It has been over a month since I wrote about the death of Charlie Kirk, and I’ve been able to think more about what that event really did in the big picture. I compared him to other figures, including those here in the Philippines, and thought of what it all really meant in the grand scheme of things. It was both significant and irrelevant at the same time. It should’ve been more obvious from the start that just like many popular social commentators, all he peddled was slop. (more…)
As a lot of people like to say these days, ‘free speech’ does not mean ‘free from consequences’. However, I don’t think getting killed should be one of those consequences. While I’m of the opinion that these people who like to challenge their detractors to debates are doing it more as a performance and less as serious discourse, there’s no just reason for Charlie Kirk and his family to have suffered the fate that he did. (more…)
This is not something I usually write about, but I’ve been reading a particular set of books that had me thinking about what may happen in the future. Being able to project what may happen in 5 to 10 years can be useful in planning ahead for one’s life. Whether you care about politics or not, it’s worth looking into models that can help make that process more comprehensible and perhaps even more precise. After all, it’s still worth a few brain cells to have some awareness of current events — thinking you’re not affected by them is foolish at best. (more…)
It was one of those late nights when I, who usually would fall asleep in a snap, was overcome with a rare insomnia. I would pace around the house restlessly, not knowing for sure what I wanted to do at the moment. I settled down and tried to focus on watching some YouTube videos. None of the usual stuff grabbed my attention, so I drifted to videos about psychology and philosophy. As I went through them, a lightbulb in my head started to flicker. This is the result of that uneasy night — a short treatise on religion and spirituality from my perspective. (more…)
With everything happening around the world as of 2025 — especially in society, politics, and economics — we may ask ourselves every so often how all of this ended up this way. Whether you now doubt the power of democracy or knew all along what it entailed in a society with lowering education quality, increasing cost of living, and worsening partisanship, you must be wary of the mass manipulation that sways our judgment through mass media and the Internet. Whether it’s traditional media or social media, all of them try to tell you what to think and believe — on who to believe in and who to hate. Perhaps the way is not to look for what to believe, but think for oneself and come to that conclusion on your own. However, they don’t want that. (more…)
In 1984, filmmaker G. Edward Griffin interviewed former Soviet journalist and KGB agent Yuri Bezmenov in a video that would be titled Soviet Subversion of the Free World Press. Bezmenov laid down the four stages of ideological subversion — how the KGB planned to gradually subvert the political system of the United States. The Cold War was still very much on, the Chernobyl disaster was still a couple of years away, and the world didn’t know yet that the Soviet Union would collapse seven years later. But even almost forty years after the interview, his message continues to intrigue everyone interested in the mechanisms of power. (more…)
No, seriously. Before you turn away and call me a loon or a bigot, do take note that I’m Chinese who was raised on this stuff. I grew up with this hodge-podge compendium of beliefs and superstitions that forms this syncretic religion. However, what I experienced may be a distilled version of it since we live in the Philippines. Our take on it may not be similar to that of Taiwan and mainland China, but I know enough to make connections with other things that may be like it. I also know enough about Warhammer 40,000 to write about wild green men in space. This has to be the most deranged blog post I’ll ever write in 2023, so let’s go for a ride. (more…)
On 2 November 2023, almost a year after the collapse of what used to be the second largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, its founder was found guilty on all seven charges against him, which include wire fraud and money laundering. I previously mentioned Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX in a blog post last March where I talked about the fall of two US banks due to losses brought on by the fall of the fraudulent cryptocurrency exchange. Most may consider the story complete, and life shall go on. This is a tale about pride, greed, lust, and the ruin those things bring. (more…)
Back during the GameStop short squeeze of 2021, I wrote about it as an outside observer who was incredulous at the spectacle, but didn’t truly understand what was going on. Two years later, on 9 January 2023, I formally started my journey into stock trading and investing by opening an eToro account. I sifted through every online resource I could find to learn everything I could about this seemingly esoteric thing that I would later describe as black magic and sorcery. While I’m still no expert, I at least can now understand a lot of the jargon and mechanics behind what I previously couldn’t make sense of. (more…)
While rewatching a MandaloreGaming video on Tyranny, a role-playing game on being a bad guy in a fantasy Iron Age world, he mentioned a concept in political science called the Faces of Power, also known as the Dimensions of Power. It’s an academic theory put forth by Steven Lukes, a British political and social theorist currently based in New York University, which looks into how it is to rule over other people’s lives and influence their actions — something that politicians also do in this day and age in the real world. (more…)
After getting word of videos about Eric Weinstein’s interpretation of kayfabe on Twitter, I found Frame Problems after a brief search and gave these three videos a watch. I found them interesting as they stretched the application of kayfabe to politics, economics, and mainstream media as far as they possibly can. I had always been interested in Eric Weinstein’s opinion of kayfabe being a crucial component of the cognitive toolbox. As a part of the pro wrestling industry, I wanted to take a closer look at this take on kayfabe and how understanding it can enhance how one interprets mainstream media and public consciousness. (more…)
As I was writing the draft for this blog post, the Wagner Group — the Russian mercenary group led by former Putin stooge Yevgeny Prigozhin — was staging a mutiny against the Russian military and government. Events were being documented on Twitter as they happened, including this sitdown between Prigozhin and Russian defense officials. No one knew what would happen and if it would affect Putin’s reign and the war in Ukraine, but they were doing it in a city that’s over a thousand kilometers from Moscow. In any case, I’m taking this opportunity to talk about something that has always bugged me about all things Russian. (more…)
