#an obligation can be bad but it can also mean ‘a debt of gratitude.’ it’s a debt or a bond but it’s a bond in both senses sometimes

[ziracona]

People hear me say ‘Do I have a moral obligation to her,’ and think that means ‘heavy unwanted weight chained to me,’ when I mean ‘sacred duty I would hold as dear as its value.’

[fincalinde]

an ask that isn’t to do with murder: I was reminded while re-reading that Meng Yao was perfectly prepared to remain with the Nie out of a sense of obligation/gratitude if NMJ refused to let him quit to join the Jin. Setting aside the fact that they’d probably have lost the war etc, how do you imagine JGY finding a way to get JGS’s attention in the AU where he has to stay with the Nie?

Thank you for the non murder ask!

So this is an interesting one because off the cuff my position is that JGY would almost certainly not have achieved legitimation without taking out WRH. That said, at this earlier stage of his life JGY cannot be sure of that and so he's working hard to find whatever way he can to achieve his father's recognition.

While with the Nie, JGY expresses gratitude towards NMJ that I read as sincere, particularly in light of how consistent his behaviour is with how he responds to other characters who give him opportunities and treat him with some respect. NMJ's initial treatment of JGY is certainly flawed and later becomes actively hostile and bad faith, but JGY is a character who takes intentions into consideration. I do think he shows that gratitude and sense of obligation in his actions, too, right up to the point where NMJ is no longer worthy of that loyalty and regard aka right up to the moment on the stairs when NMJ calls him a son of a prostitute and tries to kill him (again).

That said, I don't think JGY's intention was ever to remain with the Nie for the rest of his life. I read him as being profoundly thankful for NMJ's regard, but also as having always seen the Nie as means to an end. He tells LXC he owes NMJ and must stay with the Nie, but to me it seems to be an acknowledgement of his position as much as his own personal wishes. He literally cannot leave the Nie at that point without dishonouring himself. But achieving legitimation is his overriding goal, and though he is loyal and grateful there are limits to that loyalty and gratitude.

Of course I do think JGY was prepared to remain with the Nie if NMJ refused to let him quit, and I also think he wasn't necessarily ready to jump at the chance to get out of his debt of gratitude and leave either. JGY already has a plan in place and is executing it: he plans to become so successful and powerful that his father will have no choice but to acknowledge him. In theory he can achieve that under the auspices of the Nie if he works hard and the chips fall in his favour. If he's packed off to JGS at this point, before he's achieved enough of note to be impossible to ignore, he's in for another good kicking down those stairs. The text does indicate he would still like to take that risk—in typical JGY fashion, he will trust his own wits and endurance to pull him through. But he seems aware that getting a foot in the door with the Jin is still a big risk compared to the relative stability of building up his reputation with the Nie and going from there.

Remember, JGY and LXC did not ask NMJ to send JGY to his father; LXC is politely sounding JGY out about the idea, and before JGY has time to fully consider his response, NMJ eavesdrops and barges in. NMJ is absolutely well-intentioned in this scene: he approves of JGY and his own sense of honour therefore dictates that he will write a recommendation letter to JGS and send JGY to the Jin. But regardless of NMJ's intentions, much as when he promoted JGY he goes about it in completely the wrong way. He assumes he knows what JGY will choose, and rather than offering to write the letter if JGY wants, he tells JGY he is going to write the letter and send him to Golden Carp Tower.

This leaves JGY with, as usual, horribly limited options. In theory this is the offer of a lifetime and JGY should jump at it. But the text clearly specifies that before NMJ's grand entrance, when LXC asks JGY if this is what he wants, JGY thinks very hard before he answers. I do not read that hesitation as a desire to stay with the Nie. I read that hesitation as an understanding that this approach is vanishingly unlikely to be successful.

And indeed, at first the worst does happen. JGY ends up under some petty, no-name Jin Commander, abused and used just as he has been in the past, and ultimately takes desperate measures to assert himself and claw back some of the ground he's lost. Since he's using Wen techniques when he takes out the commander, my read is not only that it was premeditated (though precipitated by significant abuse) but also JGY must already have been in contact with the Wen and his plan to obtain Wen intelligence was already underway.

This is all a very roundabout way of saying I think it's quite likely JGY's path would have undergone a similar trajectory had LXC not heard the Jin were recruiting and not suggested to JGY that he might join them (along with NMJ eavesdropping and intervening). We only have evidence that JGY is communicating with the Wen after he goes to the Jin, but it's a very sensible strategy on his part that plays to his strengths.

Personally I think it's plausible that if JGY had remained with the Nie, as the war stretched on he would likely have failed to live up to NMJ's one-dimensional image of him as the exigencies of war forced him to make hard decisions about what is best for the Sunshot Campaign (and for himself). Due to the war massively speeding up the influence of the sabre spirit, sooner or later NMJ is going to go down a similar obsessive path to canon, and JGY is always going to be an easy target for that. I also think any scenario that results in JGY leaving the Nie results in JGY ultimately going to the Wen.

Remember, if JGY doesn't join the Wen then the Wen win the war (say that five times fast). I actually don't see the Wen winning the war, because JGY would take drastic steps before it ever got to that point—see the previous paragraph. At most what I see happening is a longer war because it takes longer for JGY to get to the point where he realises he has to defect in order to make a more impactful contribution to the war effort while simultaneously giving himself a better shot of recognition if and when the Wen are defeated.

I'm interested in other scenarios and I by no means think they are impossible, but based on the characters and their motivations and temperaments, I find that is theoretically the most plausible alternative outcome.

[grewlikefancyflowers]

hello! I've always wondered about the fact that JC distracted the soldiers first? How does change interpretation of canon, and would it have mattered if wwx was told that jc distracted them first?

Hello anon!

The reveal that JC distracted the wens shouldn't really change how the reader views JC's character imo, because all it tells us is that he's capable of good things as well as very awful things. The reader should already know this because we see him being decent at other points in MDZS too (briefly in Xuanwu Cave, when the Wens come to Lotus Pier, and even in Guanyin Temple).

This isn't a 'psych!! jc is a good person!!!' moment, the importance it has to JC's character is that he chooses to keep it to himself rather than using it to try to earn forgiveness from WWX.

'After a moment of silence, Jiang Cheng shook his head, “There’s nothing to say.” [...] just like how the past Wei WuXian couldn’t tell him the truth of giving him his golden core, the current Jiang Cheng wasn’t able to say anything either.' (110)

This is WWX's reason for not telling JC about the GC (aside from the initial reason that it'd hurt JC's pride)

'Later, because Jin ZiXuan and Jiang YanLi had died because of him, Wei WuXian had become too ashamed to ever bring it up again. If he were to tell Jiang Cheng the truth after that, it would only sound like an excuse, a way for him to alleviate himself of the responsibilities by bringing up an act of kindness in the worst time, as if saying, ‘Look, you can’t hate me, I’ve also made sacrifices for the Jiang Sect.’ (102)

Obligation and debt form the very foundation of WWX & JC's relationship, at every every opportunity JC held these things against WWX. The 'promise', that WWX was raised in the Jiang Sect, the deaths of his family & JZX—even after the GC reveal JC holds these things against WWX.

'At this point, it was impossible to figure out who should apologize to whom.' (103)

It all becomes such an entangled mess that their relationship is made unsalvageable by it.

In contrast to wangxian, who's relationship can only be called unconditional—between them there are no expectations, obligations, debts, gratitude or envies. There's no need for thank you & I'm sorry. It is in both LWJ's and WWX's character to give freely to others without expectation for anything in return, to never begrudge what was given or resent what wasn't received. The 'message' of MDZS is that debts and gratitude have no place in a mutually-loving relationship, of any sort.

For JC's character development, in keeping this small thing to himself, when he could have held it against WWX as he does everything else, JC finally made some small progress towards self-improvement. It's the only positive character development he has in the whole novel.

As for whether or not WWX knowing about this would change anything either in the existing story, or post-canon? No.

In his first life, what could this mean to WWX? That JC cares about him? WWX already thinks that. He didn't base his decision-making on whether or not his relationship with JC was good or bad regardless. And if he considered this a 'debt' that tied him to JC?

'Wei WuXian’s expression darkened at once. His voice was harsh as well, “What a joke! Why is it that the debt you owe has to be repaid at the expense of others!”' (62)

He wouldn't let the Wens suffer at the expense of his own debts or obligations anyway, JC would still give him the ultimatum between staying in the Jiang Sect & abandoning the Wens, or leaving. WWX would still defect, the story would remain the same.

As for if JC revealed this post-canon, he himself recognises that this could only come across as an attempt to guilt-trip WWX into forgiving him. It certainly would not endear WWX to him, probably quite the opposite.

In the end, after everything JC has done, WWX doesn't want him in his life anymore, one good deed won't change that.

[mylordshesacactus]

Goals Only Matter In Soccer

A recurring theme I hear from people struggling to “figure out” roleplaying is that they feel their characters are flat, uninteresting, or that they’re otherwise bad at character creation because their characters don’t have “goals.” Or, as the flip side of that coin, that they themselves are bad roleplayers because they either can’t remember their characters’ goals, or can’t/don’t enjoy actually roleplaying those goals.

