conquest in the seventh century CE. The most genetically native groups to the land are the Samaritans and Palestinian Christians. They are far more native than Ashkenazi Jews.

The Khazar hypothesis of Ashkenazi ancestry postulated that they are largely descended from the Khazars, Turcic people from the Caucasus region of central Asia.

Regardless, I agree with Noam Chomsky, the great American intellectual famous for his work in linguistics, cognitive science, political activism and analytic philosophy when he said it really doesn't matter whether Ashkenazi Jews are closer to their Levantine roots than their eastern European and central Asian roots or vice-versa.

He added that we are a product of our cultural heritage more than our DNAs. We live in a world of cultural traditions. Whether the Moses of history truly exist or not, it doesn't matter. Chomsky himself is an Ashkenazi Jew like Netanyahu.

I agree with Chomsky. Even us Filipinos, we defined and redefined our being Filipinos, a product of our own cultural tradition.

Originally, the natives or "indios" were NOT considered Filipinos. Filipinos back then were Spaniards or at least mestizo Spaniards born in the Philippines. They were considered "insulares" as opposed to full-blooded Spaniards born in Spain called "peninsulares."

Later, half Chinese locals or chinoys who became the nouveau riche in Philippine society were accorded the right to be called Filipinos. I believe this is where Jose Rizal acquired his being Filipino long before the word applies to every native in the Philippines.

It doesn't really matter if your family's roots were Malays, highland Austronesians or lowland Austronesians, Chinese or Spaniards who lived in the Philippines for a very long time, you are Filipinos not because of your DNAs but because of your family's cultural heritage.

The Democrats' Biggest Mistake Over Biden

 As I've been saying all along, this is the biggest mistake of the Democratic leadership in many years for failing to listen to its base.

They cannot push Biden down their throats with threats of the alternative (Trump) being far too worse. The argument of "the lesser of two evil" will not cut anymore. The leadership has always have the option of finding another candidate. It doesn't have to be Biden, whom the students now see as a moral failure.

This younger generation is correct about the US today being like how it was during the Vietnam War. Just like in the 1960s and 1970s, a wide generational gap exists.

They cannot believe their own government is supporting an Israeli government engaged in genocidal war and is not being able to stop it. Ironclad and unconditional support even in the face of war crimes being committed by your ally? Seriously?

Even the expansion of the conflict into a regional war with Iran directly involved, everyone knows that Netanyahu wants it badly to stay in power. He knew that's going to happen when he allowed the bombing of the Iranian embassy in Syria. Netanyahu trapped Biden into this wider regional war.

Then you have AIPAC, the powerful Jewish lobby, and many influential conservative Jewish Americans attacking in schools, universities, workplace, politics, labor unions and just about everywhere else those ordinary Americans who supported the Palestinians in their struggle to survive from this genocide including the intentional starvation they are being subjected to. They want to silence them.

These Jews and their MAGA allies in Congress are the reason why there's a rise of antisemitism in America today at the expense of the rest of the Jewish American community who feel strongly against Netanyahu's far-right government. It's not fair to the latter.

Where are the Democrats who are supposed to defend the rights and freedoms of ordinary Americans?

If the Democrats will lose the White House in November, they only have themselves to blame. 🥹🥶

Of Mice and Men, Netanyahu and Trump

 These calculated and limited retaliatory strikes by both Iran and Israel are more like posturing than anything. It is custom-made for their intended audiences and for each other to send a clear message.

It's saber-rattling rather than a serious attack and counter-attack. In the Philippines, we call it "moro-moro." In the West, we call it "wag the dog." It's all theatrics and sound effects.😆

Now that the message has been sent, anything more than that will turn the conflict into a real regional war. It is apparent that both Iran and the United States don't want it but Netanyahu is keen on making it a wider conflict to keep himself in power.

He will do anything to prevent an early election in Israel because he knows he will soon be kicked out and face the criminal charges he is avoiding. 🥹

Trump is not alone. Netanyahu and Trump are on the same boat and use similar strategies.

