Finestkind Clinic and fish market

losing trust in science: censorship

2026-06-05T06:20:49.572+08:00

So should I as a physician distrust medical journals? Knowing the bias by drug companies maybe. More serious is that doctors in the US are pressured to follow recommendations based on summaries of medical journal articles, which like AI summaries could be biased because the database was biased,

A lot of this is distrust of vaccines due to minor adverse effects that are less serious than the disease itself. However, since Covid was mainly fatal for high risk types, when you read about side effects, it makes you wonder why they are insisting that young low risk folks were forced to take repeated doses

The AstroZeneca was known to cause blood clots at the time I took it, but the government limited it to those of us who were elderly or high risk.

Ironically the gov't refused to use the mRNA vaccine when first offered it by the USA because they wouldn't sign the agreement not to sue.

and once the Omicron varient hit, one priest/physician with a background in public health said no one needed the vaccine and that was all over social media here. But you know students wanting to attend school still were given a vaccine.

the distrust of vaccines here in the Philippines is due to the Dengue vaccine debacle, but most folks got the shot anyway,

Now a lot of deaths are being blamed on the vaccine years later: Mainly elderly so probably not true. But I can think of a few younger deaths that might have been blood clots from the shot, and one girl who developed transverse myelitis that might have been from the shot, but without public health investigation I don't know.

I no longer practice medicine, and have essentially been disabled since I had a complicated Dengue infection two years ago, so I can't blame the vaccine. I took the AZ, an adenovirus vaccine known to cause blood clots and strokes, and had three episodes of asthmatic bronchitis when COVID was around, but no major problem since then. But I do have evidence of immune dysfunction including maybe that atypical Dengue episode and shingles.

Or maybe I am just old.

Family news

2026-06-01T11:49:50.594+08:00

It is still hot season but the monsoon rains have started so the extreme heat should go down a bit: From 100F to 90.

The city water is still off, and last night after a big thunderstorm, water leaked into a electric wire to our water pump, so no bath again today, not even with a bucket (thank God for hanidwipes).

the problem? The same wire kept the pump to aerate our fish pond, so this morning all the fish were at the surface trying to breathe. In the hot weather, we often lose fish from stress, so we were facing a fish die off.

We got our handiman to come and connect the wire to the fishpond pump, so now we are hoping that the fish recover.

The female dog was in heat, so the male dogs were fighting all night, so I have not had a good night's sleep for a few days. Sigh. She is now out of heat, and the neighbor's dog, who she usually mates with when we take her for a walk, came over to look for her when we opened the garage door. Luckily our male dogs were in the garden or it could have been a major fight.

We try to let her mate outside since previous puppies from her brother were beautiful but two had hip dysplasia.

The Baptist church that meets in our meeting room had an anniversary party yesterday: Yum. Filipino food. Actually we eat Filipino food all the time, but our cook is getting old so the recipes are limited, and not always well cooked. Sigh.

Lots of people sick (blood pressure and diabetes) and a few have died.

Our next door neighbor's daughter in law was buried after five days wake. The wake included music until midnight. A sad case: In her mid 40s and diabetic and died of sepsis. She was a tomboy, and lived in Manila, but no kids or family there so was buried here.

Brush up your Shakespeare

2026-05-30T17:37:19.466+08:00

in the USA, a lot of people are upsest at Trumpiebooy's insults. So I have a suggestion for him:

AI discussion duscussing the Pope's latest output.

2026-05-29T17:51:16.231+08:00

the culture wars

2026-05-27T03:29:09.977+08:00

Dante lecture

2026-05-27T03:09:28.380+08:00

the online lectures about Dante are usually boring but this one explains stuff much better and hey it's narrator is so quiet you can just put it on to put you to sleep.

excuse the typing errors. I blog at night and touch type.

the Pope tells us to give up AI

2026-05-26T17:11:43.363+08:00

,,,

...

posted to listen to later on my tablet.

one suspects this will be pushed by the SJW in the Catholic church to stop the wet from dveloping AI Guess who wins? China, who just happened to bribe millions of dollars to the Vatican so they could take ovef the Catholc church in China.