(A short break for shameless self-promotion: If you want some one-on-one assistance with character creation or are struggling to roleplay, I do one-hour consult sessions to give you specific help in tapping into your RPG character. You get tailored guidance with no attempts to tell you what you “should” do, and I get to ethically keep my therapeutic interviewing skills from getting rusty while in grad school limbo. Everyone wins!)

This is getting a bit esoteric. Let’s use some concrete examples.

Some common “goals” might be: A wizard whose goal is to become more powerful or gain a certain form of knowledge, a noble-born character whose goal is to restore their family’s name or wealth, or the evergreen goal of avenging a great wrong like the death of a loved one.

These are all great character goals! There is nothing wrong with having a character with a clear goal they work toward over the course of the game, and making a character with a clear goal is a great way to get started with roleplaying! 

But it is only one method. And it’s not always appropriate.

I’m about to blow your damn mind: Characters don’t need goals. 

The idea that a well-rounded character should always have a “goal” is pervasive, and honestly harmful to good character creation and roleplaying! And it’s even more difficult to overcome because if you look for roleplaying or character-building advice, “give them a goal” is generally one of the first bullet points. This is well-meaning, and it’s not bad advice. But if it leaves you feeling like your character is incomplete because they don’t have A Goal—or worse, feeling obligated to tack on a “goal” and struggle to prioritize it in roleplay—then it’s not helpful.

Characters do not need “goals”.

But all characters need motivations.

As usual, I’m going to use my own characters as an example so you don’t feel like I’m lecturing you. I think I only have one major D&D character who could be stated to have a “goal”--my halfling druid/fighter, who wants to repay her debt to the Circle so that she can make a clean and respectful break and live her own life without guilt. 

But the others? Benny (Benevolence, but only her mom calls her that), my tiefling bard, doesn’t have a “goal” she works toward; in all honesty, her goal was her pre-campaign life. She likes being a travelling musician, she wants to perform and meet people across the continent! Rinda, my dwarven paladin, has five kids at home--her nieces and nephews, who she adopted after her sister’s tragic death in a mine collapse. She’s got no career ambition because she feels that chasing rank or prestige is inappropriate in a paladin, whose priority should be ordinary people and who needs to be accessible and grounded in the reality of the common folk. Her “goal” is to just keep being an honorable, mid-rank paladin and providing for her family.

That’s not remotely helpful in a tabletop RPG! Those are terrible “goals” for a character in a team-based game! If I followed general beginner RP advice and leaned into those goals, I’d end up that dreaded monstrosity, the player who says things like “but why would my character get involved? She would just let the town guard handle it”.

However, these characters’ motivations are a different story.

Benny doesn’t set out with the goal of becoming a hero; it’s not something she consciously works toward or considers a major aspiration. But she is responsible for what she allows, and at her core, Benevolence was well-named. She was raised by loving parents who taught her how to raise working animals and livestock ethically and with compassion, and who taught her the regret that comes of making selfish decisions. Helping others and minimizing suffering isn’t her life goal. She didn’t set out from home with a dream of being better than her parents, of putting good into the world instead of just mitigating the bad...but sometimes people really do just help others because it’s the right thing to do. 

Rinda? Her driving purpose will always be her family. Caring for them is her goal, the thing she intentionally prioritizes, the thing she actively works for. But her motivations are not the same thing. Yes, she wants to stay close to take care of her kids...but her responsibilities as a paladin are important to. She’s a protector who swore an oath, and her children are not more important than children in the next city over who will suffer without her intervention. Her motivation is to make people feel safe, but that’s not really a traditional “goal”. And she’s a stronger character for that!

So: Motivations > Goals. 

Which does NOT mean that your character shouldn’t have a concrete goal! That’s not what I’m saying at all. Rather...if your character has a concrete goal, arising naturally from their backstory, and you struggle to roleplay that goal, it may be because you’re not tapping into why your character has that goal in the first place. Are they seeking power because they’re terrified of a specific enemy? To prove a detractor or an abuser wrong? In order to accomplish a specific task--and in that case, who or what made them believe that task was important? Why is your rogue trying to avenge the death of his sister--and you can’t say “love” or “grief”. Many people have lose loved ones; what made this specific person decide that the only way forward was murder, and that his target(s) were responsible, and that he personally had to dedicate his life to killing them?

(This course of questioning may lead you to realize that you don’t have an answer. If that happens, ask yourself--is this a realization that your CHARACTER might have? That they don’t know why they’re doing this? Follow that thread! If not, it’s possible that you’ve tacked on an artificial “goal” for the sake of having one, and your character would be stronger without that anchor weighing them down.)

Sedge, that druid/fighter from earlier--her goal is to repay a massive debt so that she can be free of the Circle’s influence and live her own life. But her motivation? A mixture of shame and honor. The Circle saved her from a lot of predatory loans from bad people, rescued her, saved her life. She’s embarrassed at ending up so deep in debt and too proud to not repay that kind of kindness, but also feels a genuine gratitude for their kindness toward a total stranger. She wants to do right by them--but hates being a druid--but has always wanted to be the kind of hero who helps others exactly as selflessly as they did. 

It creates a lot of in-depth roleplay possibilities that wouldn’t exist if I’d just left that goal as simple as “acquire X amount of gold to pay off her student loans” and proceeded to play Sedge as simply money-obsessed.

Even if your character does have a clear goal, their motivations can change and come into conflict with it! A heroic character with debts to repay might easily refuse a huge payday if it requires them to do something shady...but they might not. How desperate are they? A wizard whose goal is to unlock the power to cast Wish might see a path to that goal...but pursuing it would mean abandoning a helpless village in the path of an orc army, and if she stays to defend that village, she loses her opportunity.

What wins out, in the end? And what effect will that choice have on her psyche?

Suddenly it really, really matters why she’s so dead-set on learning Wish. Whether it’s out of pride or fear (which might be easier for her to set aside in the face of innocent lives) or out of a deep-rooted belief that something absolutely essential rests on her learning this spell—something a lot harder to turn her back on.

These conflicts can occur with or without a “goal”. But, whether a character has a “goal” or not, these conflicts and intimate, pivotal character moments absolutely cannot exist in a character without motivations.

[down-in-devildom]

Hello! I saw that your request is open. Can I request for some hcs for the brothers with a very giving mc, but when they try to do something nice for them they get defensive/guilty like "who are you why are you nice to me I'M the nice one here, don't do nice things for me I feel bad?!?" And tries not to burden them in any way. Thank you! I love the way you write uwu

Thank you for the request! Also, I hope people will let others do nice things for them without thinking they don't deserve it or something. You are worth being treated well!!!😤 I also had a hard time naming this request...

Brothers react to MC not accepting returned favors 

cw: guilt tripping(?)

Lucifer

Lucifer was enjoying a date with MC after completing a sizable portion of his work early thanks to them lending a hand. They were dining at the Ristorante Six when he noticed MC scanning the menu very intensely

The grimace the MC did every so often raises some concerns for him. When the MC says that they want to order a small soup of the day, Lucifer looks at them with a raised brow

He could have sworn MC would be famished after having their lunch stolen from them by Beelzebub around noon. MC could not have possibly have had the time to eat a snack, what with all the paperwork and organizing they did for him after classes to try to lighten his workload

When Lucifer asked if that would be enough, MC's stomach let out a mighty roar in response. Lucifer was now suspicious that MC was holding back for some reason so he decides to order the food for the both of them. He signals for a waiter and makes sure to order MC's soup of the day as well as a dish or two he believes would be to their taste

When MC starts to protest about not wanting to be a burden and have him pay a fortune, Lucifer waves off the concerns and assures them they needn't worry about that. Besides, he wants nothing more than for MC to enjoy themselves after helping him earlier

"I don't want to burden you and make you pay for my meal. I am always happy to help but I don't want you to feel obligated to do something in return."

Lucifer is taken aback before he sighs and gives MC a serious and pointed look. "I am a demon that takes pride in my ability to deal out suitable punishments and rewards as I see fit. It will do you well not to question my generosity"

Mammon

Mammon felt like he was in debt to MC for helping him study and pass his latest exam. He could not afford to fail his fourth semester in a row without Lucifer finding out and skinning him alive! He doesn’t normally feel the need to do anything to actually pay people back, but he felt like he really owed MC for this one

When Mammon and MC were visiting the flea market to find some cool trinkets that can probably be resold for a profit on Akuzon, he noticed the MC’s gaze lingering on a small golden ring with intricate engravings. He makes a bit of a show of paying for the ring before losing some of his bravado and shoving his hand in the MC’s face and demanding they take it

MC looks a bit confused before thinking it was something that Mammon thought would resell well and tried to put it in the basket they carried to hold the rest of their haul

“No, ya got it all wrong. I got it for ya to- ya know- thank ya for helpin’ me the other day. I woulda been a goner without you...or something” he mumbles while trying not to look directly at them

“That’s funny and all but what’s the catch? I’m pretty sure you don’t normally give away things or do anything without expecting anything in return”

Although MC does not appear to mean any harm from the comment, it kind of stung a little for Mammon. They can’t seem to grasp that they were special and he WANTED to give them things.

