#Manila in the time of covid

[southeastasianists]

The Quiapo district of Manila is located just outside the walled city of Intramuros. It became a natural extension when the city was expanding during the Spanish colonial times, and it was the address of choice for the well-heeled Filipino mestizo families, especially at Hidalgo Street, where rows of bahay na bato (house of stone) competed against each other in terms of grandeur and size. Many of these houses now lie in various states of decay. But the most prominent one, the century-old Bahay Nakpil-Bautista (Nakpil-Bautista House) still stands.

Built in 1914 by Arcadio Arellano for Dr. Ariston Bautista and his wife Petrona Nakpil, the house sat on two lots with a total area of 500 square meters (5,400 square feet). It's a typical style for its period—two stories, with the lower story serving as the zaguan, or parking area for horse-drawn carriages. The stones on the ground floor came from Mexico, and a few pieces of colorful tiles before the stairs came from Spain.

A short set of stairs leads to an elevated sala (living room), a room that serves as a workshop, and a bedroom. The lower story is made of stone and wood. A main stairway brings you to the second story, where the main hall is located to the right and the kitchen and dining area to the left. On both wings are several rooms for the many inhabitants of the house. Large windows in the living room provide a free-flowing circulation of air throughout the house—there were no air conditioning units at the time this house was built.

Several key figures in Philippine history have lived in the Nakpil-Bautista House. Dr. Ariston Bautista, who commissioned the house, was one of the first professors at the University of the Philippines and also invented a medicine to combat cholera. The legendary Gregoria de Jesus, widow of Andres Bonifacio, who founded the revolutionary armed Kataastaasan Kagalang-galang na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK) was a leading figure of the women's arm of the organization. After Bonifacio died, she married the musician Julio Nakpil.

The house survived the Japanese bombing in World War II, which damaged 70 percent of Manila. The Nakpil-Bautista family moved out of the house in the 1960s. It has since been used as a community center, a museum, and a classroom for children from the surrounding area during the COVID-19 pandemic. The museum showcases the history of Quiapo, the Nakpil-Bautista family, and the Philippine Revolution.

The National Historical Commission of the Philippines declared the house a cultural property on August 25, 2011. Besides the historical value of the house, it is worth visiting as a perfect representation of the architectural style prevailing during the Spanish colonial period and the early 19th century. 

[orangerosebush]

[Link to the Reuters article. From June 14th, 2024]

"At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. military launched a secret campaign to counter what it perceived as China’s growing influence in the Philippines, a nation hit especially hard by the deadly virus.

The clandestine operation has not been previously reported. It aimed to sow doubt about the safety and efficacy of vaccines and other life-saving aid that was being supplied by China, a Reuters investigation found. Through phony internet accounts meant to impersonate Filipinos, the military’s propaganda efforts morphed into an anti-vax campaign. Social media posts decried the quality of face masks, test kits and the first vaccine that would become available in the Philippines – China’s Sinovac inoculation.

Reuters identified at least 300 accounts on X, formerly Twitter, that matched descriptions shared by former U.S. military officials familiar with the Philippines operation. Almost all were created in the summer of 2020 and centered on the slogan #Chinaangvirus – Tagalog for China is the virus.

“COVID came from China and the VACCINE also came from China, don’t trust China!” one typical tweet from July 2020 read in Tagalog. The words were next to a photo of a syringe beside a Chinese flag and a soaring chart of infections. Another post read: “From China – PPE, Face Mask, Vaccine: FAKE. But the Coronavirus is real.”

After Reuters asked X about the accounts, the social media company removed the profiles, determining they were part of a coordinated bot campaign based on activity patterns and internal data.

The U.S. military’s anti-vax effort began in the spring of 2020 and expanded beyond Southeast Asia before it was terminated in mid-2021, Reuters determined. Tailoring the propaganda campaign to local audiences across Central Asia and the Middle East, the Pentagon used a combination of fake social media accounts on multiple platforms to spread fear of China’s vaccines among Muslims at a time when the virus was killing tens of thousands of people each day. A key part of the strategy: amplify the disputed contention that, because vaccines sometimes contain pork gelatin, China’s shots could be considered forbidden under Islamic law.

The military program started under former President Donald Trump and continued months into Joe Biden’s presidency, Reuters found – even after alarmed social media executives warned the new administration that the Pentagon had been trafficking in COVID misinformation. The Biden White House issued an edict in spring 2021 banning the anti-vax effort, which also disparaged vaccines produced by other rivals, and the Pentagon initiated an internal review, Reuters found.

The U.S. military is prohibited from targeting Americans with propaganda, and Reuters found no evidence the Pentagon’s influence operation did so.

Spokespeople for Trump and Biden did not respond to requests for comment about the clandestine program.

A senior Defense Department official acknowledged the U.S. military engaged in secret propaganda to disparage China’s vaccine in the developing world, but the official declined to provide details.

A Pentagon spokeswoman said the U.S. military “uses a variety of platforms, including social media, to counter those malign influence attacks aimed at the U.S., allies, and partners.” She also noted that China had started a “disinformation campaign to falsely blame the United States for the spread of COVID-19.”

In an email, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it has long maintained the U.S. government manipulates social media and spreads misinformation.

Manila’s embassy in Washington did not respond to Reuters inquiries, including whether it had been aware of the Pentagon operation. A spokesperson for the Philippines Department of Health, however, said the “findings by Reuters deserve to be investigated and heard by the appropriate authorities of the involved countries.” Some aid workers in the Philippines, when told of the U.S. military propaganda effort by Reuters, expressed outrage.

Briefed on the Pentagon’s secret anti-vax campaign by Reuters, some American public health experts also condemned the program, saying it put civilians in jeopardy for potential geopolitical gain. An operation meant to win hearts and minds endangered lives, they said.

“I don’t think it’s defensible,” said Daniel Lucey, an infectious disease specialist at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine. “I’m extremely dismayed, disappointed and disillusioned to hear that the U.S. government would do that,” said Lucey, a former military physician who assisted in the response to the 2001 anthrax attacks.

The effort to stoke fear about Chinese inoculations risked undermining overall public trust in government health initiatives, including U.S.-made vaccines that became available later, Lucey and others said. Although the Chinese vaccines were found to be less effective than the American-led shots by Pfizer and Moderna, all were approved by the World Health Organization. Sinovac did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Academic research published recently has shown that, when individuals develop skepticism toward a single vaccine, those doubts often lead to uncertainty about other inoculations. Lucey and other health experts say they saw such a scenario play out in Pakistan, where the Central Intelligence Agency used a fake hepatitis vaccination program in Abbottabad as cover to hunt for Osama bin Laden, the terrorist mastermind behind the attacks of September 11, 2001. Discovery of the ruse led to a backlash against an unrelated polio vaccination campaign, including attacks on healthcare workers, contributing to the reemergence of the deadly disease in the country.

“It should have been in our interest to get as much vaccine in people’s arms as possible,” said Greg Treverton, former chairman of the U.S. National Intelligence Council, which coordinates the analysis and strategy of Washington’s many spy agencies. What the Pentagon did, Treverton said, “crosses a line.”

Together, the phony accounts used by the military had tens of thousands of followers during the program. Reuters could not determine how widely the anti-vax material and other Pentagon-planted disinformation was viewed, or to what extent the posts may have caused COVID deaths by dissuading people from getting vaccinated.

In the wake of the U.S. propaganda efforts, however, then-Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte had grown so dismayed by how few Filipinos were willing to be inoculated that he threatened to arrest people who refused vaccinations.

“You choose, vaccine or I will have you jailed,” a masked Duterte said in a televised address in June 2021. “There is a crisis in this country … I’m just exasperated by Filipinos not heeding the government.”

When he addressed the vaccination issue, the Philippines had among the worst inoculation rates in Southeast Asia. Only 2.1 million of its 114 million citizens were fully vaccinated – far short of the government’s target of 70 million. By the time Duterte spoke, COVID cases exceeded 1.3 million, and almost 24,000 Filipinos had died from the virus. The difficulty in vaccinating the population contributed to the worst death rate in the region.

A spokesperson for Duterte did not make the former president available for an interview.

Some Filipino healthcare professionals and former officials contacted by Reuters were shocked by the U.S. anti-vax effort, which they say exploited an already vulnerable citizenry. Public concerns about a Dengue fever vaccine, rolled out in the Philippines in 2016, had led to broad skepticism toward inoculations overall, said Lulu Bravo, executive director of the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination. The Pentagon campaign preyed on those fears.

“Why did you do it when people were dying? We were desperate,” said Dr. Nina Castillo-Carandang, a former adviser to the World Health Organization and Philippines government during the pandemic. “We don’t have our own vaccine capacity,” she noted, and the U.S. propaganda effort “contributed even more salt into the wound.”

The campaign also reinforced what one former health secretary called a longstanding suspicion of China, most recently because of aggressive behavior by Beijing in disputed areas of the South China Sea. Filipinos were unwilling to trust China’s Sinovac, which first became available in the country in March 2021, said Esperanza Cabral, who served as health secretary under President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Cabral said she had been unaware of the U.S. military’s secret operation.

“I’m sure that there are lots of people who died from COVID who did not need to die from COVID,” she said.