Trump used the election campaign and his useful idiots, those MAGA fanatics, as his strategy to achieve his goal.

Netanyahu, on the other hand, used the Gaza war as his perfect excuse. Thanks to Hamas, believe it or not. Their brutality became his political lifeline.😁

Both are trying their best to avoid facing the music, that is, a ruined career and possible jail time for their alleged crimes.

Netanyahu with his corruption cases while Trump with his myriad of criminal and civil cases ranging from "hush-money" to election interference to business fraud to inciting insurrection. A total of 91 criminal counts in four separate prosecutions. Impressive. 😆

Nice try, guys, but you cannot run from justice forever. Justice will eventually prevail. 👍

Human Rights in America

When it comes to human rights, Jimmy Carter is likely to be disappointed that America upholds them in words only. As his fellow US president, George H W Bush, once infamously said: "read my lips."

When the going gets tough, the US commitment to human rights is there is really NO commitment to human rights.

The US response to the 9/11 attacks clearly settled this old question.

America is happy to preach to others about human rights. Especially the Chinese and the Russians and the Iranians. But, when the Americans themselves came under attack, they would do just about anything to wipe out the threat.

Before human rights became an advocacy for America under Jimmy Carter, we violated many of them during the tumultuous years of the Vietnam War and Civil Rights movement.

After Carter, we did it again post-9/11 when we intimidated our fellow Americans in the academia to silence them.

Then we did it again to them since October last year when the Gaza War started.

Presidents of multiple universities have been questioned by the Republican-majority House, inquisition-style, over reported rise in antisemitism on college campuses, never mind the simultaneous rise of Islamophobia as well. Both presidents of Harvard and University of Pennsylvania later resigned.

Recently, the president of Columbia University in New York capitulated to the demands of the same lawmakers in Washington, DC and started cracking down on protesting students, arresting a hundred of them.

At Yale University in Connecticut, police also arrested 50 protesting students.

The same thing happened to University of Southern California when it decided to cancel the valedictorian speech of Asna Tabassum, a Muslim student known to support the Palestinians in Gaza.

What freedom of speech? What human rights? What a shame. 😪

The Power of AIPAC Over Americans

 The Squad is about to fight for its political life. The war in Gaza has set the stage for a huge primary battle in 2024.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee or AIPAC, the powerful Jewish lobby, has set its sights on progressive candidates like the Squad who dare to criticize Israel or its leaders, funding negative attack ads during their primaries.

The group is expected to spend about $100 million on the efforts. Lobbyists like them hold American democracy at the palm of their hands. They make a mockery out of American democracy. They become America's kingmaker.

They can even make US lawmakers go after their perceived enemies like the Squad today and punish them or make their lives not easy. Ask those university presidents from Harvard and U Penn who were forced to resign.

Lobbying (which, honestly in today's political reality, is tantamount to legalized bribery) should banned. Trying to differentiate lobbying from bribery is simply splitting hairs. They are siblings from the same mother.

Along with lobbying, dismantling the electoral college will get America closer to an ideal democracy. A 2023 Pew Research Center survey found that 65% of Americans support changing the way presidents are elected so that the winner of the popular vote nationwide wins the presidency. It only makes sense if you want the people's voice to prevail. 👍

It's about time to get rid of the ridiculous electoral college, which was a compromise by the founding fathers and become disastrous over the centuries. It's also about time to get rid of lobbying, which is nothing but legalized bribery. 🥶

Where Fundamentalism Went Wrong

The truth of the matter is all three of the Abrahamic faiths - Christianity, Islam and Judaism - in their most fundamental forms are the most intolerant religions in the world.

But over time theologians moved past that fundamental stage and, just as society evolved, religions also evolved. New insights are continually found. Perceptions and realities change. Whereas in Jesus' time, they did not condemn slavery, we now say it is evil. Whereas in his time, women were considered second-class citizens, we now say that women have the same rights as men. And so on and so forth.

