Where'd Jay Go?

Jay's been right here in Makati.

I haven't really gone anywhere or done much of interest lately.

Edson spent September 6th-12th in Dubai for work. I remained here while a typhoon dumped large amounts of rain each night for 3 days straight, followed by a constant 24-hour+ rain and over 40 hours of gray skies that made for some weather ideal for wrist-slitting.

Equally dreary was the news of hurricane Ike in the US. Fortunately, people I know in Texas were not affected. Ironically, my family and friends in Ohio were.

So most of my time has been spent with news, chats with friends, and organizing future photo projects.

And speaking of news: even here people talk about John McCain's appearance on The View and how Barbara Walters and Co. grilled him unlike any other newspeople. Why is it the US leaves programs like The View and The Daily Show to do the work reporters are supposed to be doing? What is that all about? A usually polite morning chat show and a comedy show ask the questions ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC (Keith Olbermann excepted), and Fox won't or can't.

I'm at a loss to figure out why he insists the obvious lies his television ads spreads are not lies.

He insists the economy is sound as one iconic financial institution after another collapses, people lose homes at record rates, and energy prices will force more out of their homes this upcoming winter. He also advocated privatizing social security. If it had happened, all the money Americans were depending on for their retirements through the system would have been lost in the past couple weeks!

Of course, Sarah Palin, his running mate still insists she never promoted earmarks for Alaska and opposed the infamous "bridge to nowhere" despite incontrovertible evidence to the contrary. She also claims she's a Christian who never lies. I'd also like to know how it is the Christian Evangelicals have ignored the story of her underage daughter, the willing(?) victim of statutory rape by her boyfriend, and carrying his child. If she had been a seventeen year-old daughter of Obama's, they'd have her pilloried and a media frenzy would continue unabated right up to the November election, demonstrating how amoral liberals are, and certainly playing the race card at the same time.

Not that Palin's tart of a daughter should have any bearing on an election to begin with...but we know the media is looking for these stories to distract people from any hint of a message either McCain or Obama could possibly have to share. Of course, if she'd had the sex education Obama supports (which McCain's ads lie about), maybe she wouldn't be pregnant in the first place!

So, it is obvious to people here, the UK, Canada, and...well, any country with a television set, that McCain is desperate. I read a poll (I believe from the NY Times) that, among many other things, found that almost 70% of Republicans feel his choice of Palin was to ensure his chances of being elected, but that it was not the choice that should have been made for the good of the country. Over 60% of Republicans feel Obama's pick of Joe Biden to be the better choice for VP. Of course, Palin is someone voters "can identify with", who feels like their neighbor, so they like her. They liked David Archuleta on American Idol because he was like the boy-next-door and they "could identify with" him as well, but we're not talking American Idol here. The 2nd-highest position of power in the United States should not be based on whether or not you "can identify with" someone who seems like your neighbor! As nice as many of my neighbors have been throughout my life, I would NEVER consider them vice-presidential material. After all, it's no matter Palin doesn't know what US foreign policy has been for the past eight years; she's a mom who shops at Wal*Mart.

All I can say is I look forward to a day when the US government hands each candidate an allowance for a certain amount of money and they have to limit themselves to that. No fund raisers. No special interest groups allowed to air any ads for them or against them. No lobbyists. Just $100 million split between the two of them.

That'd keep them on message! It'd be boring, that's for sure. But the people of the US might elect someone based on substance rather than name-calling and lies. It could also keep completely irrelevant issues like family values (as if who is president has anything to do with family values) out of the election.

We all know change is coming to the US in November. Let's hope it is for the better.

Typhoon!

Today around four in the morning is when the winds woke me up. You know, the eerie, whistling kind favored in scary movies and Scooby-Doo cartoons?

Yeah, that.

The typhoon is known as Typhoon Frank or Typhoon Fengshen, depending on which news service I read. Fengshen sounds better for a typhoon. After all, hurricanes in the US get anglo names all the time. Why should they when they are in this part of the world?

Typhoon Frank. Stupid name, to be perfectly frank.

I know you're all expecting photos from it all, but all the drama happened before daylight, so I couldn't capture any of it for you. Around here a couple trees tipped over and a sign in front of our condo was destroyed. Otherwise, no big deal.

The real news from Frank was further south where over one hundred have been killed, tens of thousands are stranded on their roofs (like in New Orleans), and a ferry capsized with over seven hundred aboard. A town councilor nearest the accident was reported saying they were waiting for rescuers, but none had arrived, and all the pump boats in the town were broken. Read that as typical Filipino. According to my friend Antonio, who was studying to be an EMT here, over half the ambulances/fire/emergency equipment in metro Manila in inoperative! Donors grandiosely purchase this type of equipment for communities, painting their names on it for all to know who could afford to buy and give away such needed vehicles. What none of these donors do is provide for maintenance. It's hard to advertise that, and that is what the donation thing is all about. Suffice it to say, we feel good our hospital, police department, and fire department are all across the street from us, we have a fire hydrant below the building, and only thirteen stories worth of stairs to descend in case of emergency.

Here's another reason I didn't shoot any pictures:

This, I read, was shot by a woman in Iowa or some other flat, mid-western state. I suppose this 21st century Dorothy Gale carries a digital camera, not dog Toto with her anymore!

I'm not as crazy/brave to go outside and shoot a tornado that is just down the street. Nor am I going to run outside when I see winds toppling trees! (I haven't even posted this yet, but can already hear the sighs of relief from my parents as they read it!)

Anyway, to be perfectly frank, and that only seems appropriate...as frank-ness is all around me...it is four in the afternoon now and I've been up since practically four in the morning, so I'm going to call an end to this post and take a nap!