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Author: TriSec    Date: 11/26/2013 11:12:43

Good Morning.

Today is our 4,433rd day in Afghanistan.

We'll start this morning as we always do; with the latest casualty figures from our ongoing war, courtesy of Antiwar.com:

US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 2,290
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,105

We find this morning's cost of war passing through:

$ 1, 492, 086, 375, 000 .00



We'll start overseas this morning. While it's already faded from the headlines here in the United States, the suffering continues in the central islands in the Philippines. Survivors there face a daily struggle for food, water, and shelter, and any and all aid from all senders is gratefully welcomed.

But 70 years ago, these same islands were a battlefield, and the two powers of the day hammered at each other for control of the people and the strategic resources in the area. Now those same two powers are fighting a battle of a different kind.


CLARK AIR BASE, Philippines — Almost 70 years after fighting what may have been the biggest naval battle in history, U.S. and Japanese forces are back in the same area — this time as allies working together to help the typhoon-ravaged Philippines.

“This area of the Philippines is where the U.S. fought some of the most important battles of World War II,” Rear Adm. Mark C. Montgomery, commander of the USS George Washington Carrier Strike Group, said during a visit to the battered city of Tacloban on Friday.

Nearby, a contingent of Japanese soldiers worked alongside U.S. Special Operations troops at Tacloban Airport.

“This is where MacArthur landed,” Montgomery said, referring to Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s Oct. 20, 1944, “return” to Palo, just over eight miles from Tacloban on Leyte island.

The Battle of Leyte Gulf, off Tacloban, involved more than 200 ships, including 12 aircraft carriers and 200,000 sailors, according to historical accounts.

Many of the airfields that the U.S. military is using to support the relief effort were built by U.S. or Japanese forces during the war.

According to Joint Task Force 505 — the headquarters overseeing the U.S. relief effort — nearly 850 U.S. personnel are on the ground in the Philippines with 6,200 more offshore in the USS George Washington Strike Group. An extra 1,000 Marines and sailors with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit are expected to arrive in about three days.

Almost 1,200 Japanese Self-Defense Forces personnel will soon be working alongside the Americans here, conducting medical activities and helping move supplies in Cebu, Manila and Tacloban, according to a Japanese Joint Staff Office spokesman; 100 are on the ground, with the rest expected to arrive soon.

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ships, including the destroyer Ise, transport vessel Osumi and supply vessel Towada, are heading for the Philippines. Japan has also deployed three CH-47s, three UH-1s and 2 SH-60s, two KC-767s, seven C-130s and one U-4 aircraft.

“This is the largest deployment of SDF [Self Defense Force] personnel to an international disaster relief activity,” the spokesman said.

Japan will also provide $52.1 million in disaster assistance, according to its Ministry of Foreign Affairs.


According to family lore, my own grandfather cursed the Japanese with his last breath from his deathbed...perhaps a massive humanitarian mission will help to erase the still-lingering postwar bitterness many Asian countries still feel towards Japan. Time will tell.

And then there's the United States. We've been a longtime ally of the Phillippines, for both good (liberation and rebuilding after WWII) and bad (supporting Marcos for decades). As a result, we have a lot of military resources placed there for whatever reason. Of course, the United States doesn't do anything altruistic anymore; the military is probably exploiting our opportunities there as we speak.


Last week I wrote about the potential for the Obama administration’s Asia-Pivot strategy to inflame anti-colonialist sentiment. I lamented that Washington tries simply to get around this popular opposition to the military surge in East Asia instead of acknowledging that people don’t like to be occupied by foreign militaries.

Cynically, the U.S. has exploited the suffering of the typhoon in the Philippines in order to gain leverage in negotiations with Manila over increased U.S. military presence there. The relief operations performed by U.S. forces are seen as helping to “lubricate” the deal for basing rights, which are one piece of a broader plan to contain a rising China.

According to Robert Farley at The Diplomat, the process of “establishing forward U.S. bases in the Philippines…has moved slowly, largely because of domestic concerns in Manila about a military U.S. presence.”

“Fortunately for U.S. strategic interests (if not the victims of the storm),” Farley writes, “the U.S. Navy’s support in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan may win sufficient goodwill to overcome local opposition to a renewed U.S. military role.”

