Yeah, I’m back again to provide your daily dose of nothingness. Here’s how things looked yesterday, starting with the weekly Decay Dance.
When beer o’clock arrived, we were off to It Doesn’t Matter. We had the outdoor patio to ourselves and enjoyed the street views as we imbibed. Then it was on to Queen Victoria for our nightcap.
And that’s how I made it through another day without biting any dust.
From the LTG November 2019 archives, I recount the tale of my 75th Hash run, where the Philippine Navy detained our group for trespassing on a Navy base. Um, we were just following the Hash trail, and there were no fences or no-trespassing signs. The Navy’s response was “we should have known better.” All these years later, we still give the Hares (Leech My Nuggets and Anal Receptive) shit about it.
Today’s YouTube video is another of those AI-rendered journeys to the past; this time, 1956. It is accompanied by a very nice song, which makes the six minutes go by easily. I was alive in ’56, but still in infancy. Even so, the lack of people smoking and everyone being dressed in formal style is a dead giveaway. Where are the working-class families like my mom and dad?
Here I go with this crap again:
And now I’ve done my duty for the day. Hope you enjoyed today’s glimpse into my life in paradise. Such as it is.
Re: family compounds
How does land ownership work in the PI? Are those somewhat isolated places you come across actually owned by the people who live there? Are they squatters? Do they pay some nominal rent?
Re: Rubio and Vance
For you, what are the top 5 issues that matter to you when it comes to US politics? (e.g. economy, immigration, foreign relations, taxes, gun control, etc.)
Brian, land ownership here is a mixed bag. Some properties are titled; other people live on land by paying property taxes, but don’t have ownership. And yeah, a lot of those shacks are inhabited by squatters.
I don’t know that I have a “top five” issues. I’ll be happy with a continuation of Trump’s policies and programs to make America great again. So, yeah, let’s keep the borders closed to illegal entry, let’s have trade policies and tariffs to bring jobs back home, let’s exploit our ability to harvest oil and natural gas for energy independence, and let’s continue our kick-ass foreign policy of FAFO.
Do you have a preference between Vance and Rubio, or are you in the Newsom camp?
Not sure I have found a candidate at the moment. To be honest, I find the ass licking of Trump by the majority of Republicans pretty disgusting. But hey, they seem to like it. People seem to follow the man, and not his policies. But if I had to hold my nose and pick someone out of the pool from both sides, it would probably be Rubio. I would like to see a moderate like Shapiro (or other) and hear more of what he has to say.
>In January 2024, at a New Hampshire rally, he referred to former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who was U.N. ambassador during Trump’s first term, as a “warmonger” whose mentality on foreign policy is, “Let’s kill people all over the place and let’s make a lot of money for those people that make the messes.”
>During a Jan. 6, 2024, rally before the Iowa caucuses, Trump told supporters that returning him to the White House would allow the country to “turn the page forever on those foolish, stupid days of never-ending wars. They never ended.”
At that time, his supporters agreed with that 100%. Stay out of foreign lands, etc etc. Fast forward two years…… Venezuela, Iran, talking about invading Cuba, Greenland, etc. And his supporters now agree with what he is doing 100%. I’m getting whiplash!! LOL. And you can’t tell me that if a Democrat were president and doing the same thing, Trump supporters wouldn’t be up in arms about what was being done.
I am curious to see what the meat of this agreement with Iran is and how things will be different from Jan 2026. In Jan, Strait of Hormuz was open, free flow of shipping, etc.
I do think something had to be done with Iran, but I am not sure we (the US) had or has a coherent plan on what the end game looks like. If this agreement that is going to be signed this week just means a return to the status quo of Jan, then WTF? We spent $1B/day for the last four months for what?
Anyway, maybe we should set up a dual monarchy with you and I at the top. 😛
Brian, I’m far from a Trump ass-licker, but given the alternatives we were offered (Hillary, Biden, Harris), I opted for Trump every time. And given what we suffered as a nation under Biden, I made the right choice.
I’m glad we took Iran down a notch, but I wish Trump had finished the job. Not sure what’s going to happen next, but at least nuclear destruction has been delayed. I don’t expect Iran will adhere to whatever was agreed upon, but at least we didn’t take the Obama approach of providing pallets of money.
Hmm, I accept your offer of half a crown! We could do it better!
John, In the link below is the full text of the MOU between the US and Iran.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/06/17/trump-us-iran-memorandum-of-understanding-mou-deal-read-full-text/
I am somewhat biased, but I would like your opinion of it. I do not see anything that is really different from where we stood in mid February, and realistically, different from the Iran nuclear agreement signed in 2016(?).