To implement the anti-vax campaign, the Defense Department overrode strong objections from top U.S. diplomats in Southeast Asia at the time, Reuters found. Sources involved in its planning and execution say the Pentagon, which ran the program through the military’s psychological operations center in Tampa, Florida, disregarded the collateral impact that such propaganda may have on innocent Filipinos.

“We weren’t looking at this from a public health perspective,” said a senior military officer involved in the program. “We were looking at how we could drag China through the mud.”

In uncovering the secret U.S. military operation, Reuters interviewed more than two dozen current and former U.S officials, military contractors, social media analysts and academic researchers. Reporters also reviewed Facebook, X and Instagram posts, technical data and documents about a set of fake social media accounts used by the U.S. military. Some were active for more than five years.

Clandestine psychological operations are among the government’s most highly sensitive programs. Knowledge of their existence is limited to a small group of people within U.S. intelligence and military agencies. Such programs are treated with special caution because their exposure could damage foreign alliances or escalate conflict with rivals.

Over the last decade, some U.S. national security officials have pushed for a return to the kind of aggressive clandestine propaganda operations against rivals that the United States’ wielded during the Cold War. Following the 2016 U.S. presidential election, in which Russia used a combination of hacks and leaks to influence voters, the calls to fight back grew louder inside Washington.

In 2019, Trump authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to launch a clandestine campaign on Chinese social media aimed at turning public opinion in China against its government, Reuters reported in March. As part of that effort, a small group of operatives used bogus online identities to spread disparaging narratives about Xi Jinping’s government.

COVID-19 galvanized the drive to wage psychological operations against China. One former senior Pentagon leader described the pandemic as a “bolt of energy” that finally ignited the long delayed counteroffensive against China’s influence war.

The Pentagon’s anti-vax propaganda came in response to China’s own efforts to spread false information about the origins of COVID. The virus first emerged in China in late 2019. But in March 2020, Chinese government officials claimed without evidence that the virus may have been first brought to China by an American service member who participated in an international military sports competition in Wuhan the previous year. Chinese officials also suggested that the virus may have originated in a U.S. Army research facility at Fort Detrick, Maryland. There’s no evidence for that assertion.

Mirroring Beijing’s public statements, Chinese intelligence operatives set up networks of fake social media accounts to promote the Fort Detrick conspiracy, according to a U.S. Justice Department complaint.

China’s messaging got Washington’s attention. Trump subsequently coined the term “China virus” as a response to Beijing’s accusation that the U.S. military exported COVID to Wuhan.

“That was false. And rather than having an argument, I said, ‘I have to call it where it came from,’” Trump said in a March 2020 news conference. “It did come from China.”

China’s Foreign Ministry said in an email that it opposed “actions to politicize the origins question and stigmatize China.” The ministry had no comment about the Justice Department’s complaint.

Beijing didn’t limit its global influence efforts to propaganda. It announced an ambitious COVID assistance program, which included sending masks, ventilators and its own vaccines – still being tested at the time – to struggling countries. In May 2020, Xi announced that the vaccine China was developing would be made available as a “global public good,” and would ensure “vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries.” Sinovac was the primary vaccine available in the Philippines for about a year until U.S.-made vaccines became more widely available there in early 2022.

Washington’s plan, called Operation Warp Speed, was different. It favored inoculating Americans first, and it placed no restrictions on what pharmaceutical companies could charge developing countries for the remaining vaccines not used by the United States. The deal allowed the companies to “play hardball” with developing countries, forcing them to accept high prices, said Lawrence Gostin, a professor of medicine at Georgetown University who has worked with the World Health Organization.

The deal “sucked most of the supply out of the global market,” Gostin said. “The United States took a very determined America First approach.”

To Washington’s alarm, China’s offers of assistance were tilting the geopolitical playing field across the developing world, including in the Philippines, where the government faced upwards of 100,000 infections in the early months of the pandemic.

The U.S. relationship with Manila had grown tense after the 2016 election of the bombastic Duterte. A staunch critic of the United States, he had threatened to cancel a key pact that allows the U.S. military to maintain legal jurisdiction over American troops stationed in the country.

Duterte said in a July 2020 speech he had made “a plea” to Xi that the Philippines be at the front of the line as China rolled out vaccines. He vowed in the same speech that the Philippines would no longer challenge Beijing’s aggressive expansion in the South China Sea, upending a key security understanding Manila had long held with Washington.

“China is claiming it. We are claiming it. China has the arms, we do not have it.” Duterte said. “So, it is simple as that.”

Days later, China’s foreign minister announced Beijing would grant Duterte’s plea for priority access to the vaccine, as part of a “new highlight in bilateral relations.”

China’s growing influence fueled efforts by U.S. military leaders to launch the secret propaganda operation Reuters uncovered.

“We didn’t do a good job sharing vaccines with partners,” a senior U.S. military officer directly involved in the campaign in Southeast Asia told Reuters. “So what was left to us was to throw shade on China’s.”

U.S. military leaders feared that China’s COVID diplomacy and propaganda could draw other Southeast Asian countries, such as Cambodia and Malaysia, closer to Beijing, furthering its regional ambitions.

A senior U.S. military commander responsible for Southeast Asia, Special Operations Command Pacific General Jonathan Braga, pressed his bosses in Washington to fight back in the so-called information space, according to three former Pentagon officials.

The commander initially wanted to punch back at Beijing in Southeast Asia. The goal: to ensure the region understood the origin of COVID while promoting skepticism toward what were then still-untested vaccines offered by a country that they said had lied continually since the start of the pandemic.

A spokesperson for Special Operations Command declined to comment.

At least six senior State Department officials responsible for the region objected to this approach. A health crisis was the wrong time to instill fear or anger through a psychological operation, or psyop, they argued during Zoom calls with the Pentagon.

“We’re stooping lower than the Chinese and we should not be doing that,” said a former senior State Department official for the region who fought against the military operation.

While the Pentagon saw Washington’s rapidly diminishing influence in the Philippines as a call to action, the withering partnership led American diplomats to plead for caution.

“The relationship is hanging from a thread,” another former senior U.S. diplomat recounted. “Is this the moment you want to do a psyop in the Philippines? Is it worth the risk?”

In the past, such opposition from the State Department might have proved fatal to the program. Previously in peacetime, the Pentagon needed approval of embassy officials before conducting psychological operations in a country, often hamstringing commanders seeking to quickly respond to Beijing’s messaging, three former Pentagon officials told Reuters.

But in 2019, before COVID surfaced in full force, then-Secretary of Defense Mark Esper signed a secret order that later paved the way for the launch of the U.S. military propaganda campaign. The order elevated the Pentagon’s competition with China and Russia to the priority of active combat, enabling commanders to sidestep the State Department when conducting psyops against those adversaries. The Pentagon spending bill passed by Congress that year also explicitly authorized the military to conduct clandestine influence operations against other countries, even “outside of areas of active hostilities.”

Esper, through a spokesperson, declined to comment. A State Department spokesperson referred questions to the Pentagon.

In spring 2020, special-ops commander Braga turned to a cadre of psychological-warfare soldiers and contractors in Tampa to counter Beijing’s COVID efforts. Colleagues say Braga was a longtime advocate of increasing the use of propaganda operations in global competition. In trailers and squat buildings at a facility on Tampa’s MacDill Air Force Base, U.S. military personnel and contractors would use anonymous accounts on X, Facebook and other social media to spread what became an anti-vax message. The facility remains the Pentagon’s clandestine propaganda factory.

Psychological warfare has played a role in U.S. military operations for more than a hundred years, although it has changed in style and substance over time. So-called psyopers were best known following World War II for their supporting role in combat missions across Vietnam, Korea and Kuwait, often dropping leaflets to confuse the enemy or encourage their surrender.

After the al Qaeda attacks of 2001, the United States was fighting a borderless, shadowy enemy, and the Pentagon began to wage a more ambitious kind of psychological combat previously associated only with the CIA. The Pentagon set up front news outlets, paid off prominent local figures, and sometimes funded television soap operas in order to turn local populations against militant groups or Iranian-backed militias, former national security officials told Reuters.

Unlike earlier psyop missions, which sought specific tactical advantage on the battlefield, the post-9/11 operations hoped to create broader change in public opinion across entire regions.

By 2010, the military began using social media tools, leveraging phony accounts to spread messages of sympathetic local voices – themselves often secretly paid by the United States government. As time passed, a growing web of military and intelligence contractors built online news websites to pump U.S.-approved narratives into foreign countries. Today, the military employs a sprawling ecosystem of social media influencers, front groups and covertly placed digital advertisements to influence overseas audiences, according to current and former military officials.

China’s efforts to gain geopolitical clout from the pandemic gave Braga justification to launch the propaganda campaign that Reuters uncovered, sources said.

By summer 2020, the military’s propaganda campaign moved into new territory and darker messaging, ultimately drawing the attention of social media executives.

In regions beyond Southeast Asia, senior officers in the U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations across the Middle East and Central Asia, launched their own version of the COVID psyop, three former military officials told Reuters.

Although the Chinese vaccines were still months from release, controversy roiled the Muslim world over whether the vaccines contained pork gelatin and could be considered “haram,” or forbidden under Islamic law. Sinovac has said that the vaccine was “manufactured free of porcine materials.” Many Islamic religious authorities maintained that even if the vaccines did contain pork gelatin, they were still permissible since the treatments were being used to save human life.