Mammon becomes a bit more sullen about the ordeal and may not give anything directly to the MC from then on. He will opt instead to leave little trinkets in their room or claim he found some trash he needed to get rid of (even though it would clearly be something of value). He does not really know how to show his thanks in any other way so he is kind of stuck in a cycle of trying to backhandedly show his gratitude without his motives being questioned

Satan

Satan’s room was an absolute mess, more so than usual, when MC was kind enough to lend a hand in helping him organize his massive collection of books into something a little less chaotic

He found an ancient tome full of old runes and herbal medicines that he thought he saw MC flipping through while taking a quick break from organizing his things, and assumed it would be a nice token of his gratitude. It was inlaid with gold leaf and the engraved relief on the cover was done with a clearly skilled hand, making the old book really stand out

“Please, take this tome as payment for your time. I would have lost my mind, surely, if you did not help me in my time of need, like you did”

MC’s eyes widened with surprise before seeming to nod and say they would return the book to him later, after they take down some notes for their next hex exam. When he clarifies that he wishes for them to keep the book, MC looked taken aback

“I couldn’t possibly take one of your books! I don’t expect anything for helping you out and you shouldn’t feel the need to pay me back for something I was more than willing to do anyway. It is kind of weird for you to want to give away your books like this when you closely monitor anybody else that takes them”

Satan’s eyebrow twitches just the slightest and he has to keep his smile in place to try to not alarm MC when his irritation spikes slightly. They don’t seem to understand that him thanking them with a gift versus him guarding his collection from Mammon are two different things entirely

He leans a bit into the MC’s space with his smile still plastered on and looks them dead in the eyes. “Do you mean to tell me that the tome is not to your liking?” MC kind of feels forced to take the book and thanks Satan before making a hasty retreat to their own room. Satan takes the newfound space to clear his mind and start thinking of other ways that he can possibly approach the matter in the future without pressuring MC into accepting his generosity

Asmodeus

Asmo’s life and reputation was saved when MC responded to his emergency text asking for a very specific shirt to be brought to his photoshoot. One of the assistant demons did NOT get the memo when he said that he was more of a skull-scream peach kind of guy then a wailing-melon toned guy and the outfit assembly was not doing his beautiful complexion any favors

When Asmo got out from his shoot, he felt like he absolutely had to repay MC for going out of the way for him. He went straight to Majolish and picked out a new outfit for them that he was sure they would look absolutely fantastic in and then hurried home to wrap it up nicely 

Asmo presents the gift with flourish before asking for the MC to open it so he can watch their reaction. Asmo was not disappointed by the stunned look on their face and the silent ‘o’ their mouth made, but got a little put out when they said they could not possibly accept it. Didn’t they like it? Surely he did not pick something that wasn’t to their taste

“I can’t accept this, Asmo, it is way too sweet and generous of a gift! I had to go in the direction of your shoot today anyway so it wasn’t a burden to drop off your shirt. Please don’t reward me for something like that!”

Asmo has met a variety of demons and people over the millenia and can tell that there was something about the gift itself that was making them uncomfortable. He still is firm with them and insists that if he spent the grimm on them, they should take the gift, but starts thinking of other ways to maybe show his thanks in the future

Do words of praise and gratitude make them squirm? How about physical affection? Would a kiss count as a thanks they are willing to accept? He sure hopes so but he wants to show he appreciates them and will try to show it in any way possible until they accept it

Beelzebub

Beelzebub was starving! More so than usual and that is not a pretty sight. He was at RAD during one of the classes when he noticed that his snack bag had mysteriously gone missing when he tried to reach in to pull out a protein bar. His stomach loudly protested and he was starting to eye up some of his classmates as if they were on the menu. MC saved the day when they came rushing in with the aforementioned missing snack bag, that they found in the hallway

Beel was able to happily munch away for the rest of the lesson and it seemed like the whole class let out a collective sigh of relief. Beel was very grateful for the MC taking the time to deliver him his snack bag and decided to treat them to Hell’s Kitchen after school 

MC agreed to go willingly and ordered their food while Beel asked for well over half the menu. After they ate, Beel reached for the tab but found slight resistance when he finally looked at the bill and saw MC’s hand was also on it. When Beel stated that it was his treat for them saving him early, he was met with some pushback

“Please do not feel like you have to pay for me. Giving you the snack bag was for everybody’s benefit, so it actually came from a place of selfishness, really. I do not deserve you paying for me.”

Beel’s heart pinged a little at that. Did MC mean he was so close to losing control that they only helped him out of pity? Out of fear? He knew he was a big and his hunger knew no end, but it kind of hurt to be seen as a threat that needed to be controlled with readymade snack bags like that

Beel kind of shakes it off quickly enough and starts to think that maybe they just didn’t like the meal as much as him and was trying to spare him from paying for something they didn’t really want. He takes the time to watch MC over the next few days to see if there are other foods that they may like better. That was the problem, right? Maybe something from Madam Screams was more their style? How about that crepes stand in the park that was super delicious?

Belphegor

Belphegor was not having a great day. For one, he was awake and for two, he was tasked with doing laundry for HoL this week and he was super behind on his assigned chore. If Asmo pestered him one more time about properly separating out the colors and Lucifer lectured him about how to properly fold fitted sheets, he may just have to be imprisoned in the attic again. Luckily for him, MC took some time out of their schedule to help him finish quicker

Belphie was thankful enough that he figured he could allow them to nap with him as an award. Do not mind the fact that MC always takes naps with him but this time can be a little bit special. He nicked a projector from RAD the following day and set it up in the attic so that it would project constellations on the walls and ceilings. He also made a really comfortable pillow fort for them to share. This took a lot of work on Belphie’s part so it was a privilege for MC to join him

When the MC finally arrived at the attic after Bephie texted them to meet him up there, they were not expecting the space to be turned into such a nice and cozy room. Belphie explained that it was as a thank you for the help the other day after they kept just standing in the doorway. He then demanded they came and laid down with him

“You didn’t have to put all this work into making this space for me! It was just folding laundry. It wasn’t that big of a deal, I promise”

Belphie turns his back on them and kind of pouts into his pillow. If they don’t appreciate him sacrificing sleep to make them happy and feel appreciated, then who cares. He can nap just fine by himself and he is hard press to prove the point

After the MC stands there for a little bit and then finally decides to join him in the pillow fort, Belphie ignores them for a bit. Neither of them move from their spots until Belphie sighs and rolls over to use their chest as a pillow. If all this work really was for nothing, he might as well enjoy his well-earned nap better with a warm body pillow

-------

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm....I gave up on proof reading this part way so I hope it is okie dokie

-Leo

[ultranos]

You've said before that Azula really exemplifies virtues like filial piety and placing duty before personal desires. How does being a dragon affect how she expresses these traits? Obviously Ozai shatters her personal loyalty to him. But how is her loyalty to her nation impacted? If she isn't a human being, is she still a princess of the Fire Nation? If she isn't a princess, does that mean she doesn't feel she needs to place her duties to her nation above her love for her brother and friends?

So, there are two things in play here that we need to consider.

1. The Confucian and filial piety bit: so according to this set of ethics, a perfect society operates in a hierarchy wherein harmony is achieved through balanced and transactional relationships. A son displays honor to his father and a citizen honors his ruler, and in return, a father does right by his son and a ruler takes care of his citizens. When Ozai does what he does, he breaks that father-child “contract” as it were. And since a ruler is to behave towards his people as a father to his child, you could make an argument that Ozai has or will break his “contract” with the nation. (You could make this argument about Zuko earlier, but Fire Nation morality would argue that Zuko “earned” his punishment for being disrespectful. As always, Fire Nation’s morality has gotten so twisted it is a black hole of suck.)

2. giri vs ninjo: aka the oldest conflict in Japanese drama. (Considering the oldest novel is Japanese, it’s also one of the oldest plots ever written) Giri is a really hard concept to explain in English. Giri is a sense of obligation and duty, of the honor one carries, of debt and gratitude, and the unspoken rules of society. But it’s kind of more than that? You know that part of The Good Place, where it’s revealed that every action you take is counted up with positive and negative points to determine what happens to you in the afterlife? Giri is kind of like a sense of that number. And the sense that a person, because they live in a society, should try to repay that debts they incur.

The thing is, giri isn’t just good or bad acts. It’s the debt you incur from other people. You start incurring these from the very moment you are born, because your parents have gifted you with life. Your parents shouldn’t expect you to “repay” this debt, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try anyway by being respectful to them. You owe a debt to your nation, because it gives you a place to live, keeps you safe, it’s the society in which you exist. A good citizen feels this kind of duty to their country.

Ninjo (which has nothing to do with ninja, by the way) is the opposite in a lot of ways. Ninjo is personal feelings. It’s when your heart tells you to do something, to follow your personal wants and desires. It’s the other half of “duty vs humanity”. You could probably make an argument that Zuko’s arc is a classic giri-ninjo one that is ultimately resolved when Zuko’s incredibly strong sense of giri gets turned to something better for the world and Fire Nation than Ozai’s word, but that’s an essay for someone else. In contrast, Azula also has this sense set bone-deep. She just never has the ninjo conflict. So whatever her sense of duty is towards, that’s it. In canon, it’s Ozai and the Fire Nation. Here...well, Ozai loses it.