That is as plain an example of exploitation as you’re going to get. The fact that Filipinos hesitate to welcome the U.S. back onto permanent bases, after kicking us out at the end of the Cold War, should not be belittled. The 1899-1902 U.S. war and occupation of the Philippines was a vicious colonial experiment waged for cynical geopolitical interests. Inclusive estimates that account for excess deaths related to the war say there were as many as 1 million casualties. Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos were locked up in concentration camps, where poor conditions and disease killed thousands.


Ah right, I forget that we were an Imperial Power once too. Maybe the humanitarian effort could rehabilitate both our Empires on the island of Leyte.
 

96 comments (Latest Comment: 11/27/2013 00:06:57 by Raine)
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Comment by Raine on 11/26/2013 13:53:27
Good Morning!

Comment by Mondobubba on 11/26/2013 14:13:30
Morning. A gloomy icky day here. At least it isn't cold.

Comment by Raine on 11/26/2013 14:21:01
Quote by Mondobubba:
Morning. A gloomy icky day here. At least it isn't cold.

It's ikky here too.

blergh....

Comment by BobR on 11/26/2013 14:23:30


Comment by Mondobubba on 11/26/2013 14:24:54
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Mondobubba:
Morning. A gloomy icky day here. At least it isn't cold.

It's ikky here too.

blergh....


Ugh. Cold and raining. We need a storm cloud emoticon.


Comment by Mondobubba on 11/26/2013 14:25:14
Comment by Scoopster on 11/26/2013 14:52:57
Mornin' all.. Last day of the work week for me!

So.. umm... yeah this just got complicated.

Comment by Raine on 11/26/2013 14:53:23
I know that hindsight is 20/20 but I still have to wonder that had Virginia elected Deeds for governor, his son may have hat a chance to get the healthcare he needed.

Comment by wickedpam on 11/26/2013 14:57:20
Morning

Comment by Mondobubba on 11/26/2013 14:59:11
Quote by Raine:
I know that hindsight is 20/20 but I still have to wonder that had Virginia elected Deeds for governor, his son may have hat a chance to get the healthcare he needed.



Here in Florida, Deeds the Younger would have been Baker Acted.

Comment by Raine on 11/26/2013 14:59:54
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by Raine:
I know that hindsight is 20/20 but I still have to wonder that had Virginia elected Deeds for governor, his son may have hat a chance to get the healthcare he needed.



Here in Florida, Deeds the Younger would have been Baker Acted.
What's that?


Comment by Raine on 11/26/2013 15:01:50
Comment by Mondobubba on 11/26/2013 15:04:21
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by Raine:
I know that hindsight is 20/20 but I still have to wonder that had Virginia elected Deeds for governor, his son may have hat a chance to get the healthcare he needed.



Here in Florida, Deeds the Younger would have been Baker Acted.
What's that?



The Baker Act, esplained. Better than I could!

Comment by Mondobubba on 11/26/2013 15:05:21



That's kinda awesome!

Comment by Raine on 11/26/2013 15:09:31
Quote by Mondobubba:



That's kinda awesome!
Anyone who ever dove from Long ISland to Jersey via Staten Island knows that was pretty much hell to drive thru -- it was a dead spot -- I am always amazed driving there now to see HOW MUCH it has changed.

This is a really great story about how things CAN be changed even when it looks impossible.


Comment by Raine on 11/26/2013 15:14:19
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by Raine:
I know that hindsight is 20/20 but I still have to wonder that had Virginia elected Deeds for governor, his son may have hat a chance to get the healthcare he needed.



Here in Florida, Deeds the Younger would have been Baker Acted.
What's that?



The Baker Act, esplained. Better than I could!

Thanks for that information. It would be nice to see something like that here.

Gs Deeds was only held for 6 hours -- and that wasn't enough time (or perhaps CSB was negligent) to find a bed for him.

I suspect 72 hours could be abused -- but 6 hours certainly wasn't enough time.

Deeds was kinda milquetoasty about the ACA when he was running, but I believe he would have opted into the medicaid expansion and the state exchanges.