The Pentagon campaign sought to intensify fears about injecting a pig derivative. As part of an internal investigation at X, the social media company used IP addresses and browser data to identify more than 150 phony accounts that were operated from Tampa by U.S. Central Command and its contractors, according to an internal X document reviewed by Reuters.

“Can you trust China, which tries to hide that its vaccine contains pork gelatin and distributes it in Central Asia and other Muslim countries where many people consider such a drug haram?” read an April 2021 tweet sent from a military-controlled account identified by X.

The Pentagon also covertly spread its messages on Facebook and Instagram, alarming executives at parent company Meta who had long been tracking the military accounts, according to former military officials.

One military-created meme targeting Central Asia showed a pig made out of syringes, according to two people who viewed the image. Reuters found similar posts that traced back to U.S. Central Command. One shows a Chinese flag as a curtain separating Muslim women in hijabs and pigs stuck with vaccine syringes. In the center is a man with syringes; on his back is the word “China.” It targeted Central Asia, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, a country that distributed tens of millions of doses of China’s vaccines and participated in human trials. Translated into English, the X post reads: “China distributes a vaccine made of pork gelatin.”

Facebook executives had first approached the Pentagon in the summer of 2020, warning the military that Facebook workers had easily identified the military’s phony accounts, according to three former U.S. officials and another person familiar with the matter. The government, Facebook argued, was violating Facebook’s policies by operating the bogus accounts and by spreading COVID misinformation.

The military argued that many of its fake accounts were being used for counterterrorism and asked Facebook not to take down the content, according to two people familiar with the exchange. The Pentagon pledged to stop spreading COVID-related propaganda, and some of the accounts continued to remain active on Facebook.

Nonetheless, the anti-vax campaign continued into 2021 as Biden took office.

Angered that military officials had ignored their warning, Facebook officials arranged a Zoom meeting with Biden’s new National Security Council shortly after the inauguration, Reuters learned. The discussion quickly became tense.

“It was terrible,” said a senior administration official describing the reaction after learning of the campaign’s pig-related posts. “I was shocked. The administration was pro-vaccine and our concern was this could affect vaccine hesitancy, especially in developing countries.”

By spring 2021, the National Security Council ordered the military to stop all anti-vaccine messaging. “We were told we needed to be pro-vaccine, pro all vaccines,” said a former senior military officer who helped oversee the program. Even so, Reuters found some anti-vax posts that continued through April and other deceptive COVID-related messaging that extended into that summer. Reuters could not determine why the campaign didn’t end immediately with the NSC’s order. In response to questions from Reuters, the NSC declined to comment.

The senior Defense Department official said that those complaints led to an internal review in late 2021, which uncovered the anti-vaccine operation. The probe also turned up other social and political messaging that was “many, many leagues away” from any acceptable military objective. The official would not elaborate.

The review intensified the following year, the official said, after a group of academic researchers at Stanford University flagged some of the same accounts as pro-Western bots in a public report. The high-level Pentagon review was first reported by the Washington Post. which also reported that the military used fake social media accounts to counter China’s message that COVID came from the United States. But the Post report did not reveal that the program evolved into the anti-vax propaganda campaign uncovered by Reuters.

The senior defense official said the Pentagon has rescinded parts of Esper’s 2019 order that allowed military commanders to bypass the approval of U.S. ambassadors when waging psychological operations. The rules now mandate that military commanders work closely with U.S. diplomats in the country where they seek to have an impact. The policy also restricts psychological operations aimed at “broad population messaging,” such as those used to promote vaccine hesitancy during COVID.

The Pentagon’s audit concluded that the military’s primary contractor handling the campaign, General Dynamics IT, had employed sloppy tradecraft, taking inadequate steps to hide the origin of the fake accounts, said a person with direct knowledge of the review. The review also found that military leaders didn’t maintain enough control over its psyop contractors, the person said.

A spokesperson for General Dynamics IT declined to comment.

Nevertheless, the Pentagon’s clandestine propaganda efforts are set to continue. In an unclassified strategy document last year, top Pentagon generals wrote that the U.S. military could undermine adversaries such as China and Russia using “disinformation spread across social media, false narratives disguised as news, and similar subversive activities [to] weaken societal trust by undermining the foundations of government.”

And in February, the contractor that worked on the anti-vax campaign – General Dynamics IT – won a $493 million contract. Its mission: to continue providing clandestine influence services for the military."

[she-karev]

First Day Back (Japril Imagine)

Age Rating: 12+

Chapters: One of Five

Fandom: Grey’s Anatomy

Ship: Jackson Avery x April Kepner

Canon Episode: Season 17 Episode 6

Summary: April goes back to work at Grey Sloan and has an awkward interaction with Amber after their fight. She later talks to Jackson about their fight but leaves before revealing more.

AN: Hey guys so I’m sick that’s why I haven’t posted all week but I’m about to give you guys some Japril content where things really start to get interesting, like and reblog below and let me know what you think.

Words: 1632

April 29th, 2020

April Kepner stands in front of the elevator of the Grey Sloan lobby feeling nervous about her first night back as a trauma surgeon. Normally she would be doing work at the clinic but since they added 20 locum tenens to their staff April isn’t needed as much and her schedule has been cut in half.

Feeling like she could fill that time in by helping more people during this crisis she called Catherine about coming back to Grey Sloan part time and she and Bailey were all for it needing all the help they can get. And being here and seeing all the changes that they’ve been forced to make has April feeling bad for leaving at all. At the very least she can help out and lessen the load even a little bit and maybe save a life or two. Also she can take supplies for her clinic so her homeless patients can be protected. Anything to distract herself from the manila envelope inside her purse that she’s carrying.

Yesterday a courier gave her an envelope with divorce papers inside with her exes Matthew Taylor’s signature already on the dotted line. April has come to understand since her first divorce that the topic isn’t such a big deal but still having to sign your second divorce papers brings an unsettling feeling in her stomach. It’s not the divorce that upsets her but rather her own reaction to it…and her lingering thoughts about Jackson since they kissed two weeks ago.

When it happened, Jackson was upset that Amber was positive with covid and April was comforting him with a hug. It escalated when he kissed her and she reacted by instinct, like it was something she never forgot how to do. But then she stepped back knowing Jackson would be conflicted about it and told him it was a stupid mistake so she could save herself from the pain again.

Except now that pain is still there and a longing for Jackson Avery that never went away even when she married Matthew. Even with their cordial interactions the last two years April can’t help but feel that she and Jackson circle around each other like gravity. And she isn’t sure if she should fight it again to save herself from the pain or give in and possibly have a better outcome with Jackson than last time.

“Hey.” April looks to her left to see Amber Karev standing six feet away in her baby blue scrubs, N95 mask and face shield. Her tone from the hey is polite and makes April guess her friend is trying to tread lightly after their argument three nights ago where they both said hurtful things to each other.

“Hey.” April greets back with a curt nod, “I haven’t seen you around the apartment the last few days, are you working late?”

“No it’s my first day back actually. I’m staying at a hotel for now.” Amber explains to April who nods, “I’m trying to keep a tiny bubble after quarantine, and I don’t want to risk exposing Harriet so I’m looking for a new place right now.”

April thinks to herself if Amber having covid is warranting this move or their fight but Amber doesn’t notice as she asks, “Anyways what are you doing here? Do you have a patient here?”

“Um not yet. It’s my first day back, I’m coming back part time.”

Amber’s eyes widen at this news, “Oh, Jackson did not tell me this so this is a very big surprise.”

“Yeah it just happened, I wanted to help out since the clinic has more doctors and if I did nothing I would kick myself.”

“So, are you back in the OR?”

April groans at that, “No I wish, I’m gonna help out in the pit and manage the overflow. One minute back and I feel like I’m back in Iraq only there’s no one shooting at me.”

“It’s how it always feels.” Amber states gloomy before the elevator doors open with a ding.

“Stop that train!” The women look to see Jackson yelling as he power walks to them outside the elevator. He is in his casual clothes having come to start his shift as well.

“Dramatic much?” Amber chuckles.

“It’s from a movie.” Jackson explains to Amber who looks confused, “The Dresser? 1983? Albert Finney? You’re doing this on purpose aren’t you.”

“Dude as far as I’m concerned the world began the day I was born, you going?”

“Uh no, I’ll let you guys go and I’ll get the next one.” Jackson offers to the women who both look uncomfortable at using a small space together.

Amber clears her throat behind her mask, “Um you know what I am gonna take the stairs it’s probably safer anyway I’ll see you later bye.”

April nods at that slightly hurt as Amber walks away from them. She walks inside the elevator with Jackson who saw the exchange that sparks his curiosity.

April sighs and explains while the doors close, “We had a little…thing a tiff the night she came back. It’s fine were fine.”

April and Amber's Fight Here

“She took the stairs and you’re not talking to each other?” Jackson points out in worry, “At least tell me this isn’t the part where I have to take sides because both of you scare me, and I don’t want my head on a platter.”

April chuckles, “No we were talking, that was talking, it’s fine we’re fine.”

“That is a lot of fines.” Jackson observes in amusement, “What were you guys fighting about anyway?”

April groans and recaps to her ex, “I called her out for sleeping with DeLuca the night before and already plotting on breaking his heart. I might have overreacted because of my own issues concerning mixed signals and called her selfish which I feel bad about, so I don’t need you to do that for me thank you. I want to apologize but she said some things too and I’m mad as well and want her to apologize first. It’s a vicious cycle and now we’re barely acknowledging each other and talking when we need to so…it’s a great first day back.”