That's where fundamentalism goes wrong. Fundamentalists - whether Christian, Muslim or Jewish - are wrong to assume that changes and additions to our faith traditions are automatically bad and they want people to go back to the "fundamentals", at times imposing their will to the rest of society whether they like it or not. Both Christian and Muslim fundamentalists want women to remain subservient to men just like in the Bible and Koran. But we now know that there is nothing wrong with giving women equal rights. There is nothing wrong with discovering new "truths" as humanity moves forward and we progress in many fields. There is nothing wrong with science discovering that what we hold as true and factual in our faith traditions are in fact wrong - that it took way more than six days from the beginning of time until Earth (with all its creatures) was formed, that the Earth is not really flat, that it is not the center of the universe, that having epilepsy is not necessarily being possessed with evil spirit, that Adam and Eve were not really our first ancestors, and on and on. There is nothing wrong with banning slavery even if it is not banned in the Bible and the Koran. We now know it is evil. There's even nothing wrong with the Catholic belief in purgatory even if it is not mentioned in the Bible. It is a more humane view of the Christian eschatology.

Fundamentalists want believers to follow the Bible and the Koran to the letter. Creationism is right. Science is wrong. The Earth is only 10,000 years old and was created in just six days. Strict dress code. Wives should submit to their husbands. The Talibans require beard among men. They even brought back death by stoning for adulterers. ISIS brought back slavery. They want us to go back to the times in the Bible and the Koran. Many Christians in the West ignorantly believe all Muslims are fundamentalists. Hardly. Blame the media and the hate preachers.

Perhaps the day will come when the newest generation will come to understand that there is nothing wrong with gay people even if Paul condemned them in the Bible. Fifty years from now, some of us who will still be around will be scratching their heads why we are so violent against gay people. Just as we do now looking back at the 1950s and 1960s in the Deep South, we find it disturbing that in that era ordinary white Americans even kids were not even bothered at the sights of black men and women being hanged on trees. We find it embarrassing that decent folks in that era were not even bothered by the obvious discrimination against black people in restaurants, on buses and elsewhere.

That's living. We move on.

"Who is my neighbor?"

"Who is my neighbor?"

That's the famous question by a self-righteous Jewish lawyer that begets the Parable of the Good Samaritan, perhaps the most known among the parables of Jesus.

Nowadays, the word 'Samaritan' is synonymous with being charitable. But in Jesus' time, Samaritans were among the most despised people in Israel for being too unorthodox and lax in following the Law and for intermarrying non-Jews, similar to today's nominal non-fundamentalist Christians and Muslims alike. Most Jews during the time of Jesus hate to associate with the Samaritans but Jesus quite often went through Samaria and interacted with the Samaritans. The tolerance that Jesus showed to Samaritans must have irritated the orthodox Jews of his time especially the priests and probably played a part in their decision to plot his death.

In the parable, both the priest and the Levite are known to know the Law by heart yet showed no compassion to the dying man on the road. They represented the religious-acting people who talk the talk but rarely walk the walk. Instead, it was the much maligned Samaritan who showed great compassion to the man. Jesus was citing as example a member of a group hated by those in his audience. In fact, when he asked "which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?", the self-righteous lawyer, more likely still with personal hardness in his heart, cannot bring himself to say "the Samaritan” and instead said " one who had mercy on him."

Jesus' moral lesson is very clear in this parable, which clearly answered the question "who is my neighbor [whom I should love as myself]?". Yet, many "orthodox" Christians and Muslims of today continue to act like those orthodox Jews in his time, despising and hating those who are considered "non-believers", "idolators" and "infidels", including those nominal Christians and Muslims who are not regular church-goers, those "progressives" who showed tolerance to other groups, even intermarry them, and are not as rigid in mastering their Bibles and their Korans. How sad. A lesson not entirely learned.

"If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing."

~ 1 Corinthians 13:2