Community health centers are being built and I believe they will provide mental health assistance as well.

It's really sad, I think.

Comment by Mondobubba on 11/26/2013 15:17:44
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by Raine:
I know that hindsight is 20/20 but I still have to wonder that had Virginia elected Deeds for governor, his son may have hat a chance to get the healthcare he needed.



Here in Florida, Deeds the Younger would have been Baker Acted.
What's that?



The Baker Act, esplained. Better than I could!

Thanks for that information. It would be nice to see something like that here.

Gs Deeds was only held for 6 hours -- and that wasn't enough time (or perhaps CSB was negligent) to find a bed for him.

I suspect 72 hours could be abused -- but 6 hours certainly wasn't enough time.

Deeds was kinda milquetoasty about the ACA when he was running, but I believe he would have opted into the medicaid expansion and the state exchanges.

Community health centers are being built and I believe they will provide mental health assistance as well.

It's really sad, I think.



It can be abused. When my brother was living with me, he was Baker Acted. His depression was very deep. He didn't need to be held for 72 hours though.

Comment by wickedpam on 11/26/2013 15:18:27
I so love it when other people think they know how to do my job try to tell me what how to do thing.

Comment by Mondobubba on 11/26/2013 15:18:34
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Mondobubba:



That's kinda awesome!
Anyone who ever dove from Long ISland to Jersey via Staten Island knows that was pretty much hell to drive thru -- it was a dead spot -- I am always amazed driving there now to see HOW MUCH it has changed.

This is a really great story about how things CAN be changed even when it looks impossible.



Drove by there once. It was about 25 years ago. Nightmare is a good word.

Comment by Raine on 11/26/2013 15:19:33
Deeds was a little too timid about HCR.

I want to make it clear that I am not victim blaming here, I do believe that had he been elected governor, he would have opted in to the state exchanges and the expansion.

That is my point -- he may have had more resources for his son. I take issue that he should have run as a progressive, not here in Virginia -- but as I said, hindsight 20/20.

Comment by TriSec on 11/26/2013 15:21:55
Morning, comrades.

All the resources are in place - we commence the attack in 48 hours.

BTW, any vodka aficionados out there? I have purchased a bottle of Ketel One at the recommendation of my RW friend. Whoa.

<-- Yeehaw!



Comment by Mondobubba on 11/26/2013 15:24:53
Quote by TriSec:
Morning, comrades.

All the resources are in place - we commence the attack in 48 hours.

BTW, any vodka aficionados out there? I have purchased a bottle of Ketel One at the recommendation of my RW friend. Whoa.

<-- Yeehaw!




I'm a Gray Goose man meself. I'll have to try Ketel One.

Comment by Scoopster on 11/26/2013 15:25:04
Quote by TriSec:
Morning, comrades.

All the resources are in place - we commence the attack in 48 hours.

BTW, any vodka aficionados out there? I have purchased a bottle of Ketel One at the recommendation of my RW friend. Whoa.

<-- Yeehaw!

Ketel One is pretty damn good stuff. And I'm not a vodka drinker!

Comment by Scoopster on 11/26/2013 15:26:23
Comment by Raine on 11/26/2013 15:27:20
Quote by Mondobubba:
It can be abused. When my brother was living with me, he was Baker Acted. His depression was very deep. He didn't need to be held for 72 hours though.


I think we found something good about Florida here!


Comment by Raine on 11/26/2013 15:28:24
Quote by Scoopster:
Quote by TriSec:
Morning, comrades.

All the resources are in place - we commence the attack in 48 hours.

BTW, any vodka aficionados out there? I have purchased a bottle of Ketel One at the recommendation of my RW friend. Whoa.

<-- Yeehaw!

Ketel One is pretty damn good stuff. And I'm not a vodka drinker!
VERY good stuff.


Comment by Mondobubba on 11/26/2013 15:29:11
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Mondobubba:
It can be abused. When my brother was living with me, he was Baker Acted. His depression was very deep. He didn't need to be held for 72 hours though.


I think we found something good about Florida here!


There are some things about Florida that don't suck.