Jackson is shocked by this and closes his eyes to process, “Amber slept with DeLuca?”

April raises an eyebrow at that and the doors open in front of them with a ding, “That’s the only thing you got from me?”

They both walk out and head to the attendings lounge side by side six feet apart, “No I got the rest it’s just that hearing my best friend sleeping with her ex while in quarantine is something I’m trying to process first and then the rest.”

“Yeah I know how you feel about him.” April says understanding, “And I know he hurt her but he’s had a hard year. And he apologized for it repeatedly. I’ve been where he’s at when the person you love doesn’t want anything beyond a one-night stand only it’s not a one night if you live and work together. And seeing that person and knowing they are never gonna be all in is torture and in this time, it will make DeLuca hit a breaking point again.”

April exhales frustrated and sees Jackson looking at her knowingly with a raised eyebrow, “Yeah I might have projected my own feelings onto her situation.”

“Might have?” Jackson asks with a grin, “I’ll give you this you had a fight with Amber and walked away with all of your teeth you might be the first.”

“Well DeLuca is first actually.” April tells him, “And I know you’re on her side, not against me but on her conflicting feelings for DeLuca. I know your probably disappointed in her for going back to him and it’s another thing she’s gonna hold over me.”

Jackson sighs opening the lounge door for April and they both enter the empty room. Jackson takes his mask off that he looks at in his hands with thought while April looks at him waiting for his response.

“A few weeks ago, I would march right up to DeLuca and tell him he doesn’t have a shot in hell with her even after that night…but things changed.” April looks surprised by this change in heart concerning DeLuca and Amber, “You know he was there for her the whole time she was sick? He brought her food, he coordinated with the nurses, and she didn’t call security on him when he visited which is a big sign that she didn’t sleep with him out of desperation. I uh…I think if given the chance he might not screw things up with her again.”

April nods supporting this and supporting DeLuca’s attempts to get back on Amber’s good side. She wonders if Amber was right that night about Jackson being reluctant to trust her like she is reluctant to trust DeLuca. She wonders if her actions five years ago had the same effect on Jackson as DeLuca’s had on Amber a few months ago. Her thought train stops as Jackson continues.

“I’ll deny ever having said that, especially to Alex.” Jackson states with a grin, “So what did Amber say to make you upset with her anyway?”

April inhales as she dreads hashing up that part of the night especially to Jackson, luckily her phone beeps.

“Um I gotta go my shift is about to start but we’ll talk later.”

Jackson nods, “Yeah I should get ready too, I’ll come down to the pit and see how you are.”

“Thanks.” April grabs her scrubs in the cubby and goes to the bathroom to change leaving Jackson to wonder why she suddenly changed the subject. He suspects whatever Amber told her the night they fought had to do with him.

Next Part Here

[purplesurveys]

1936

[sarajade @ bzoink]

What were you doing one hour ago? I was in the car at the parking lot of the mall we were at, waiting for my family to finish shopping. I wasn't in the mood to stroll + besides, it's Halloween weekend so the mall was fucking packed with kids asking for candy and running about...I couldn't handle the energy LOL so I asked permission to go ahead in the car, where I had no problem waiting for them.

Where were your parents born? My dad was born in a province an hour away from Manila; my mom was born within Metro Manila but I'm not giving away the city.

Have you ever used public transportation to get to work? No, I honestly don't know how to commute. I'm not willing to learn until this country gets their shit together and improves our public transport system. I've booked trips to the office via Grab, though, but that's the closest to commuting that I'm willing to do.

What do you miss the most from before Covid times? Honestly...very little. Society is ever so slightly a lot more slow-paced now, which I feel is an effect of the pandemic that we were all successfully able to carry over into the post-pandemic era. People are a lot more conscious about personal space; we're all a lot more cautious whenever we need to cough or sneeze; most offices follow a hybrid set-up except for the few assholes who've implemented a full RTO...things like that.

If anything I only feel regret that I wasn't able to spend all four years of college onsite.

What has been the best thing to happen to you in the past year? Geez, it would be hard to tell. This year felt like a fucking car crash, but I guess it's also my quarter-life crisis in action. Hm...I like that I saw Seventeen, I like that Jin and J-Hope are back from the military, and I like that I was able to travel to Vietnam. Those three I would say have been the highlights of the last 366 days.

Who do you have listed as emergency contacts in your phone? I don't think I have anyone, but in general I usually list my mom.

Are you prone to jealousy? No, I'm pretty nonchalant these days.

How did you get through the lowest point in your life? I drowned myself in work + discovered BTS.

Have you ever been someone's first love? I think so, yeah.

Have you ever played frisbee golf? Not sure what that is so I'll say no. I casually played frisbee in high school, though.

What is your favorite silly, feel-good movie? 13 Going on 30 :) To be fair, the older I get, the more problematic I increasingly find some of its plot elements to be (Jenna tracking down Matty?? Matty cheating???), but I guess I haven't and can't let go of how cute I found it to be at some point.

How old were you when you got your first gaming console, and what kind was it? I never really got gifted 'my own' console because I was never a gamer to begin with, but the first one I had exposure to was the PS1 just because we already had one when I was born.

Who in your family has the coolest job? I really admire my cousin, who's a teaching assistant in economics at our alma mater.

Is cereal technically a soup? Well, no, it's just milk.

Have you found your first gray hairs yet? They come up every now and then but always irregularly.

What is something that drains your energy really quickly? Unreasonable clients, clients who message on the weekend, clients who have sky-high expectations...you get the route I'm headed.

Did you parents teach you how to make a budget before you moved out on your own? They never taught me anything about money. They've just sort of expected to me to learn on my own, which I guess is not wrong but I do wish I got guided just a little bit.

What is your favorite food to put gravy on? Just fried chicken. I'm not so much a fan of gravy...

Do you know anyone from Canada? I've had a couple of friends/family friends move to Canada. It's a fairly popular country for Filipinos.

What's your opinion on astrology? No.

Do you use TikTok? Yeah but only because it makes up a sizeable portion of my work. I'm constantly working with influencers and digital media, so I need to know who's been getting popular/what the trends are.

What do you have going on the rest of the day? I printed out coloring sheets that I'll be filling out. I'm also gonna play a bit of my rhythm game tonight.

[mariacallous]

Fugitive Wirecard COO Jan Marsalek wasn’t just responsible for Germany’s largest financial fraud in history. He was also a decade-long Russian spy.

In the city of Lipetsk, 300 miles south of Moscow, stands a yellow chapel. Somewhat out of place next to a modern mirrored-window building, situated on the lip of a roundabout, the 200 year-old Church of Holy Transfiguration caters to the faithful of a large mining town that dates back to the era of Peter the Great. Inside, Father Konstantin Baiazov performs the customary rites and rituals for his flock. Dark and bearded, with a short, military-style buzz cut, the church’s archpriest’s routine is standard – services twice a day. Father Konstantin inherited the job — and the calling — from his own father, a revered Orthodox priest who, as local legend goes, had challenged the authority of the formidable KGB during Soviet times.

Konstantin, the father of three, used to travel abroad. He liked visiting Europe, and was particularly fond of Rome. However, he has not left Russia since September 2020. Since the fifth of that month, Father Baiazov’s official passport, numbered 763391844, has not belonged to a man of God. Rather, it belongs to someone who wears a different kind of white collar, looks a lot like him, and is the most wanted man in Europe.

For more than four years, Jan Marsalek, the former chief operating officer of the disgraced German financial services company Wirecard, has been living in Russia under this assumed identity, a year-long investigation by The Insider, Der Spiegel, ZDF, and Der Standard has uncovered. Wirecard, the German equivalent to PayPal was once a DAX-30 listed company, one of the wealthiest traded entities on the German stock exchange, with a valuation of $28 billion. Then came June 2020, when, in the midst of an audit, Wirecard could not locate €1.9 billion in assets it claimed were being held somewhere in the world – Russia, the United Arab Emirates or the Philippines. In fact, the money didn’t exist. Wirecard’s worth was predicated on commissions supposedly earned from three companies, Al Alam, Senjo and PayEasy, based in Dubai, Singapore and Manila, respectively. Wirecard money flowed into all three but the only documented flows in reverse existed in the German conglomerate’s imagination. Or, as the now imprisoned former CEO Markus Braun claims, it had been funneled away to a complex web of offshore accounts controlled by his then number two, Jan Marsalek.

Marsalek, the man responsible for overseeing the forging of company records, money-laundering, and extensive espionage and harassment campaigns against the journalists and speculators who exposed the enormity of Wirecard’s graft, fled in a sinuous route from Germany to Austria to Belarus to Moscow on June 19, 2020, at a moment when COVID-19 lockdowns made movement across borders more difficult than usual for ordinary citizens. But Marsalek is not only an internationally accused swindler. He is also an agent of the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence service, and he has been for the last decade. More recently, since his defection to Russia, he has also done jobs for the FSB.

The Insider’s investigation is based mainly on confidential documents, emails, and chat transcripts, as well mobile phone and travel data. Research into Marsalek’s past also included interviews conducted by our consortium partners with people close to the accused. Among these are his mother and his longtime recruiter-handler, whom Der Spiegel met up with in February at a five-star hotel in Dubai.