So this actually a bit of a conflict Azula has! Is she still the princess and if she is not, does her obligation still hold? Arguably, part of this resolve as Azula accepts Ran and Shaw as her actual parents and the ones responsible for giving her life. But she’ll still feel a certain obligation to the Fire Nation. The thing is, as she accepts the identity of a dragon, the more aware she is of the crimes against her family that the Fire Lords are ultimately guilty of.

Just like how in canon Zuko resolves his giri vs ninjo conflict by realizing where he owes that obligation to is different, so can Azula here.

She can potentially decide that the clear path is that Ozai no longer is worthy of being Fire Lord, but Zuko is. And thus the best thing for the Fire Nation (and thus her obligations) is to get and keep Zuko on the throne.

[foggyllamaheart-blog]

What To Do When You Need An Urgent Cash Loans

Individuals always face urgent cash loans troubles throughout their lives. Depending upon their needs, they might not have the ability to manage that issue on their own. Each of us chooses to stick to the most comfortable option. For somebody, it's simple to tell their problems to a member of the family or friends and take several loans simultaneously.

Others choose the most credible loaning business to borrow cash with cash loans. Let's be sensible. Ordinary people should come to a variety of methods to get rid of financial problems. The most practical and popular alternative is taking out a loan. Amongst the Americans, this is the first thing in their minds when they don't know what to do.

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What Does Same Day Cash Loan Mean?

Have you ever experienced the same sensations that a person who does not have much time to earn the precise quantity of urgent cash loans that is needed? Or do you know somebody who was searching for fast money to cover any emergencies that have turned up? We hope that you can picture how tough it is to make the ideal decision in those circumstances and not to misinterpret it.

You don't need the collateral to be entitled to authorized for urgent loans. Another name for it means an installment loan, which is typically paid back in regular monthly payments over three months. The obtained money can utilize for: Medical issues; Tuition fees; Studying materials; Fixing an automobile or house; Buying something; Vacation.

Cash Loans Financing Companies

Something to keep in mind: you are required to satisfy the deadlines. Otherwise, you will need to return more cash loans to the financing company. So, where to start? Here, you will see specific steps to take to enhance your monetary scenario. Please take a look at these ideas: Pick the most exceptional loaning business.

Evaluation of the most excellent companies and select up the one which you trust. Be extremely mindful by reading all the terms and conditions before signing the document. Complete the application. When you find the company you stay with, fill out it, and offer the required info. Usually, it takes a few minutes, so hopefully, it will not be overwhelming for you.

It needed for urgent cash transfers. Nobody will examine your wages. The only thing that the cooperative credit union or lending company may revise is whether you utilized or not. It asked to be sure that the urgent cash will return. Supply your contact details. Your telephone and email are essential to expose to you.

Urgent Cash Loan Require Same Day

When you require immediate cash, you don't have time to deal with excellent credit history. So every lender understands that. Even with the bad credit history, you still entitled to be offered a very same day money loan. Before borrowing cash, decide on the sum you need. Don't take more than you can return.

Then, you will require to take another loan to repay the previous one. Which circle might never end up. Prevent this, attempt carefully examine your essential circumstance, and then obtain a loan. While selecting the lender, be prepared that the requirements might vary from one bank to another one.

About Urgent Cash Loans Application

Sometimes you need to have an excellent credit report, but you likewise can take a loan with a bad credit score. For this reason, you need to decide with whom you are going to work together. If you have any questions, it's much better to ask before signing the agreement. Unless you are sure, do not be rush to take a loan.

Everybody battles with cash issues and gratitude to loans; people quickly cope with any developing concern. Always remain upgraded with the most excellent financing companies which have favorable feedback. Do not wait too long and make an application for a loan right away.

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Will A Cash Loans Advance Show Up On Your Credit Report?

When you need urgent cash loans during an emergency-- and you do not have an emergency fund-- it's simple to think of the present moment. Who minds how much this crude online credit from Real Loans Not Scam.com costs? Forget that this "loan provider" you discovered on Craigslist is a man handing wadded-up ones out of the back of a Winnebago-- you need the money, and you need it now! Yet, those long-term considerations can occur to bite you in the behind, so they are useful to bear in mind.

If you take one out, will it end up on your credit report? By what technique will it sway your rating? What even is a money credit at any rate? That is the reason we're here. So sit back, take a full breath, and resist the urge to panic as we address your concerns about cash loan, credit reports, and how the two to relate.

They consist of things like exceptional balances, history of on-time payment (and any late or missed payments), the kinds of loans and credit cards you have taken out, accounts that have sent to collections, insolvency filings, rigorous credit checks, and so on. Many of the information on your credit report remains there for seven years, although some information, like insolvencies, will stay on the news for long.

How Do Credit Reports Work?

Given that some loan providers, financial obligation collectors, property owners, and so on might report customer information to some but not all of the bureaus, information can vary throughout the reports. For this factor, you don't have one credit report; you have three. And your credit rating can change depending on which credit report used to create it.

The very first type is a feature on your credit card, where you can use the map to get money. The measure of cash that you pull back (in addition to an extra cost and any ATM costs you might also incur) then added to your credit card balance in the same way that a routine purchase would add.

Initially, they feature a higher APR than essential deals. Second, there is no 30-day elegance period for enthusiasm on these exchanges; when they contributed to your balance, interest begins accumulating instantly. All in all, getting a cash loan on your credit card is a bargain more costly than just utilizing your card to purchase.

What Is Cash Advance?

Comparable to payday advance loans, these cash advance loans promoted as being an "advance" on the debtor's next income. The run of the mill reimbursement term for these advances is around about fourteen days, at which point the credit is to reimbursed in a solitary knot sum-- unlike standard installment loans, which settled in a series of smaller sized payments over time.

While their loan fees look sensible temporarily, the trouble that lots of clients have paid back these loans can typically mean rolling their loan over or paying it off and right away obtaining another one. The more that an individual turns over or reborrows their investment to make their payments, the most likely they are to become caught in a predatory cycle of financial obligation.

Anytime you include (or subtract) from your charge card balance, that alters is kept in mind on your credit report. So a charge card cash loan will appear on your statement as an addition to your credit card balance, but it won't note any differently than a regular transaction would be.

Are Credit Card Cash Loans Advances Added To Your Credit Report?

When it pertains to your credit card balances, it's an excellent idea to keep them quiet low relative to your total credit line-- even if you settle your balances in full every month. Keeping your debt usage ratio underneath 30 percent (meaning that you never invest more than 30 percent of your credit limit) will primarily keep those balances from adversely affecting your credit.

Unless you are best underneath that 30 percent ratio or are getting thousands of dollars worth of cash loan in a brief period, your rating will be unaffected. The response here is "no" with a little caution. Payday cash loans becomes part of a subset of lousy credit loans called "no credit check loans." This subset consists of cash advance loans, payday advance loans, and title loans.

A Payday Cash Loans Show Up Your Credit Report?

Routine loan providers like banks will always run a hard credit check when you look for a personal loan. That strict check returns a full copy of your credit report and gets noted the story itself. These checks will typically reduce your rating somewhat and can do so for approximately two years.

A lot of these lending institutions, like cash Loans, likewise report your payment info, which can assist your rating if those payments made on-schedule. No credit check banks, then again, don't run any credit check and do not report payment information. They do, nevertheless, send unpaid accounts to collection firms.

The exception is title lending institutions, who will repossess your automobile to pay back the sum owed.) So while a payday loan advance won't wind up on your credit report and will not impact your score, an overdue money advance loan will certainly show up on your statement and harm your credit report.

If You Need A Cash Loan Click Here

[nigestuff-blog1]

The Philippines

I have been living in the Philippines for over two year and thought I would write a bit about the people their culture, plus the general differences. Before I do, please be advised that I consider myself a realist. I am an engineer and as such only think in black and white, right or wrong, there are no grey areas with me. If you are the type who lives in the grey area don’t read on as it will upset, you. I have lived in a lot of places around the world, primarily the UK and USA which are very much different to here. I came here on vacation and never went back home, I love the place. I live on Samal Island near Davao City which suits me as I am more of a country bumkin than a town dweller. Within the following headings I will make comparisons with the UK, but I am sure they will ring true for other countries like Australia, Canada, USA, and Europe. It has become apparent that if you don’t understand the culture of the people and their country, it will eventually wear you down, primarily due to your lack of your understanding. I will refer to us as white nose as this is the nick name they give us, with no offence intended by them. The first heading is all about becoming a permanent residence, for those of you who are thinking about staying, before we get into the differences. So here we go:

Becoming a Permanent Resident

There are only two ways:

1.      Residence Visa for the Philippines (this is what I have)

If you are legally married to a Filipino citizen, you may apply for the permanent Resident Visa (13A) as stated of the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940, Section 13. You must meet the following requirements:

·        Joint letter addressed to The Commissioner of Immigration and notarised.