Comment by Raine on 11/26/2013 15:33:21
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by TriSec:
Morning, comrades.

All the resources are in place - we commence the attack in 48 hours.

BTW, any vodka aficionados out there? I have purchased a bottle of Ketel One at the recommendation of my RW friend. Whoa.

<-- Yeehaw!




I'm a Gray Goose man meself. I'll have to try Ketel One.
Ketel One has a bit of a bitter (not in a bad way -- think hoppy beer) profile kicking up that freshness profile. Gray goose is smoother and more earthy tasting, IMO.

Both are very good.




Comment by Mondobubba on 11/26/2013 15:35:55
Those wacky Brits!

I'll hazard a guess and says they've done a better job of labeling the states than the average Murrican would do in labeling shires.

Comment by Raine on 11/26/2013 15:39:49
Comment by Mondobubba on 11/26/2013 15:40:56
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by TriSec:
Morning, comrades.

All the resources are in place - we commence the attack in 48 hours.

BTW, any vodka aficionados out there? I have purchased a bottle of Ketel One at the recommendation of my RW friend. Whoa.

<-- Yeehaw!




I'm a Gray Goose man meself. I'll have to try Ketel One.
Ketel One has a bit of a bitter (not in a bad way -- think hoppy beer) profile kicking up that freshness profile. Gray goose is smoother and more earthy tasting, IMO.

Both are very good.




Yes, the Goose is very smooth. We likes it. We keeps our precious in a friendses freezer so the alky landlord won't drink it. We will be visiting the precious on Thursday! :gollum:

Comment by Mondobubba on 11/26/2013 15:44:24
This is the total of G. Zizzle's arsenal? He is under-armed by Florida standards.

Comment by Will in Chicago on 11/26/2013 15:45:08
Good morning, bloggers!!

I hope that everyone is well. TriSec, I hope that the Philippines gets a lot of help even if the tragedy is no longer a headline story on the national news.

As for myself, it looks like I will really not be doing anything for Thanksgiving -- except going to work for my holiday job that night. As it will be the first night of Chanukah, I will make some latkes and light the candles before I deal with shoppers.

Comment by Raine on 11/26/2013 15:50:45
Quote by Mondobubba:
Those wacky Brits!

I'll hazard a guess and says they've done a better job of labeling the states than the average Murrican would do in labeling shires.
I think they did a better job than Americans at labeling our own states!


I loved this one: They need to close the border to Nickelback, STAT

(and Jesse Pinkman in the same image)


Comment by wickedpam on 11/26/2013 15:56:20
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Mondobubba:
Those wacky Brits!

I'll hazard a guess and says they've done a better job of labeling the states than the average Murrican would do in labeling shires.
I think they did a better job than Americans at labeling our own states!


I loved this one: They need to close the border to Nickelback, STAT

(and Jesse Pinkman in the same image)



Lots of Utah's was interesting

Comment by Raine on 11/26/2013 15:56:51
Quote by Scoopster:
Pope Francis rails against capitalism, calls it 'idolatry of money'

Jeez is this a socialist or WHAT!

I'm of two thoughts here.

1) What is up with this guy?
2) I think he's showing us how low the bar was/is for Catholicism.

Either way -- I think he's dragging the Catholic church forward. That's a good thing.

Comment by BobR on 11/26/2013 15:57:48
Quote by Mondobubba:
Those wacky Brits!

I'll hazard a guess and says they've done a better job of labeling the states than the average Murrican would do in labeling shires.

That's probably on par with most U.S. schoolkids these days

Comment by Raine on 11/26/2013 15:58:13
Quote by Mondobubba:
This is the total of G. Zizzle's arsenal? He is under-armed by Florida standards.
One gun is too many for that G Zimm.




Comment by Mondobubba on 11/26/2013 16:02:38
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Mondobubba:
This is the total of G. Zizzle's arsenal? He is under-armed by Florida standards.
One gun is too many for that G Zimm.





Very true. My dry sarcasm failed.

Comment by Raine on 11/26/2013 16:09:52
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Mondobubba:
This is the total of G. Zizzle's arsenal? He is under-armed by Florida standards.
One gun is too many for that G Zimm.