The never-before-told story of how the Austrian-born “whiz kid” was recruited to Russia’s largest and most notorious spy agency, the GRU, bears all the hallmarks of a genre-bending ham thriller. Sacha Baron Cohen as Bernie Madoff the Bond villain. It is a saga replete with honey traps, MiG fighter jets, erotic models, sinister ex-spooks, even more sinister mercenaries, counterfeit passports, fake priests taking Syphilis tests, and cheap disguises. More ominously, the story also involves surveillance and kidnapping plots, including surveillance targeting a member of the team that investigated Marsalek’s case, Christo Grozev.

[hazygrains]

May 13, 2023

I’m back with another long-overdue post. This day hike trip happened five months ago, on May 13th. It was yet another planned trip arranged by my EG family. My last hike was at Mount Balagbag, and it was still with the same people. This time, they chose Mount Purro Nature Reserve, located in Antipolo, and more people from work joined.

Mount Purro Nature Reserve is a family-run eco-park tucked away in the foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountain Range, near Metro Manila. It is a simple yet distinct sustainable travel destination. It advocates a lifestyle of stewardship, simplicity, and sharing. Moreover, it highlights God, Nature, and People as the true measures of personal and community development. Along with its partner, MPNR Foundation, it pursues the dream of rehabilitating the Upper Marikina Watershed and empowering the communities living within, especially the indigenous Dumagat tribe.

I was really looking forward to this day. They said it was an easy hike, but as someone who is not in the best shape, I would rate this one 8/10 in terms of difficulty. I really struggled. The trail was all muddy, slippery, and steep, as it had been raining for days before. To make things even worse, my thighs were killing me because we had just started our hobby program, Rave Cycle. I could hardly bend my knees, and each step was pure pain. But they said to keep moving to loosen up the stiffness of the muscles, so I pushed myself.

Some of us found the difficulty level too challenging and decided not to continue to the peak (since most of us were first-time hikers), but I, not wanting to miss out on the opportunity, carried on. I was with the last group, the slower hikers, and we took it easy, going at our own pace to reach the top. After a short break on the peak for group photos, we hiked back down to the mini-conference area, our starting point. I was exhausted and starving, but just in time, lunch was served! Thankfully, the food included in our day trip package from Loli's Kitchen was delish!

After our meal and a brief rest, we proceeded to the second part of our day trip: the River Walk. The trek was quite long. To be honest, I felt a bit disappointed as we approached the river. I understand that people live in the area, but I had hoped they would maintain its cleanliness. There was litter everywhere, and the smell was far from pleasant. The mountain hike was beautiful, with no litter in sight, and I wished they'd taken the same care with the river.

Anyway, it was quite a day – another memorable memory with my EG tribe. Too bad we weren't able to meet the Dumagats due to COVID restrictions.

Grateful for the new memories we've made.

[inkycherie]

I have had the most amazing summer. In July, my best friend came to visit. I brought her to Paris (her first time), showed her around my town and other neighbouring cities around Geneva, and we drove to the south of France. I made different meals for everyone to enjoy, danced to the loveliest music, and drank the best wine(s).

The third week of August, I went back to the Philippines. We had a long overdue family reunion. Our uncle from Canada also came to visit with his family, and my cousin who works for months at a cruise ship extended his vacation.

We all flew to Zamboanga del Sur to surprise my grandma and our extended family whom we haven't seen in 13 years ! We spent a week there living the simple life, eating pandesal for breakfast, and singing karaoke kahit brownout.

The first few days of September, I spent back in my hometown. I saw Bowie again. I didn't let any minute pass without cuddling him. Whenever I'm in the PH and everyone else is back home, my sisters and I stay in one bedroom with our parents (and Bowie), chatting away until we all fall asleep. These nights were even more special because we were all cooped up in one room while there was a storm outside. Felt just like the good old days when my sisters and I would spend nights holed up in our parents room trying to pass the time until electricity was back on.

I was also sooo happy to walk around the malls with Christmas music already playing in the background ! We bought surprise presents for our parents. My sisters and I chipped in to buy papa his dream TV, and mama a new iPhone. The rest of my money I spent on groceries, more presents for the fam, pasalubongs for Jon, books, Cheetos, Spicy Century Tuna, Vienna sausages, and Spam. lol

We spent my last week in Manila. Took mama, my sisters, and our aunt on a date - brunch in Wildflour and shopping at Rockwell, and then continued to shop in MOA. I wanted to make dinner for everyone, so I made sinigang na baboy which was perfect for the stormy weather. We had drinks with our cousins before bed (red horse, spicy Oishi, and isaw at bbq).

The next day, I brought my parents to IKEA so I can buy them stuff for the house. I could tell mama was so excited to drive back home so she can start using everything we got. Uncle flew back from Zamboanga later than everyone else so the day after he arrived, he went straight to the condo so we can spend more time with him. We asked him to make lola's bistek Tagalog as he is the only one who can make it exactly the way lola does. I am glad to report that I watched him closely as he was making it - even volunteered to be the sous chef - so I will make it for dinner tomorrow.

The day before my flight, the entire family celebrated my aunt and cousin's birthdays. I made some of my specialty meals, and we ordered a bunch of other food. Of course, there was cake.

I flew back to Switzerland on the 7th. I arrived on Friday at 8 in the morning, unpacked my stuff, ate pancit canton, and fell asleep at 16hr. I woke up at 3am still tired, but I managed to clean up and do all the laundry. I was hanging clothes at the balcony even before the sun was out. I found it hilarious. The rest of the day, I spent on the couch still feeling quite sluggish and brushing off the fact that I was having chills, and my nose wouldn't stop running.

Jon and I went on a quick café date and I couldn't taste the coffee nor the pastry I ordered which I found strange but thought nothing of. We did errands and bought groceries but I started feeling sicker as the hours passed. As soon as we got home, I checked to see if I had covid. The test came out positive. Dinner wasn't much fun. I was much sicker so I couldn't enjoy the food Jon prepared for me - he made me the perfect steak which I couldn't taste hahaha and some soup to make me feel better.

This morning, I woke up at 5am and called my family right away. The symptoms are getting worse, and now I have chills, body pains, and constant headache. I will rest more so I can feel better by tomorrow. I just find this to be a silly end to an incredible summer.

[1988hc]

trade angst, unrequited love, unhappy ending, mental health

Being out for a year with depression was hard. It had been only part of the diagnosis, the one part they'd never made official, because Jonny didn't need everyone to think he was even more of a basketcase than people already took him for. His doctors still weren't sure how much of it all was physical and which parts were psychosomatic. It hadn't really mattered in the end. Jonny couldn't play, couldn't drag himself out of bed, feeling drained and horrible and alone and numb, everything a big black hole, an endless slog. Who cared if it was his body or his brain that was giving out?

Pat had told Jonny he was expecting a child and Jonny had fucking imploded, the unexpected news the last straw that broke the camel's back. It had stung, sharp and vicious like a splinter, and in the span of four months Jonny had lost everything he'd known about himself; suddenly the only guy without a girl by his side, a plan for his future, a family on the horizon, a life after hockey. Splitting from Lindsay had been hard, but there'd been that glimmer of hope, irrational and fickle but there, a tiny flicker, a maybe. But Pat had gone and fucking gotten Amanda pregnant and well, Jonny guesses that's really his answer.

The flame had winked out in the blink of an eye and with it Jonny's will to do anything but lie in bed all day and feel sorry for himself.

Depression, his therapist had said. Unresolved issues. Long COVID, and whatever whacky immunoresponses his body could come up with.

His medical file was three manila folders thick by now, filled with endless gibberish, Jonny's eyes glazing over after only a few words.

Viral. Mental. Bacterial. Chronic.

There were no easy answers. Jonny learned that lesson the hard way.

But he'd fought his way back to hockey because no matter what, he wasn't ready yet to give up his career just because his love life never worked out the way he'd wanted it to. He and Pat had been exes for years now, they were cordial, he could deal. So he came back and put his head down and worked hard and grit his teeth.

Welcomed new guys to the locker room. Saw another future crumble and used all his newfound skills to breathe, to relax, to take it one day at a time.

And then Pat tells him he's decided to leave, on the phone, the fucking coward, talking about "opportunities" and "Brisson thinks" and "Amanda loves New York" and "I might eat a lot pizza", Jonny's brain a static buzz. Pat's going to the Rangers. If they want him. He sounds excited, even, and Jonny hums, cell phone slipping in his number fingers.

One phone call.

One phone call and all the carefully constructed walls Jonny had built come crumbling down like a house of cards, collapsing into a messy pile, not even making a sound besides a faint rustle.

One phone call and he's right back where he was one and a half years ago, unable to scrape himself out of bed and make his body obey, no gas left in the tank to force his body through a future without Pat by his side.

He thought he was over Pat.

He really isn't.

"Jonny," his therapist says, and Jonny knows that tone of voice. Compassionate, but stern. Calling his bullshit, making him face the truth.

They talked about so many things that year he was out. Boundaries. Self-care. Healing. Taking time to process, seeking help when he needs it. Stop pushing through, learn to listen to the pain. A couple other hard lessons.

Pat is leaving.

Breathe.

Jonny thought he was prepared.

It stings, sharp and vicious like a splinter.

He really isn't.

"I know."

One phone call later he's officially on IR again.