·        Notarized letter of application by the Filipino spouse

·        Accomplished and Notarized General Application Form

·        Copy of the birth certificate of the Filipino spouse, authenticated by the NSO (National Statistics Office)

·        Authenticated copy of the Marriage Contract by the NSO or Philippine Embassy abroad (if you got married abroad)

·        Local Police clearance

·        National Bureau of investigation (NBI) clearance

·        Immigration Clearance Certificate

·        Copy of the foreigner’s passport showing the date of arrival and Visa

·        pay about 20,000, - Pesos in total for fees (10,000 for application and another 10,000 for approval)

After the application is submitted, you have a hearing with the attorney at the Immigration office where they explain the law regarding your visa. It may take several months before you will finally receive your Resident Visa Card. After the first application, your Resident Visa will be granted for only one year.

After one year you'll have to submit another application but in a simpler way and the Visa then will be good for 10 years, before it needs to be extended again. This costs PHP300 a year to keep up.

  2.      Retirement - Residence Visa for the Philippines (My brother Gary has this one)

Another way to get a permanent residence visa for the Philippines, is the Retirement Visa or SRRV Visa. This Visa does not depend on whether you are married to a Filipino citizen or not, like the 13A Visa but it is based on a money deposit in an accredited Philippine bank.

The Philippines advertise this kind of visa with some advantages such as: Exemption from Customs Duties & Taxes for the importation of personal effects of up to 7000 US$, Exemption from Travel Tax, if your stay in the Philippines is no longer than 1 year, Exemption from the Immigration Exit Clearance and Re-Entry Permits, Exemption from the Immigration I Card/annual registration requirement and Exemption from securing special study permit or study visa for child/children.

Please note that the application for this visa is a very complicated and time-consuming process. Don't give up!

There are basically four groups of people who may apply for the SRRV Visa:

 35 -49 years old: 50,000 US$ Deposit

 over 50 years old without pension: 20,000 US$ Deposit

 over 50 years old with pension: 16,000 US$ Deposit. The pension      must be at least 800 US$ for a single or 1000 US$ for married couples.

 The deposit for SRRV Classic is convertible into an investment of      at least 50,000 US$

 35 Years and older: 20,000 US$ Deposit

 Deposit is not convertible into an investment and      must be locked in the bank

 The Deposit may be withdrawn when the SRRV Visa is cancelled.

 35 years and above and a former Filipino citizen

 50 years and above for Ambassadors & retired Diplomats: (1600      US$ Deposit)

 35 years and above: 10,000 US$ Deposit plus

 pre-existing medical condition that requires medical or clinical      care services

 a pension remitted to the Philippines of at least 1500 US$

With all the visa’s here you must be extremely patient as the bureaucracy is outrageous.

Please note you won’t get an NBI clearance if you have any sort of police record here in the Philippines, like caught smoking on the street or a road traffic offence. (watch it) You can of course operate on a tourist visa and keep extending it every two months for a fee of PHP3000-5000 a pop, no consistency in the fee , I think it depends on which way the wind is blowing! Costly and I think the time on this is running out as the Philippines will inevitably fall in line with most other countries and only grant you a maximum of 3 months on a visitor visa. Please note, you can only drive over here for 3 months on your UK licence, unless you get a visa that lasts for 1 year then apply for a Filipino driver’s licence. You can’t open a bank account with any Filipino banks unless you have a permanent residence visa. You can never vote or own land in the Philippines.

Social Values:

‘READ THIS BIT CAREFULLY’

This is the most important difference from Filipinos to any other western culture. On face value you might think ‘so what’ but if you don’t fully understand the implications of this, you could find yourself in a lot of trouble over here.  The following values are drummed into all the children from a very young age:

·        Paggalang (Tagalog) Respito (Bisaya) The English translation means to be respectful or to give respect to another people.

 ·        Pakikisama (Tagalog) Matinabangon (Bisaya) (Helping Others) has the connotation of getting along with other people in general. Very, Very important here.

 ·        Utang na Loob (Tagalog) Naay Kabalos sa usag- usag (Bisaya) The English translation means, Debt of Gratitude.

 ·        Pagpapahalaga sa Pamilya (Tagalog)  Unahon ang Pamilya (Bisaya) The English translation means Family First.

 ·        Hiya (Tagalog)   Ka-ulaw (Bisaya) The English translation means , Shame, again Very, Very important here.

 Notice there is nothing about honouring your financial depts, it’s all bit wishy washy for us westerners but means a lot to them. The above values are like a religion to these people and if not followed, shows a great deal of disrespect and the consequences would be shame beyond belief. If you insult somebody in a public place or on the road and they have witnesses, they can report you to the local Barangay. You could find yourself being arrested and prosecuted as this is a crime here. So, don’t go shooting your big mouth off in a shop, restaurant or any other public place because you think the service is shit. Don’t start arguing with anyone, even your wife in a public place, this shows a great deal of disrespect and the shame of it is cause for alarm by the onlookers!! Filipino’s are not directly confrontational or assertive verbally, instead they employ passive aggression. Firstly, they will clam up on you if you start shouting at them, then they will go out of their way to be incredibly unhelpful to you for evermore. Be advised, if you push them too far with verbal insults in a public place, their embarrassment might incite them to just stick a knife in you!! Notice, they are knifing you because you have embarrassed them in public, not because of what you have said. For the Filipino, it’s all about keeping face and what other people might think about them, where as in England we don’t give a shit what other people think. We have a saying in the UK, ‘sticks and stone will hurt your bones but calling names can’t hurt you’ Here is the complete opposite, it does hurt them deeply, and they can’t tolerate it, so don’t do it. We white nose can’t help venting our spleen when some f**king idiot pisses us off. Personally, if I get wound up about anything, I let my wife sort it out. She is incredibly patient and nice to them, cajoling them into being co-operative, it takes time but eventually works. I just bugger off somewhere to calm down, have a coffee and a smoke that seems to help. So, what a big difference in the culture, I remember in the USA the kids had a lesson in school on assertiveness, this would not wash over here.  I’ve heard, one of the reasons Filipino’s make great soldiers is when the enemy starts shooting at them, they regard it as a massive insult. Our soldiers take cover while they stand up and start blazing away at the enemy in shear anger. Shame is another big thing to the Filipino, if they have an obligation to pay a debt 9 times out of 10 they will pay as the shame of other people knowing they are bad debtors would be unbearable. People here think twice about cheating in a relationship because once the public find out the shame would eat them alive! The shame of anything they do also extends to their immediate family which compounds the problem further. Shame also has some annoying and negative traits, for instance, my family will never tell me if they have broken something. They don’t even tell me if something is not working even if they haven’t broken it. This is so annoying, as I only find out when I come to use it. They do this, as they always prefer to avoid conflict and can’t bear the shame of being told off. They will even lie to me about the problem rather than being honest about it to avoid the shame. To me, this trait is childish, but I must live with it as this is their mind set and culture. Furthermore, don’t expect eye contact during any confrontations, just like your pet dog, it is impossible for them to look you in the eyes! I England this is considered incredibly rude and suggests the person you are arguing with is has something to hide or is lying.

Religion:

·        Roman Catholic Christianity - 70% Roman Catholicism is the largest religion in the Philippines. ...

·        Protestant Christianity - 17% Protestant Christianity is the second largest religious group in the Philippines. ...

·        Islam - 5 to 10% ...

·        Iglesia ni Cristo (Philippine Church of Christ) - 2% ...

·        Buddhists - 2% ...

·        Other - 6.6%

 Yes, they all claim to be religious people, but underneath in my opinion they can’t be. I always got the impression that religion teaches people right from wrong and to love ‘all creatures great and small’.  That’s not what I see here with all the corruption going on and perpetual lies from the top down. On top of that, the Catholic church here is just as corrupt as the Vatican. interesting to note when a paedophilia case crops up in the news its always the Catholic church involved, I can sight many cases, but you know what I am talking about. The people here are shocked when they ask me if I am religious and I tell them I am a Humanist. Interesting to also note, that most wars and disputes are caused by religion across the world. I do believe there was a guy called Jesus and I can also understand why the Romans killed him.

 Getting a Drivers Licence

Most Filipino’s don’t have one of these as it cost too much for them, currently PHP850 (£12.50) It’s quite amusing on this Island when the LTO is out in force, everybody hides in the jungle until they have gone. There are two ways to get a licence in the Philippines, you can do it the right way like I did with the LTO (land Transport Office) or you can get a fixer to have one made for you. (maybe for 3000- 5000 peso’s) It saddens me to know how many of us white noses have chosen the latter. All these guys are doing is supporting the corruption here in this country. (lazy wankers) Of course as stated above, you must have a visa that lasts one year to qualify for a licence, perhaps therefore a lot of white nose here flaunt the law. When you get the licence it only qualifies you to drive a motorbike (no limit on how many cc) and a car/ 4x4. Even if you are an HGV driver in the UK it makes no difference. Anyway, once you have your one-year visa, just bob along to the LTO office and apply, it only took me an hour, it last 5 years then you must go back to renew it.