Very true. My dry sarcasm failed.
No it didn't.

To be quite honest that he had THAT many arms at her house after all of this says he REALLY has head issues.


Comment by Will in Chicago on 11/26/2013 16:11:26
Courtesy of the Nation, here is an article to use for ammunition at your Thanksgiving dinner in case someone complains about "gubbmint healthcare." Inequality is (Literally) Killing America.

Only a few miles separate the Baltimore neighborhoods of Roland Park and Upton Druid Heights. But residents of the two areas can measure the distance between them in years—twenty years, to be exact. That’s the difference in life expectancy between Roland Park, where people live to be 83 on average, and Upton Druid Heights, where they can expect to die at 63.

Underlying these gaps in life expectancy are vast economic disparities. Roland Park is an affluent neighborhood with an unemployment rate of 3.4 percent, and a median household income above $90,000. More than 17 percent of people in Upton Druid Heights are unemployed, and the median household income is just $13,388.

It’s no secret that this sort of economic inequality is increasing nationwide; the disparity between America’s richest and poorest is the widest it’s been since the Roaring Twenties. Less discussed are the gaps in life expectancy that have widened over the past twenty-five years between America’s counties, cities and neighborhoods. While the country as a whole has gotten richer and healthier, the poor have gotten poorer, the middle class has shrunk and Americans without high school diplomas have seen their life expectancy slide back to what it was in the 1950s. Economic inequalities manifest not in numbers, but in sick and dying bodies.


Comment by Raine on 11/26/2013 16:19:40
Please Weather channel -- stop this naming storms nonsense.

That said, this kinda sucks.
"New York City could see sustained winds between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts between 30 and 40 mph," said weather.com meteorologist Alan Raymond.

City rules dictate that the giant balloons that characterize the parade can't take flight if sustained winds exceed 23 mph, or gusts exceed 34 mph, according to CBS2 New York.
I have a few friends that are handlers. One friend was trained to do so for the first time.

Comment by Mondobubba on 11/26/2013 16:20:32
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Mondobubba:
This is the total of G. Zizzle's arsenal? He is under-armed by Florida standards.
One gun is too many for that G Zimm.





Very true. My dry sarcasm failed.
No it didn't.

To be quite honest that he had THAT many arms at her house after all of this says he REALLY has head issues.



I thought they were going to take more guns out than that. You are correct, one is too many for G-Zizzy.

Comment by Raine on 11/26/2013 16:30:55
Did the SMS show post this Drunk Uncle Hank article? I want it. I need it.

Comment by Mondobubba on 11/26/2013 16:45:40
Quote by Raine:
Please Weather channel -- stop this naming storms nonsense.

That said, this kinda sucks.
"New York City could see sustained winds between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts between 30 and 40 mph," said weather.com meteorologist Alan Raymond.

City rules dictate that the giant balloons that characterize the parade can't take flight if sustained winds exceed 23 mph, or gusts exceed 34 mph, according to CBS2 New York.
I have a few friends that are handlers. One friend was trained to do so for the first time.



If it isn't a cyclonic storm caused by tropical low pressure, it doesn't get a name.

Comment by Raine on 11/26/2013 17:14:55
Ways you know you have awesome neighbors:

You get a text message asking *need extra neck or giblets?*

Comment by Will in Chicago on 11/26/2013 17:22:14
Quote by Raine:
Ways you know you have awesome neighbors:

You get a text message asking *need extra neck or giblets?*



Nice, I am looking at maybe making some chicken Thursday. Also, checking for mid year openings in teaching and other things.

Comment by Will in Chicago on 11/26/2013 17:34:43
Raine, add this to your files on stories from Virginia about Obamacare saving lives: Obamacare saved my son's life.


Yes, my eyes watered a bit while reading it.

Comment by Will in Chicago on 11/26/2013 17:51:00
The Supreme Court is going to hear the Hobby Lobby case.

Comment by wickedpam on 11/26/2013 17:53:53
Quote by Will in Chicago:
The Supreme Court is going to hear the Hobby Lobby case.


Why did Hobby Lobby have to turn out to be such assholes? I liked there stores. *sigh*