[robiediaz]

Almost Over

From the quote of my idol Stephen Curry Success is not an accident, success is actually a choice. Being a teenager hard work is the start of success after our principal didn’t allow me to play for other school I shock because that will be the stepping stone for other big leagues. Another league came to our school but it didn’t go well but I still play the game right. Another thing is I improved a lot giving it all when I play and last ligang barangay before we move to Calamba.

I was hitting the three on our first game setting a record for thirteen threes in a single game and our team win. After that game I know that I improved a lot and can have a shot. Then there was a time that my father saw a tryout in LPU Laguna so I tryout I was doing good that time at first, I was wrong because I tryout for the college team even though I was an upcoming senior high student but I still make to the second wave of the tryout. But on the other day when the tryout came for senior high students I did well on the tryout but sadly I didn’t make on the second wave. Before that tryout I have plenty of offers from other school and one is at PCU Manila where my coach was playing but I still choose LPU Laguna but it didn’t go to my plan.

I still have an offer from Don Bosco Canlubang to play for their varsity team even though I was studying at LPU Laguna. That season I was doing great putting up big numbers to give our team a chance to play in the second round but It was not enough to make it to the quarters. After that season I still have an offer from other leagues around Laguna. I still can make it to the big league, but Covid destroys all of my dreams.

[onenettvchannel]

DEVELOPING STORY: Manila Central Post Office explosion halts new ID Applications for both UMID and Postal IDs

MANILA, NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION -- A car battery explosion at the Manila Central Post Office (MCPO) was led to a temporary or indefinite suspension of new ID applications for two widely used identification cards in the Philippines - the Unified Multi-Purpose ID (UMID) and the Philippine Postal ID. The late incident occurred on Sunday (May 21st, 2023 -- Manila local time) causing significant damage to the post office building and disrupting its operations. Several reports by the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) indicate that a faulty battery caused the explosion.

In a text message obtained to OneNETnews, the officials of Social Security System (SSS) and Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) releases a disclosed statement: "We would like to inform the public that the new ID applications for both UMID and Postal IDs are temporarily unavailable at the Manila Central Post Office (MCPO) following the car battery explosion incident", the said statement read.

SSS and Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) manage the UMID card, which provides beneficiaries with access to various government services. The program was introduced in 2010, a decade before the CoViD-19 pandemic years to streamline services. National media reports say that the government agencies like the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth-IC) accepts UMID cards.

The Postal ID however, is a convenient alternative to a primary ID that is both convenient and affordable. It is accepted by the Philippine government and private institutions for various purposes such as proof of identity as E-Wallets and banking, transaction verification and eligibility for discounts on certain products and services. Applicants who were planning to obtain neither the UMID, Postal ID or both are advised to temporarily seek alternative options while repairs and investigations are ongoing at the affected national post office. Residents can explore other government-issued identification cards such as the Driver's License, Passport or the Voter's ID to fulfill their identification requirements.

Officials from PHLPost have yet to announce an estimated date for when new ID applications for UMID and Postal IDs will resume sooner at the MCPO. It is recommended that individuals to stay updated through official announcements from the aforesaid government mailing company regarding the availability of the services affected by the incident. Post office facilities should prioritize safety measures to prevent such incidents from occurring again. BFP investigators are currently investigating the cause of the explosion and addressing any potential negligence or lapses in safety protocols.

(via Rhayniel Saldasal Calimpong / Freelance Photojournalist of OneNETnews)

Here in Dumaguete alone, new ID applications of UMID confirms that the contract was expired indefinitely with no potential date of resumption on SSS. While the PHLPost branch office in Santa Catalina Street completely goes out of order, leaving no applicants were applied and to pay a one-time fee either the Regular or Rush applicants.

As authorities work towards restoring normal operations in 2024 or later and ensuring the safety of postal facilities, the public is urged to remain patient and cooperative with the necessary adjustments implemented during this temporary or indefinite suspension of ID application services for both UMID and Postal IDs.

FILE PHOTO COURTESY: DZKB-TV 9's CNN Philippines: Manila BACKGROUND PROVIDED BY: Tegna

SOURCE: *https://www.rappler.com/nation/car-battery-explosion-caused-manila-central-post-office-fire-bfp/ [Referenced News Article via Rappler] *https://www.facebook.com/100070122185864/posts/556609080019827 [Referenced FB Captioned Post via PHLPost] *https://techpilipinas.com/umid-card/ *https://techpilipinas.com/postal-id-requirements-application-process/ *https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Multi-Purpose_ID and *https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhilPost_Postal_ID

-- OneNETnews Team

*UPDATED with Photo Representation for a government service disruption (as of July 29th, 2023).

[muling-maglalakbay]

Dear You,

Let me tell you a story.

Two years ago I ended a three year relationship over text and phone call. It’s not my finest moment, but dating long distance (he was in Davao, I was in Manila) during the heigh of the COVID-19 pandemic was….not ideal.

He’s younger than me, born in 1998. (So older than you. Eep.) Red flag #1. We differed in perspectives on religion (#2) and finances (#3). We even got into an argument about his sister’s dating life! Gosh that one was particularly annoying.

When we started seeing each other in 2018, I was just curious what it would be like to date a college-age guy. Maybe live out the college dating experience I never had. On our second date I told him he had to manage expectations, because I was casually dating, not looking for a steady relationship. But he caught feelings, so I went with it. Even tho i knew even then that I would have to eventually break up with him.

Which is why it was unexpected to him that I intiated the break up, but for me, it was nothing but a huge relief. I didn’t feel sad, i didn’t cry or wallow. It just felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I dont think that’s how break ups should feel. I honestly felt like a sociopath.

So when we went for coffee, I was chalking your invitation up to…nothing really. Just coffee among co-workers. That’s not weird. Other people in the office do it all the time.

But you asked me out for lunch. And asking someone “out” for lunch is vastly different to coffee. So I had to consider the possibility of something more than nothing. And what I would do if there was something. Here’s what I came up with:

1. Let you down gently, explaining that I don’t date guys who are younger than me because of past experiences. Also because we work together and the drama and gossip that would stir up is making me anxious just thinking about it.

2. Let this play out. A little office flirtation never hurt anyone. Maybe having work husband is something everyone needs. Maybe I could overlook your age because you’re the new kid, who’s kinda mysterious with your mullet (which you cut off) and ridiculously long frkng lashes framing your eyes.

Scenario number 2 would end badly tho because again, eventually I’d have to call it off. But we’d still have to work together and I may overthink a lot but I cant imagine an outcome where that would be comfortable for either of us.

So earlier in church (because of course I get a moment of clarity in church) I decided that Number 1 is the kind thing to do. Because making you go through Number 2 is mean and I don’t want you to think that about me. I may have been a sociopath to break up with an ex over phone call and not feel remorse over it, but doing that again is cruel.

[southeastasianists]

Underneath a battle shrine where Filipinos took a stand against Spanish colonial rule lies one of the largest underground reservoirs in the world. Made of volcanic tuff, the underground reservoir held water carried over the waterworks system from the Marikina River before being distributed to various fountains and hydrants in Manila. It was part of the larger Carriedo waterworks designed by Genaro Palacios and built from 1878 to 1882. The infrastructure project was named after Francisco Carriedo y Peredo, a Spanish official who bequeathed a grant to the City of Manila in 1733 to build a water system to support the city's burgeoning population of 300,000 people.

When El Deposito was still functioning, it had a capacity of 56,000 cubic meters. Ventilation shafts kept the water fresh and free from contamination. The reservoir is located under the hill, its vast central channel connects to 25 smaller chambers, each measuring five meters high and three meters wide. As part of the Carriedo Waterworks, the reservoir also supplied various hydrants and fountains in Manila. Five kilometers of cast iron pipes transport water from the Marikina River. 

The reservoir played a critical role in various chapters of the country's history including the Battle of San Juan del Monte on August 30, 1896, which has been touted as the first battle of the Philippine Revolution.

El Deposito was also used as an armory during American and Japanese rule, a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients, an armory, and a firing range. It was chosen as the site of a national shrine inaugurated in 1973.

Over time El Deposito has fallen into decay. In 2016, an archaeological team conducted an assessment and excavation and two years later the National Historical Commission of the Philippines began cleaning up the site. The initial opening for 2020 was derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but it finally opened to the public on November 30, 2023.

[ianartillaga]

Journaling Your Response to Advertising

Safe at ang Saya Mag-Dine in Dito! (Enjoy a Safe and Joyful Dine-in Experience!) by Jollibee

Due to the sudden rise and impact of COVID-19, lots of businesses and establishments, such as fast food chains like Jollibee, eventually had to close business in order to reduce and help in lowering the cases of the said surge. As the announcement came wherein food establishments may now operate once again, Jollibee made sure that they would follow the said safety protocols to ensure their customers that they would be still happy and, most importantly, safe while dining in. Their advertisement was specifically targeted towards their loyal customers, especially during this time of the pandemic, since most of them are afraid of eating in public, especially indoors and in closed spaces, as they might catch the virus.

Despite the current events, the company still made sure that they would be able to deliver and serve their customers the same quality of food, bringing joy and happiness to their faces. They made a very creative jingle showcasing the different safety steps they had deployed, such as having temperature checks and disinfection before someone would be able to eat and dine in. In this way, the customers would be happier and be at ease while eating since they know that they are in good hands. In an article posted by Loyola (2021) in the Manila Bulletin, it stated that Jollibee is continuing to strengthen its health safety protocols by ensuring the safety of the food consumed and is paving its path toward a digitalized system to avoid health risks by further personal contact.