But a lot more in this discussion

Then we have this:

𝐎’𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐒𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐑 𝐎𝐍 𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐀 𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐅𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐍𝐄𝐓𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒 — 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐆𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐄𝐃𝐒 𝟗𝟎 𝐏𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐒

Kevin O'Leary isn't taking the organized blitz against American energy and data-center projects lying down.… pic.twitter.com/6YcRXiPnVA
— M.A. Rothman (@MichaelARothman) May 26, 2026

two million people will be making the Hajj

2026-05-25T02:45:32.471+08:00

A lot of trolls on youtube and other sites are ridiculing Trumpieboy for not attacking Iran and trying to make peace.

and not one of them mentioned one reason local Muslim countries wanted no attacks right now:

from Turkiye today

this week is the Hajj pilgrimage.

According to the two senior Gulf officials cited by Middle East Eye, Trump was told that attacking Iran during Hajj would leave hundreds of thousands of pilgrims stranded. The sources also said Trump was warned that striking during the holy period leading up to Eid al-Adha would further damage Washington's standing in the Muslim world. The U.S. had previously attacked Iran during Ramadan, but an attack during Hajj was described as carrying far greater logistical consequences for Saudi Arabia, which hosts around a million foreign pilgrims each year, as well as Gulf air travel hubs in Qatar and the UAE, and countries in South and East Asia from which many pilgrims depart.

Yup. We had a British lady staying here for a week when the attacks started because her flight via Qatar was cancelled. Now imagine what that would do if the Mullahs pulled a similar stunt now

May 23, 2026 Muslim pilgrims perform the tawaf ritual by circling seven times around the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. More than a million Muslims are gathering for the hajj pilgrimage, which is taking place in the shadow of the Middle East war, as animosity smoulders across the region despite a fragile ceasefire.

Saudi Arabia: 1.5 million join Hajj pilgrimage despite war https://t.co/2HnFAWqf4i
— Inquirer (@inquirerdotnet) May 24, 2026

alas the Iranian Mullahs are busy posting on X that Muslims should recognize your urgent duty and direct all your motivation toward the real enemy of the Islamic Ummah — the Arrogant Powers.

Sigh. So why should people worry?

well, some people remember the 1987 attack on Mecca and the Mullahs have politicized the pilgrimage for years by having some of their "pilgrim" do demonstrations.

from the HouseOfSaud website:

Hajj 2026 faces unprecedented threats as Iranian missiles target Saudi Arabia. 1.8 million pilgrims, 130+ cancelled flights, and $9 billion in new air defenses.....

hygiene and vaccinations are quite sophisticated as their site emphasizes who needs which vaccines etc.

there is a headsup about MERS and contact with camels for foreigners to follow.

and they stress usual precautions to prevent heat stroke, dehydration etc.

So far, Ebola is not a concern.

so pray for the safety of the Pilgrims that they find peace in their pilgrimage.

Family news: Monsoon is here

2026-05-22T12:44:58.527+08:00

It is the end of hot season, so every day it goes up to the upper 90s F.

The good news? Monsoon season is starting: Late afternoon thunderstorms

the bad news? High humidity and heat mean my asthma is worse.

The town is busy fixing things, so still no city water and our pump is working but noisy. So I can shower at least and the maid can wash the clothes.

Since our previous live in helpers left, we have new people stsaying here but I don't know much about them: a man wife and I think their child. A
We also have two live in maids, one with a young boy, and our old secretary who is back fro working in Japan and is married and has a child. She lives at home but brings her child here while working, and there is always someone to watch the child.

I usually keep the dogs in my room but they still bark at the new help, which is frightening but not dangerous, since they don't usually bite, unlike our previous vicious dog who bit anyone who came near him and we had to keep chained up during the day.

A neighbor down the street died: A middle age man, no news of what he died from, but the cook will visit and take a gift to the family to help with the expenses and come back with the news.

Usually people here are laid out in their homes, and there is often a tent like covering outside the home where the men can sit and play cards while watching most of the day and night, while inside the coffin is laid ou and there are seats for the visitors, who are given soft drinks and small snacks.

A lot of people have relatives overseas, so it could be a week until the burial.

In the meanwhile, I will stay indoors most of the time.