Running a car or motorbike

From new, the car or bike must be checked by the environmental department for emission test and then checked by the LTO (Land Transport Office) for condition of the vehicle every year. The biggest problem here is how long it takes the LTO to provide registration on your car or bike. They take so long to produce the registration plates they must issue temporary numbers. This could take from 1-3 months and without it you can’t get insurance on your vehicle. The LTO and the police don’t care if you don’t have insurance on your vehicle as they regard this as your choice and see it as a civil matter. If you have a serious accident, then you will have to pay out of your own pocket, if you don’t or can’t, you’re going to jail. So, I have a bit of fun with this and when I see one of the car retailers in the mall trying to sell their latest model, I can’t resist it. I tell them I will buy the 1.7 million-peso 4x4 with cash today, providing they can get me insurance to drive it on the road that day. The best offer I had was Ford, who claimed they had a special deal with the LTO and could get my new registration within a month. I asked them, how would I get it to my home if I was not prepared to drive it without insurance, they said they would put it on a transporter for me and deliver it!! I could then admire my new car sat in the driveway for a few months until the LTO got around to giving me a temporary number! Is interesting that the LTO can be as late as they like about this but fine you P1000 if you are a day late in registering your vehicle once a year. The cost of re-registering your car is about P6000 a year, plus penalties of course.  In England you get the new number plate and insurance for your new vehicle within ½ hour and it would be a big offence if I drove it without insurance on our roads. By the way, I bought a new motorbike 2 years ago… still waiting for the official number plate from the LTO.

Common Sense / Logic

The Filipino seems to be deficient in this area, let me give you some examples. As mentioned I have a Pam boat which I uses for pleasure trips and commercial Island-hopping tours. I had it in dry dock one day doing some minor repairs and painting, when a lady appeared on the shore and asked if she could rent the boat today for a tour. Now bear in mind, this was 10;00 am in the morning and the tide was fully out, due to be back in at 5:30pm. It was one of those moments where everyone on the boat stopped working and just looked at one another! What did this lady want us to do? Perhaps drag a 7-ton boat across the sand about 50 metres and get it back into the sea? She was really pissed off when I told her we couldn’t do it. Another time I had a guy come to my house about 5:00am in the morning, woke me up and ask if he could rent the boat that day!! Don’t these people ever plan ahead, is everything just done on an impulse? I watched the carpenter working on my boat one day, I asked him to put a wooden brace in the hull, so I could mount a water tank. I am so glad I did, as he was going to put the brace right across where the engine cooling fan rotates, that would have been interesting when I start the engine. The same guy once replaced the steering ropes on the boat but connected them backwards so when you moved the steering wheel the rudder went in the wrong way. I guess this would work if the captain sat facing backwards and looked through a periscope to steer. (remember the SPV on Captain Scarlet) I took my truck to a local repair shop, it had a slight leak on the radiator and the alternator belt needed tightening as it was slipping. He took out the radiator and made the repair to the leak, at this point I thought he would tension the alternator belt as it was in clear view without the radiator being in the way. No, he replaced the radiator then spent about a f**king hour trying to get at the tensioning bolt on the alternator bracket, which was now difficult to get to due to the radiator hoses in the way.  It would still be easy to do, if you could produce 50 newton metres of torque at your fingertips!! I can’t watch……. time for a coffee and a cigarette!! Finally, my brother is always complaining about this one as he is a big guy with big hands. The door knobs here are always set too close to the door jam. When you go to open the door, your hand gets trapped between the handle and the door jam, it bloody hurts!! I could go on sighting other examples, but I think you get the picture.

Gambling

Guess this comes with the territory, if you don’t have much money in the first place what better way to get more by just gambling! As anyone knows with any modicum amount of common sense ‘gambling only pays if you are winning’. It’s a common thing throughout the world that poor people always take to gambling to try and improve their lives. Here in the Philippines, gambling is almost an obsession, mainly playing cards or mahjong. They are also obsessed with Cock fighting and on this island, there are lots of people rising birds just for that purpose. I’ve been to some cock fights which is primarily a guy’s thing. Money is flying everywhere as the prize cocks battle it out with sharp razor blades fastened to one of their legs. The show doesn’t last long, maybe 30-45 seconds before one of the cocks is dead. Amazingly, there is no trouble at these events, which you would think there would be. With the average age of the guys around 30 years old, money flying everywhere, everyone shouting and lots of booze on tap. (back to their family values)

Human Right

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has told a U.N human rights expert who said the country’s judicial independence was under threat to ‘go to hell’, warning against interference in domestic affairs. Basically, Duterte is right, this country and I dare say others, needs to get tough on drugs and terrorism. Human rights have become a joke, in England prisoners can study for a degree and have the right to vote in major elections. Remember president Duterte is a clever man, he is a lawyer and has made Davao City one of the safest places to live during his 21 years as mayor. In one of his speeches to the nation he explained how much it cost the state to legally convict a known drug criminal. He then went on to explain to everyone how much a bullet costs the nation. He knows, its not just the cost of convicting these guys, it’s the message he wants to get over to them if they persist in their activities. The people here love him, because he is making the Philippines a safer place to live. As a family man, he is genuinely concerned about the influence drugs have on the children and how it can ruin their lives. He has at his disposal the police, army and his death squad. Known drug dealers may spend some time in prison, but when they get out their life expectancy is limited. So called civilised countries like the UK, are so far up their ass with human rights that we can’t even expel foreign terrorist back to his own country. deported radical Islamist cleric Abu Qatada to Jordan ending a decade-long legal battle with UN human rights, to expel the man once dubbed Osama bin Laden's deputy in Europe. That would not be much of a problem for Mr Duterte, the guy would last no more than a week here…… I love it!

Corruption

Yes, poor old president Duterte is trying his best to get rid of this, particularly in government departments. In a way you can’t blame corruption being rife as these people don’t get paid enough or on time so how are they going to feed their families? One of the big differences here compared to the UK is even the police can be bribed. If you did this in the UK, you would be instantly arrested for trying to pervert the course of justice! We in the first world have a different sort of corruption and in a way probably worse than here. For example, there are a lot of Borough councillors in the UK paying them selves’ massive salaries, even more than the Prime Mister gets. When you see them being interviewed on the TV they sound to me like ignorant thugs. Usually is the labour Borough councils that do this (greedy draconian bastards). They use tax payer’s money for the most stupid things and get away with it like building a new town hall, meanwhile the local hospitals are in baddy need of resources and the roads are full of potholes. Wonder why our council taxes are so high, But Hay Ho, the wisdom of the crowd, if that’s who you vote in as a councillor, what do you expect? So, don’t go criticising the 3rd world countries on their corruption when we are no better! At least when Duterte finds out about government departments being corrupt he just has them shot. (With regards to human rights, the rest of the world can stick it up their ass as far as he is concerned,) …. I just love that!