Strait of Hormuz – nothing changed. Open before, open now.
Regime change – nope. Still the same.
Paragraph 2 ->The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran undertake to respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and to refrain from interfering in each other’s internal affairs.
Okay – no change here.
Paragraph 6 – >The United States of America undertakes with regional partners to develop a definitive, mutually agreed plan with at least $300 billion for the reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Hmmmmm
Paragraph 7 – >The United States of America undertakes to terminate all types of sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the United Nations Security Council resolutions, i.e. IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] Board of Governors resolutions and all unilateral U.S. sanctions, primary and secondary, in an agreed-upon schedule as part of the final deal.
Hmmm. Sanctions before as part of the 2016 deal. No sanctions now.
Paragraph 8 – >The Islamic Republic of Iran reaffirms that it shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons.
Okay. Nothing changes. This has always been Iran’s stance.
Paragraph 10 – >The United States of America undertakes that immediately upon the signing of this MoU until the termination of sanctions, the U.S. Department of Treasury will issue waivers for the export of Iranian crude oil, petroleum products and derivatives, and all associated services, including banking transactions, insurances, transportation, etc.
Seems like a win for Iran. 2016 deal and the status in Feb 2026 did not allow Iranian oil exports
Paragraph 11 – >The United States of America undertakes to make fully available for use the frozen or restricted funds and assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran upon the implementation of this MoU.
Win for Iran?
etc.
Anyways. I shake my head. I will be interested to see how this is spun by those who support him.
Brian, it’s interesting to see the reactions to this so-called peace deal. When I was interacting with the folks at the Beach Bar expat table in Pundaquit, three of them were to the right of me ideologically, and they were all opposed to the agreement. I took a more moderate “let’s wait and see what happens” position. Yeah, I think we should have finished kicking Iran’s ass good and hard, rendering them powerless to harm others in the future. Still, Trump is known for his “art of the deal” abilities, and maybe he is playing a long game. Some were worried the mid-term elections were at stake if the war continued, so there’s that. I don’t believe anyone seriously believes Iran will live up to its end of the bargain, so maybe Trump is just securing future impunity should he need to resume the bombing. Here’s some of the more moderate takes on this peace deal from conservative voices I follow.
Thanks for the links. Can’t say that I wholly agree with them, but always good to hear different perspectives and some of what they said makes sense. I still dont understand what is different now vs. early Feb 2026 and even after the nuclear deal was signed with Iran in 2016. Other than spending $1B/day for the last four months, I am not sure what was accomplished. #shrug. Well, I supposed if the goal was to increase gas prices, inflation, etc., then “mission accomplished”. LOL
Below are the numbers I use I track to monitor the economy. All the info comes from the US federal reserve so no bias involved. Overall, based on those factors below, the economy is doing worse now than in October 2024. For example, for all the talk of bringing jobs back to the US, the number of manufacturing jobs has actually decreased since October 2024.
SP500
Dow Jones
NASDAQ
Inflation (CPI)
GDP growth
Unemployment
Price of Eggs ($/dozen)
Gal of regular gas ($/gallon)
Trade balance ($, millions)
Industrial Production (2017 = 100)
Home Sales (seasonally adjusted, thousands)
Home Building (permits issued, thousands)
Construction Spending ($, millions)
Manufacturer’s New Orders ($, millions)
Manufacturing Jobs, Thousands
Retail Sales ($, millions)
Consumer Confidence (1Q 1996 = 100)
Federal Workers (thousands)
Having said that, I do believe that presidents get too much credit when the economy does well and too much blame when it is bad. The world is a smaller place now, and the US is a smaller piece of the overall pie. BUT, and this is a big but (and I cannot lie. LOL), all presidents campaign on the economy and it is probably the #1 issue for most voters. So, the president has to own it when things are bad. Trump can’t continue to blame Biden.
Another random thought – IMO presidents are mainly cheerleaders, and Trump is one of the best in shaping opinions based on feelings rather than facts. I could show the numbers I cite to a diehard Trump supporter and they would still tell me that the economy is doing gangbusters under Trump.
Anyways, interesting conversation. Glad to engage with you. LOL
Brian, I’m a long way from home and don’t keep up with the numbers. From my vantage point, it seems the USA is a lot better off now than it was under Biden. Not just economically, but across the board. Whatever the numbers may show now, we’d have been worse off if Kamala were running things. I have no doubt whatsoever about that.