There was no presence of manipulation of any type within the advertisement since they were able to showcase how their establishments really worked at this time. It is very evident in all of their branches worldwide that they are able to follow the safety protocols instructed by the government strictly, and there are no major issues so far in regard to their said actions. It was able to capture the viewers’ attention since they were able to disseminate properly the safety information that they have in their establishment and made sure that their environment would be just as safe as staying and eating at their homes.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sama-sama sa Distansya | #SafeAtHome by Globe PH

The ongoing pandemic created space and a borderline between each of us and our loved ones. We were forced to stay apart and refrain from seeing each other physically to avoid having contact, which could lead to harming our most loved ones. The advertisement wanted to convey that even if we are far away from each other, we can still be close and still bond with one another by having online meetings, calls, or sessions. COVID-19 might have affected our physical bonding, but it will never hinder us from maintaining our communication with our loved ones and making sure that they are safe and sound. Globe PH intends to show this to all families, friends, and to those close ones we have. They wanted to show their message to everyone to be stronger and closer together despite the current events. They also wanted to inform the public that everyone should be obedient to the safety protocols and stay at home, wherein we could keep ourselves and those close to us a lot safer.

Their intention with their short poem in the advertisement is that we should stay far away from those who we love for now and maintain a far distance. It is beneficial for those who will be able to watch this as they will be more aware of the current events and what they must do keep everyone safe. Maintaining a far distance but also keeping their communication is the best way that everyone must do at this time. This is supported by an article from La Trobe University (2020), wherein they stated that following and ensuring a safe physical distance from each other would decrease the risk of transmission of the virus between people, which can lessen the infection, further helping lower the curve.

Any type of media manipulation is not present in the said advertisement as all information is factual and true, as stated in the previous source cited above. They were able to captivate the audience’s attention as they were able to create a creative poem that may be a bit harder to understand, but if one would understand its real meaning, it really does mean something important about what we should do if we want to keep our close and loved ones safe from this time of the pandemic. References:

La Trobe University. (2020, March 25). The importance of social distancing. Www.latrobe.edu.au. https://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/articles/2020/opinion/the-importance-of-social-distancing#:~:text=Remember%2C%20distancing%20ourselves%20from%20others

Loyola, J. (2021, October 20). Jollibee Group boosts food safety measures due to COVID. Manila Bulletin. https://mb.com.ph/2021/10/19/jollibee-group-boosts-food-safety-measures-due-to-covid

[benefits1986]

09.12.24

My super close friend's wedding in Boracay + the day the dad of my female best friend died. The emotional roller coaster was soooo crazy because I'd been dancing through fire and ice for the past weeks.

Dad said: Grabe ka naman. Ilang linggo ka ng natodo ngayong Q4, 'nak. Buti nagampanan mo. Nakakatulog ka pa ba? Wala ka ng pahinga a.

Both life events hit home hard. I'd do a deep dive because I'm back to the grind in a bit plus dinner with travel buddies, so limited time only na naman ang ganaps and super need to finish 2024 stronger. EME. Hahahahahaha. Akala mo naman may mamatay sa mga ganaps kung hindi mag-grind ng mainam ano po. LELS.

Still wrapping my head and heart (EMMMEE) around these because there's so much to unpack. Lagay ko lang here so I don't forget.

Highlight is... getting my 13th ink. Akala ko 11 pa lang tats ko. Juicekoooooolerdzzz. My 3rd in Boracay na 'di ko talaga bet na place but it just works. Saya kasi the island is soooo familiar and convenient. I had milktea and muffins delivered. I passed by the only flowershop in the isla and saw a wedding arch being assembled. Sabi ko, malamang, sa friend ko 'yun. And tama nga. LELS. The inspo of 013: pink and green lakas maka-legit "defy gravity" x Kakamfinnnkkk wedding ng circle namin, with no memo. Hihihihihihi. Plus etong wedding na 'to as a legit BTS girllllyyy tayo since pre-date szn ni bride and groom. LOL. Plus, syempre, Wicked Part 1 is soooooo divine and worth the wait and weight in all levels. Plus sobrang ganda rin talaga maglapat ng tinta ng suki nating local artist sa isla. Dasurb. 'Di pa sila mahal mag-charge kahit Manileniya ako. Huhuhuhuhu. Plus, napakabilis gumawa. Malinis. Collaborative. Saka kita mong professionals pero makukulit ding legit artists.

I think I won't be back any time soon din kasi wala ka talagang gagawin doon except mag-chill. LELS. Hassle pa ng weather kasi sobrang lala. Climate change, kamusta? Speaking of bipolar weather, nalalaan ako mainam kaya naman until now, huff, puff, and cough tayo. Tinatawid naman ng Lagundi caps na OD pa rin syempre. And so, balik na tayo sa wedding. I barely slept kasi nga focus ko is to down 200+ Instax films with a specific peg and vibe. So mental preps ng pake at mood swing. Then, I got a message from my soul sis. Wala na raw dad niya. He died in his sleep. Potaaccaaaa. Guho mundo ko. Alam mo 'yung shemayyyyyyyuyyy. Losing a parent is never easy. As in. Ang sakit na naman all over again. I called her and she asked me na mag-prep na forda wedding, pero syempre, nawala pake ko doon since hapon pa naman siya.

My soul sis is super OC lalo she was a geriatric nurse in her past life. Forda first time, I saw her lutang sa ganitong department. So, nag-task force kami dalawa. I gave her the task list mother dragon handed over to me. 'Di na ako naiyak while at it. Shemayyyy. Stripe earned right there. Tawang-tawa siya kasi akala mo may group work kami na ikaka-uno namin all over again. LOL. LUL. Ang pinaka hassle kasi is she is from Cali and I'm in Boracay so logisitics-wise, olats. Worried kami sa mama niya kasi may health concerns din 'yun.

Sabi ko, as soon as I land in Manila, if I need to go straight to their hometown, I would. LOL. Thank u, universe for WFH basta oks mobile data and/or WiFi. Marami natawid na dad niya. Kasangga rin kami nung nagka-covid si tito nung 2020. Si gaga, gusto lumipad pa-Pinas. Pinagalitan ko talaga siya kasi ambobo ng gusto niya as a logiv girl. Sabi ko, isipin na lang niya, elf niya ako. Hahahahaha. And poof. The dad survived to tell the tale. He had a series of health concerns and we all saw this shit coming din. And super thankful, 'di siya nahirapan or what.

Thankfully, since the mama and papa ni bestfriend ko are from the Southside na maganda ang community with family, sobrang wala kaming naging stress kasi may task force na puro boomers with millennial kiddos. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Concern ko lang is si Tita na syempre, nalimutan na ang maint meds niya and kumain. Called her since bestfriend is rebooking the tixxxx. Swerte kasi nakasagot sa kanya na customer rep is a Pinoy so waived dahil nga raw sa rebooking because of the death of a close family member. Whewwww. Middle class slaying vibes. Sayang din e.

She and her hub landed in the shithole called Manila safe. LOL. And na-bury na si papa niya. Grabe 'yung unang kita namin. The hug and the tears. Shemayyyy. Tapos, a boomer interrupted our flow dahil need daw mag-pic ni best friend forda documentation. I politely declined the photo op. Hahahahahahahaha. Shemayyy. Bahala sila diyan.

Forda Dec 9 wedding naman, juicekooooo. Ang lala ng weather the whole morning pero nung papunta kami sa beach front, shemayyyy. May rainbow. Sabi ko: Lerddddzzz, kahit 1.5 to 2 hours lang na walang ambon, sige na. Sundutan mo na rin ng decent skies please. Hahaha. And poof. Natawid naman. Syempre, sobrang focused sa mga frames and candids kasi ayoko ng plandid. LOL. I'm over that era na, I guess. Or baka tumatanda na lang ako at super good vibes and chill ng wedding. LOL.

Eto 'yung wedding na pang-foodies. Juiceekooooo. Andaming food choices kasi may mga vegans and vegetarians. Tapos 'yung couple, foodies din talaga. Andaming dessert. Andaming ceviche choices. Hahahahaha. 'Yung tipong titignan mo pa lang, busog lusog ka na. The cocktails are decent pero super love ko nung names nila. HUHUHUHUHU. BTW, 'di ako 'yung wedding guest na mareklamo sa food and drinks kasi mahal na talaga ngayon and TBT, super hirap humanap ng legit na pasok sa panlasa ng madlang pipol.

My top picks: ceviche 3 ways, enoki bacon, grilled shitake, cauliflower na pakkkkkakkk, lamb chops, asian noodles, and all the desserts na 'di matamis pero sobrang indulgent. Akala ko they won't go well together, but they make so much sense. EMEEE. Hahahahahahahahaha. O baka weird lang din talaga food choices ko.

Lumabas din 'yung chef to check and kita ko the other guests keep refilling their plates a good number of times.