 Food

Anything that requires cooling or kept frozen here is expensive, chocolate, ice cream and frozen chicken nuggets for example is about 5 times the price compared to the UK. Why, its obvious really, the power cost to keep this stuff cool in ambient temperatures of 30+ degrees C. When you buy a bar of chocolate, scoff it straight away because it will be liquid by the time you get it home. Eating is at the very top of Filipino’s list, to the white nose, they seemed to be obsessed with it. I was thinking a while ago, where food came in my list of priorities back in England, about number 7 after the mortgage etc,etc.. The Filipino’s as small as they are, consume vast quantities of food a day, providing they can afford to get it. Its interesting to see a wealthy Filipino family getting out of their new 4X4, the car suspension pops up about 10 inches as they alight. Here in the Philippines you are considered wealthy if you are fat , so that’s ok, it’s the complete opposite in the UK. They can certainly eat me under the table (Opps, that sounds a bit vulgar!!) But seriously, they consider any meal without rice, a snack, so a big T bone steak with all the trimmings is just a snack to them. You see rice is a filler, and I believe it keeps on expanding in their stomach until they feel full. They don’t consider they have had enough to eat until they feel full, whereas we white nose don’t need to feel like that after a meal. They are constantly stuffing large quantities of fluffy, sticky tasteless white rice into their faces with every meal. I asked them if they ever get bored with eating the stuff, as I would if I was eating chips with every meal, but no, they literally cannot live without it. They also eat more often than we do, it’s not uncommon for them to have 4-6 meals a day. I am guessing is because they don’t get a lot out of all the rice they are eating. (either that or they are all greedy pigs) They don’t seem to like papaya which I think is delicious, but they will eat green unripe mango, dipped in vinegar!! Unlike us Brits who only have vinegar on our fish & chips, they use vinegar on most meals. They don’t like any sort of pickles in vinegar like we do, in fact they think sweet cucumber or pickled onions in vinegar are revolting. Yep, we definitely have different taste in food. I wonder what they would think of our Sunday roast? (a snack without the rice?)  The other thing is they don’t seem to eat as much protein as we do (back to the big T bone steak), They tend to chop the meat or fish into small pieces then scoop it up with a large helping of rice with their fingers before masticating it with their mouths open. Have you ever heard a cat eat, well that’s what it sounds like, must be the sticky rice!! (table manners here are completely out the window) Regular table knives are very difficult to get hold of in the shops, as they use a fork and spoon to eat everything. They even attempt to chop up meat with their spoon which is so painful for me to watch. Unlike us, they usually don’t have a drink with their meals, even if the food is dry or spicy, they drink afterwards. They will not have anything to drink before a meal either, it must be something to do with the rice again? The food hygiene is also very poor, I am surprised more of them don’t come down with serious food poisoning. Most meat they eat here is boiled in a pan which as we know is not enough heat to kill all the potential nasties. They don’t roast things in an oven because most of them can’t afford one. They also have no Idea how to store cooked foods, most of the time they just leave it on the table with ambient temperatures above 30 degrees C. Guess what… the f**king ants, flies and rodents are all having a taste of it within half an hour. This doesn’t seem to bother them they just eat it later for a snack. It took me a long time to convince my wife and her daughter to put the cooked food in the fridge. It took me an even greater time to train them not to put raw meats above cooked food in the fridge etc..  I bought two chopping boards, one for raw meats and fish and the other for cooked foods and vegetables, you should have seen their faces when I tried to explain that one. Even though most people here are poor, they always make more food than they can eat in one sitting. Hence food left lying around for later. I still can’t understand why they don’t just make what they are going to eat, must be an Asian thing. They are always celebrating something, from fiesta’s to Funerals every week. This involves free food, and which is the primary reason why they attend. When we go to a party in the UK or a funeral it’s just a drink and a few sandwiches not a feast. Their funerals go on for 9 days where everyone goes around to eat, drink and play cards. That’s another thing, they like to get to a party as early as they can, before the food runs out! I say to my wife who is a philopena, why are we going at 5:00pm, can’t we wait until around 8:00pm? As this would be the normal time to turn up in the UK, no point, the food would have run out by then. My wedding was a typical example of this, we had loads of food but when it ran out they all cleared off about 8:30pm, I did see one or two of them stuffing food into plastic bags to take home with them for a snack later, leaving a few white nose friends and I drinking until 11:30pm. They also eat some rather disgusting foods, such as smelly Durian and even smellier dried fish. I have banished this from the house and told them to eat it outside, how can they complain about a blocked drain or my cigarette smoke after eating that? Beef, fresh pasteurised milk and cheese is very difficult to get here. They are not big on dairy farming but love raising pigs and goat, so guess what’s on the menu. I am always stopping them from removing the seeds out of a tomato, they think if they eat them, they will get appendicitis!! Their supermarkets are another thing, most of the shelves are stuffed with junk food or small sashays of essentials, from washing powder to coffee. The super markets cater for the smaller shops called ‘Sari Sari’ stores as these are their main customers, hence the small sashays… which they stock. You don’t see washing powder or coffee in what we would consider family size packs, (the economical way to buy the product) probably because most people here could not afford to buy it this way.  You go to the meat counter where you find only chicken and pork, forget about beef. Its poor-quality pork covered in fat and lying there most times at an ambient temperature of 30-degree with a member of staff waving off the fly’s. Tined foods like Corn beef and Tuna are also very low quality, you open the can to find a slurry of shit! I’ve seen tined cat and dog food that looks and smell better in the UK. I think they get most of their canned foods from China. The kids here eat a lot of crappy hot dogs with rice and seemed to love it along with corpus quantities of sugary soft drinks, could you imagine giving your kids that on a regular basis in the UK, not very nutritious!! Diabetes is becoming a very big problem here due to their diet of sugar laden food along with vast quantities of rice. Even their bread is laced with sugar, it tastes more like poor quality cake to me. I’ve taken to making my own food like homemade country style ham, I buy the pork from a reputable butcher here and cure it myself. (Ah a taste of home) The beer here is dominated by Sam Miguel, which for a Britt, is shit in a bottle. It’s a fizzy lager which gives you serious acid indigestion if you drink too much of it. I think they should sellotape a couple an-acid tablets to every bottle. The Americans, Canadians, Swiss and even Germans don’t seem to mind it as this is the sort of shit beer they drink back home. Note I would not include the Australians in this list as they have real beer like us Britt’s although Fosters is only a little better than Sam Miguel! You know why the Australians call the other stuff Castlemaine four XXXX? because they can’t spell PISS! If this beer is not super cool to hide its true taste, it is virtually un-drinkable, just like Coors shite, I mean lite, in the USA. God what I would give right now for a steak and onion sandwich on crusty roll with a pint of London Pride or John Smiths smooth flow!!

Diabetes:

This is becoming a real problem in the Philippines.

On a personal note, in England I was diagnosed as a type two diabetic. I was constantly taking metformin to control my blood sugar level. It’s interesting that doctors prescribe Metformin and insulin to manage this disease. All this medication is doing is treating the symptoms not the cause and it is certainly not the cure! Consequently, the sufferer becomes more and more dependent on the medicine, it’s a vicious circle!! The pharmaceutical companies are making a fortune from this while the people with the disease eventually die from it! Due to the inclement weather, lack of exercise plus the food I was eating in the USA and the UK, I weighed around 87 kg. I come over here and after 6 months due to a different diet of more fruit and vegetables my weight drops to 75kg. Guess what? my blood sugar goes down to less than 6 and stays there, I don’t need the metformin anymore. My blood pressure also dropped accordingly which suggest to me that the biggest contributing factor to Diabetes is being overweight and eating the wrong foods. So, to put it bluntly, being a fat lazy bastard is one sure fire way of getting diabetes in your 50’s. Doctors in the UK can’t say to their patients ‘you have diabetes because you are a fat bastard’, this would be regarded as discrimination and that’s illegal in the UK. I was always checking my blood sugar in the UK with one of those electronic devices pricking my fingers for a sample… today I have a much better test… the mosquitos here only bite me if my blood sugar is elevated! In the UK you are referred to as a ‘FAT BASTARD’ if you are fat and a ‘SKINNY GITT’ if you are thin, guess I am a gitt now! By the way people, if you want a sure-fire way of losing weight, cancel the gym membership and stop putting loads of unhealthy food in your mouth… that works! Here in the Philippines, lots of people are dying from Diabetes because they simply cannot afford the medicine. Just like the rest of the world their doctors are treating the symptoms and not addressing the cause. If they addressed the cause it would save these people a lot of money and they would live longer. Without exception Filipino’s get fat by the time they are 35-40 due to their poor diet and lack of exercise, particularly the females, it’s a shame as the foods that would save them grow in abundance here and are not expensive. Their culture of eating rice and other carbohydrate foods does not help. I just can’t get my friends and family here to eat raw vegetables and lots of fruit, they much prefer to eat rice, boiled meat and boiled vegetables. They also eat lots of junk food complemented with copious quantities of soft drinks. In a way they remind me of children, they just can’t get enough sugar in their foods. Education also plays a big part in this as most of them know nothing about good nutrition and food hygiene.

 Language

With over 7000 islands in the Philippines it’s not surprising they have a lot of native languages. Tagalog is the main language taught in schools and is what everyone can speak here. On this Island they speak Bisaya which I am learning slowly. Interestingly both languages are sometime difficult to explain things, so they revert to English as it’s a quicker way to get their point over. You will notice during any conversation they throw in English words or even full sentences, I tease them and tell them to speak their own language. This surely proves that English is a better language to converse in when they must hijack ours from time to time. They have no native words for Car, TV, Mobile phone, Fridge, microwave etc, because we invented them, so how could they have a native word for it. A lot of the sentences they say are said backwards compared to English, example ‘Bring me to the house of my parents’ I think they have a touch of Master Yoda about them. Staying on the Star War theme, when you listen to them talking, they sound like Ewoks from the forest moon of Endor!! On last thing is that the English they use is strongly influenced by American language. Lots of incorrect spellings and pronunciation of words which can be very annoying to the Britt’s. I of course am correcting this slowly with my wife, daughter and close friends, so they do end up speaking good English. By the way the Filipino’s have no ‘C’ in their alphabet!!