But the electricity is off, probably because they are fixing the lines. Luckily the generator is working so we have internet and lights, although the airconditioner is weaker than normal so it's not very cool in the room.

Ah the wonderfulness of living in a tropical paradise.

the AI center fight is about the future and the Philippines is part of the plan

2026-05-21T16:39:33.866+08:00

I am not up on what is going on in the USA except that the left hates anything Trump is doing, and now is busy pushing outrage against AI Centers in the USA.... which of course would let China become the lead for the AI Future.

From Instapundit:

I’ve been lurking in anti-AI, anti-data center activist facebook groups just to understand what their arguments are

Guys it’s really not a good sign that they are borrowing the same tactic of framing non-violent things as violence. During the woke cultural revolution, innocuous… pic.twitter.com/EDb3CwKUoy
— Melissa Chen (@MsMelChen) May 19, 2026

.....

I had no idea about this until I read @amuse https://t.co/feIVBBrMIx
— Melissa Chen (@MsMelChen) May 20, 2026

,,,,,,,,

so what does this have to do with the Philippines?

Cue up to the Pax Silica plan to industrialize the Philippines.

.. ..Pax Silica is the US outreach to other countries including the Philippines.

This historic declaration hails a new economic security consensus ensuring aligned partners build the AI ecosystem of tomorrow—from energy and critical minerals to high-end manufacturing and models.,,,

We recognize that the technological revolution in AI is accelerating, increasingly reorganizing the world economy, and reshaping global supply chains. We believe that economic value and growth will flow through and across all levels of the global AI supply chain, driving historic opportunity and demand for energy, critical minerals, manufacturing, technological hardware, infrastructure, and new markets not yet invented.

...

so yes the Philippines is pushing this plan:

We have the resources of our workers, who right now are forced to migrate to other countries to find work. This will allow this talent to stay here and find jobs.

Under this framework, the country is advancing the proposed AI-Native Industrial Acceleration Hub in New Clark City, a flagship project that brings together AI, infrastructure, and high-value industries.

Yup. Clark city, where there was a US base until politics asked the US to close it and Mt Pinatubo covered it with ash.

Our lovely ex president Gloria comes from that area and has been investing in roads, and infrastructure for years.

Clark industrial zone, was created, roads and rail connected it to other areas, and an alternative airport was opened there in Pampanga, which was traditionally a very poor area of the Philippines.

so what about our area?

well, we grow rice, and thanks to land reform small farmers now own their fields.

The problem? They remain poor but educated their kids, and the kids don't want to be small farmers.

So to work our fields we imported workers from Joy's area in the Visayas.

But for several years even though we are organic, profit is small because of the high price of fertilizer (after 2022, the prices went up because of the Ukraine war, and potash comes from the Ukraine) and now things are worse, with oil prices up, meaning the price for fertilizer going up, and diesel for farm machinery also going up, and unlike 25 years ago when I first came here, we no longer have farmers willing to plow with water buffalo (they are used for milk now) or harvest by hand (we rent a harvester thresher to bring in the crop).

Allowing people to own large amounts of land and mechanize it using modern seeds and machines would be the answer, but the Govt policy is to encourage small farmers to grow organic rice, which can be sold at a higher profit than traditional rice, which is in competition with other countries that have lower wages for farms.

this preserves the culture and is better for the land of course, so Joy is involved in this outreach in nearby Bulacan.

The good news is that the Philippines is wise enough to promote policies that benefit the small farmer while pushing modernization.

But things are changing.

Since farmers can't make much of a profit due to the high price of diesel and fertilizer, some are not planting, especially for the winter dry season harvest where you have to pay for irrigation fees.

so what is going on here is that a lot of local farmers were digging and panning for gold in the unused fields rather than lose money planting winter rice... whether or not they will plant for the main harvest is a big question: We will plant our low lying fields that don't use irrigation, but probably let the higher fields lie fallow. Sigh.

which brings up another economic change in our area.

The large solar farm is being built on fields here. And yes, what this commercial says is true: many of our farmers and local folk are busy working for this project.

so lots of optimistic propaganda out there looking for investments:

The main problem is corruption of course, but one can only hope workers used to honest work (e.g. working overseas or belonging to Evangelical churches that stress honesty and hard work) will be able to support their families.