Nakakatawa 'yung mga kapatid nung bride. Nagtatanong kung naubos na raw ba 'yung films. Syempre, nakaka-pressure saka ayoko rin mag-get in the way ng PnV para pakkkakkk. Ayoko rin ng shots na templated. EME. Hahahahahahahahahaha. Natatawa ako kasi may mga specific frames ako na akin e, tapos alam mo na... tutok nila with their big ass cams and bazooka. Sabi nung friend ko, may briefing naman din sila to give me my space. Saka sinisilip-silip ko rin mga shots nila if tugma sa pegs ni bride. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

'Di tuloy ako masyadong nakainom ng mainam pero, so far, happy sina bride and groom sa mga film shots. LOLLOLLOLLL. May isa pa akong regalo sa kanila pero need ko ng raw vids and photos. EMEE. Abangan.

Sobrang thankful ako sa mga paganaps kasi kung umulan or umambon, hassle ang Instax films unless nakapayong pero maiiba 'yung vibe for me lang 'yan a. LOL. Katamad e. This wedding is a reminder that even the polar opposites can come together and grow stronger. EMMMEEE. Hahahahahaha. 'Di na ako naiyak sa ceremony kasi nagkaiyakan na kami nung unang kita ko sa bride sa pre-wedding dinner. LOL. Abangan na lang din sa paparating na debriefing!!! Full support din ang mga purple peeps crew na napaka mamaldita. Hahahahahahaha. Eto talaga gusto ko sa mga 'to. Maarte pero we always agree forda greater good. As an example, since alangan 'yung oras ng wedding aka falls on siesta time, sabi nung isang member: Whatever it takes, we will hype this shit. Hahahahahahaha. So 'yun ang puksaan mindset. Kinaya namin until post party paganaps with the presence of cocktails na magaganda names. LOL. Naguusap nga group namin na last wedding was 7 years ago... nung kalakasan pa namin. Kita na talaga aging pero, we defy grabe, teh. :p

In between mga ganaps, naguusap na rin sa health, wealth, atbp. Syempre, sila lang shala. Ako tabi-tabi lungs. Hahahahahaha. Itong group kasi na 'to, alta and alta-ish. So ako, natutuwa ako na I don't have to pretend kasi 'di ako ganun plus mas nakikita ko na ano ba talagang gusto ko at 'di ko gusto. :P Sa ibang usapan na lang 'to. Saka super love that wala kaming mang-1UP mindset. Support kung support. We celebrate each other's wins in the same manner na 'pag may shit, andyan talaga kami for each other, syempre, with wicked convos na akala mo bullies ang mga characters ng plot twists.

So, what? Saying I DO means ensuring you stick with your chosen Pokemon until death takes over. Shemay. Tama naman talaga na wedding vows are meant to shake you inside out. May divorce din, so pili ka na lang your own adventure. Hahahahaha. Sabi ko nga sa bride and groom: KEEP CHOOSING EACH OTHER. ALWAYS. And legit reminder 'to na, love is true amidst all the fucking fallacies. EMEEEE. Kadire.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 12.11 (after 1940)

1941 – World War II: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States, following the Americans' declaration of war on the Empire of Japan in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States, in turn, declares war on them. 1941 – World War II: Poland declares war on the Empire of Japan. 1941 – World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy suffers its first loss of surface vessels during the Battle of Wake Island. 1946 – The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is established. 1948 – Arab–Israeli War: The United Nations passes General Assembly Resolution 194, creating a Conciliation Commission to mediate the conflict. 1958 – French Upper Volta and French Dahomey gain self-government from France, becoming the Republic of Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and the Republic of Dahomey (now Benin), respectively, and joining the French Community. 1960 – French forces crack down in a violent clash with protesters in French Algeria during a visit by French President Charles de Gaulle. 1962 – Arthur Lucas, convicted of murder, is the last person to be executed in Canada. 1964 – Che Guevara speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. 1972 – Apollo 17 becomes the sixth and final Apollo mission to land on the Moon. 1978 – The Lufthansa heist is committed by a group led by Lucchese family associate Jimmy Burke. It was the largest cash robbery ever committed on American soil, at that time. 1980 – The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (Superfund) is enacted by the U.S. Congress. 1981 – El Mozote massacre: Armed forces in El Salvador kill an estimated 900 civilians in an anti-guerrilla campaign during the Salvadoran Civil War. 1988 – A Soviet Air Force Il-76 aircraft crashes while participating in the Armenian earthquake relief, killing 78 people. 1990 – Demonstrations by students and workers across Albania begin, which eventually trigger the fall of communism in Albania. 1990 – Several fatal collisions in the 1990 Interstate 75 fog disaster result in a total of 12 deaths and 42 being injured. 1993 – A block of the Highland Towers condominium complex collapses following a landslide caused by heavy rain and water flowing from a construction site at Ampang district in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 48 of its residents die, including one who died in hospital after being rescued alive, leaving only two survivors. 1994 – First Chechen War: Russian President Boris Yeltsin orders Russian troops into Chechnya. 1994 – A bomb explodes on Philippine Airlines Flight 434, en route from Manila, Philippines, to Tokyo, Japan, killing one. The captain is able to land the plane safely. 1997 – The Kyoto Protocol opens for signature. 1998 – Thai Airways Flight 261 crashes near Surat Thani Airport, killing 101. The pilot flying the Airbus A310-200 is thought to have suffered spatial disorientation. 1999 – SATA Air Açores Flight 530M crashes into Pico da Esperança on São Jorge Island in the Azores, killing 35. 2001 – China joins the World Trade Organization (WTO). 2005 – The Buncefield Oil Depot catches fire in Hemel Hempstead, England. 2006 – Felipe Calderón, the President of Mexico, launches a military-led offensive to put down the drug cartel violence in the state of Michoacán. This effort is often regarded as the first event in the Mexican Drug War. 2008 – Bernie Madoff is arrested and charged with securities fraud in a $50 billion Ponzi scheme. 2009 – Finnish game developer Rovio Entertainment releases the hit mobile game Angry Birds internationally on iOS. 2017 – New York City Subway bombing: A pipe bomb partially detonates in the New York City Subway, in the Times Square–42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal. Four people are injured, including the perpetrator. 2020 – The Food and Drug Administration issues an Emergency Use Authorization on the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, the first COVID-19 vaccine to be approved by the agency.

[goo-d-tama]

My Flop Era: Is Lowkey Serving | Act 2, Entry #26

16 October 2022

    Good evening, Philippines!     Our flight yesterday went okay. There was that turbulence thingy but other than that, everything is good. I even won one of the games the airline has after the  takeoff. They asked to show a boarding pass (like the game "bring me" or "fetch") and mine was literally on my hands because I was taking pictures, both for documentation and IG. Lol. It's destiny. The prize is just a cheap looking pouch with the airline's colors and logo on it. But I was so excited to have gotten it. [PS: That pouch became my cosmetics pouch for two years since I got it. It's slowly disintegrating now. Lol.]     The plane is also half empty, again because of covid protocols. The seats in front of us are vacant. But halfway through the flight, a lady took the seats and laid down across them to sleep. When she woke, she turned around and told Meifei, "Sino yang kasama mo? Asawa mong hapon?" (Who's that with you, your Japanese husband?) WTAF. Do I look old? It's me who responded for Meifei because she is laughing maniacally. I said no, that we are cousins and that I'm Filipino.

    It happened again at the immigration in NAIA (the airport in Manila, PH). They asked for the QR code (for covid report/tracing); so I showed my phone and the staff was like, "brightness.. bright.. up.. up.." with sign language. I said, "Yung brightness po ba?" (Is it the brightness?) and he was shocked and then laughed. He said he thought I'm not Filipino.

    Honestly, it is a minor inconvenience sometimes being mistaken as a non-Filipino. There have been a few times now when taxi drivers (one time also a vendor) jacked up their prices because they thought I was a foreigner. And think of the times when someone wanted to hit on me but second guessed because they thought I don't speak the language. Lol.     My dad and Pon Mi (Meifei's mom, if you can still remember; also part of The Trinity) picked us up at the airport. We arrived home at around 9PM. And since the house was vacant for three months, it is D I R T Y . It's a horror house! There are cobwebs everywhere, dust, some mould on wood.. it's a mess. And I can't believe my dad spent the night here without even sweeping the floor! I played with my dog for about 10 minutes (and her fur is matted, ears dirty, and just.. arg. What did dad do to her?) and then immediately changed to ragged clothes and cleaned the house. Jetlag? I don't know her. I cleaned until 1AM. Still, I wasn't able to finish everything. I'm tired. And you know me, I can't sleep in a messy house. So I called my cousin (Bing Xi Ling; if you would check the family flow chart) who lives nearby and told him I'm sleeping over.

     I woke at around 12PM. Tia Fei sent me a message while I was asleep. It was a picture of their living room, specifically the reclining couch which is my spot, followed by another message saying, "Wala ka" (You're not here). Yup.. so there. [PS: She unsent them the day after, but sent a new one of Capt cakKe brushing his teeth. Lol. Tia Fei and I send each other TikToks up to this day, like internet besties. Lol.]     After going home and eating, I continued cleaning right away. I gave up cleaning at around 8PM. There were breaks and pauses in between, of course. I still have the upstairs bathroom to clean and my dog to bathe, but I'm so tired. I feel ill, like a fever is coming. After a short rest, I took a long bath and am now on the bed, writing this. This last entry.. for now, I would like to believe.     I want to thank you, my journal, for listening and keeping me company. Thick and thin, my friend! Thank you very very much. Mata desu, ne? I'll tell you more about it when I see you again 🎵🎵🎵 Lol. So long and goodnight!

Read the whole thing here.