Holidays:

Date

Weekday

Holiday Name

Holiday Type

1 Jan

Monday

New Year's Day

Regular Holiday

 16 Feb

Friday

Chinese Lunar New  Year's Day

Special  Non-working Holiday

 25 Feb

Sunday

People Power  Anniversary

Special  Non-working Holiday

 21 Mar

Wednesday

March Equinox

Season

 29 Mar

Thursday

Maundy Thursday

Regular Holiday

 30 Mar

Friday

Good Friday

Regular Holiday

 31 Mar

Saturday

Black Saturday

Special  Non-working Holiday

 1 Apr

Sunday

Easter Sunday

Observance

 9 Apr

Monday

The Day of Valour

Regular Holiday

 13 Apr

Friday

Lailatul Isra Wal  Mi Raj

Common local  holiday

 1 May

Tuesday

Labour Day

Regular Holiday

 14 May

Monday

Special  Non-Working Day

Special  Non-working Holiday

 12 Jun

Tuesday

Independence Day

Regular Holiday

 15 Jun

Friday

Eidul-Fitar

Regular Holiday

 21 Jun

Thursday

June Solstice

Season

 21 Aug

Tuesday

Eid al-Adha  (Feast of the Sacrifice)

Regular Holiday

 21 Aug

Tuesday

Ninoy Aquino Day

Special  Non-working Holiday

 22 Aug

Wednesday

Eid al-Adha Day 2

Common local  holiday

 27 Aug

Monday

National Heroes  Day holiday

Regular Holiday

 12 Sep

Wednesday

Amun Jadid

Muslim, Common  local holiday

 23 Sep

Sunday

September Equinox

Season

 1 Nov

Thursday

All Saints' Day

Special  Non-working Holiday

 2 Nov

Friday

All Souls' Day

Observance

 2 Nov

Friday

Additional  Special Non-Working Day

Special  Non-working Holiday

 21 Nov

Wednesday

Maulid un-Nabi

Common local  holiday

 30 Nov

Friday

Bonifacio Day

Regular Holiday

 8 Dec

Saturday

Feast of the  Immaculate Conception

Special  Non-working Holiday

 22 Dec

Saturday

December Solstice

Season

 24 Dec

Monday

Christmas Eve

Observance

 24 Dec

Monday

Additional  Special Non-Working Day

Special  Non-working Holiday

 25 Dec

Tuesday

Christmas Day

Regular Holiday

 30 Dec

Sunday

Rizal Day

Regular Holiday

 31 Dec

Monday

New Year's Eve

Special  Non-working Holiday

  Will you just look at all the holidays they have, if we took as many in the UK nothing would get done!! Pretty much every month they are on holiday for something.

On top of this there are local district holidays:

·        Semestrial week off every 6 months for schools

·        UN day ( united nations day) runs from 20-26 October for schools

·        Annual day off for celebration the anniversary of the local town

·        Annual day of for celebrating the anniversary of the Barangay (Bourgh Council)

·        Annual day off for celebration the founding of a school etc etc

·        Local elections

 Funerals

When someone dies here it’s a big event for the family and friends involved. First the body is taken to the funeral home where it is prepared and put in a coffin. Then the body is delivered back to the relative’s home who keep it in the house for 9 days. (very macabre) During this period friends and family visit the house where the spouse of the deceased is expected to provide food and drink all day and night. The people pay their respects then sit around eating, drinking, talking and gambling. This costs the poor immediate relatives a fortune. Wait for it, sometimes the body must be returned to the funeral home to drain off more fluids!! I have attended 4 such events in the last 2 years, it’s very strange. Don’t forget the body is sitting in ambient temperature of 30+ deg C which would not be allowed in the UK as this would violate public health laws. I am guessing they keep the rats and other vermin off the body by standing vigil over it all night or putting the lid on the coffin. Must admit some coffins have a sheet of glass over the body for that very purpose. (doesn’t bare thinking about)

Services

This is a biggest bone of contention for most white nose here, because in most stores despite the grossly over staffing it takes for ever to get served. A common thing you will hear is ‘we are out of stock’!! I have heard this at Mc Donald’s and Dunkin Doughnuts, they said they were out of stock on coffee, can you believe that. (Noticeable they weren’t out of stock on rice) So you go to the hardware store to buy say 20 off 6mm bolts and some electrical connectors. Here’s how it goes, you go to the service desk and tell them what you want, after a half an hour wait they have it on the counter. Then they hand write out a receipt for the goods, at which point you would expect to pay and leave. Ho no, now you must go stand in a line at the cashier desk to pay for the goods for another hour. The cashier gives you a receipt and you must dutifully take this back to the first counter and again wait in line for another half an hour. They then package the goods for you (which is painful to watch) and hand you your receipt stating you have paid for the goods. Then… wait for it… you must stand in another line for an hour at the security desk before you leave. At the security desk they tear open your package and count every item shown on your receipt. Then they wrap your goods up again and only now can you leave (total of 3 hours in a very hot sticky hardware shop). (B&Q UK, for same goods takes maximum 10 mins even if there is a big line. I asked why they have such a slow complicated system; the reply was that the owner doesn’t trust the staff. No wonder the Filipino is a patient person. Talking about hardware stores, they don’t seem to have any logic with their stock. Plumbing gear is the worse, they have the pipe, but not all the fittings like reducers or tee pieces, god knows how the plumber here does his job! It’s the same story with electrical gear, wonder if the owner is a practical person or are, they just stupid? The government bodies are steeped in bureaucracy and everything is done by hand, not computerised. Even those agencies that have computers like the NBI and Immigration still do everything with carbon copies and ink fingerprints… then do it again on their computer system just for good measure! Everything must be done in triplicate and signed on every page and notarised. I counted how many times I had to sign every paper for my citizenship card and it was 42 times. (I guess this is to try and eliminate a fixer getting you a residence visa). I have a Pam Boat here in the Philippines and the documentation I needed from the Marina was outrageous. It ended up being 14 pieces of paper which cost PHP 18,000 and took a total of 12 months to complete. I owned a yacht in the UK about the same size and to operate it was only 3 bits of paper and took a week to complete.

Home

This is where I think the Filipino gets their patients and tolerance of their fellow man. They look after their old folk and each other which puts our way of life to shame. Consider this… nobody dies alone here. Most of the houses they live in resemble that DIY garden shed that you could buy from any good hardware store in the UK. This is where we keep out garden tools and lawn mower, so they don’t get wet and rust because it’s always raining in the UK. I was astounded to find out how many of them lived in one tiny house.  I asked my wife ‘where do they all sleep’? she told me they all sleep on the living room floor lined up like sardines’ that’s the coolest place she said. Do they all have a mattress to sleep on?  No most of the time its just lie on the hard floor all night. The amazing bit is there is no fighting about ‘who’s got my socks, where’s my shorts etc, they all get along without any trouble. In the UK even the unemployed have a nice council house and the more kids they have the more bedrooms they have. If families in the UK had to live like this, there would be fights every day maybe even murders. This is when you realise the difference from 1st world country to a 3rd world country. It’s interesting to see that they all seem to manage to have a mobile phone sticking out of their back pocket but live in squalor. The other thing that differs greatly here from the UK is that it is truly a family house, grandparent usually own it and most of their kids and grandkids live with them. Because this is a catholic country, family planning is non-existent, so most of them have 3 to 5 kids on average.  I’ve also seen a lot of young teenage girls here with babies, so much for contraception and education from schools and parents! Cooking at home is simple, most of it done over burning sticks they found in the jungle and a pot, hence the boiling of meat all the time as mention previously. This is usually performed outside because of the dense smoke it produces. The one thing most Filipinos will spend money on is a good karaoke set with the biggest amplifier and speakers they can get their hands on. On a housing estate you can hear several of these sets competing all through the night. Nobody complains about the noise because they are all making it. In the UK we pay for council tax and it’s a lot of money every month depending on the size of your house. Here they don’t pay this at all and their Barangay get funding directly from the main government. In the UK when parents die and leave an expensive property to their children the government want 20% inheritance tax from the estate. Here there is no such tax, in fact, they have very few taxes compared to the UK. It’s not surprising as the people here could not afford to live if they were buried under the UK style tax system. Come to think of it, neither does working families in the UK so they must claim for income support from the government, which is just churning money around the system rather than doing the right thing and lowering taxes.

Social Benefits:

Before we get into this one, I must tell you the big difference from the UK compared to the rest of the world. The working people and companies are heavily tax in the UK to support the social benefits that have evolved in the UK over many years. I was talking to a good friend of mine who is a general manager of an engineering firm in South Africa. He was telling me he works hard to pay for not just the roof over his head but to pay for the following:

·        Kids’ education

·        Medical insurance

·        Medicine for his family and his mother in law that suffers from diabetes.

This struck a cord with me as he was working hard for things that in the UK are free to those who don’t work. So, he has a greater incentive to go to work and keep a job, where people would not get out of bed in the UK to do the same thing. The fact is that families who are not working in the UK can claim for benefits that are worth more than the job they could get. This can’t be right can it? This is a disincentive to get a job but the same people in the UK complain about Eastern Europeans taking their low paid jobs!! People who do work hard in the UK never say I am working hard to pay my NI contributions and tax, wonder why?

Here is a list of benefits which can be claimed by jobless and low paid people in the UK:

 Adult social care

Help with paying for care, especially in old age, such as help washing and dressing, is conducted on a council-by-council basis and so the level of assistance depends on where you live.

 Attendance Allowance

A tax-free benefit for those aged 65 or over who are physically or mentally disabled and need help to be looked after. There are two rates of up to £71.40 a week.

Bereavement Allowance

A weekly rate of up to £97.65 paid for up to 52 weeks from the date of death of a husband, wife or civil partner.

Bereavement Payment

The £2,000 payment is a one-off tax-free lump sum to a husband, wife or civil partner of somebody who has died and generally who was under the state pension age.

Budgeting Loans

An interest-free loan for those on a low income who need help with certain important costs, such as clothing, furniture and travel.

Carer's Allowance

A taxable benefit for those who look after someone who is disabled. They do not have to be related to, or live with, the person that they care for.

Child Benefit

A universal non-means-tested benefit for parents to claim for their children, but plans to withdraw it for higher-rate taxpayers have proved controversial.

Child Tax Credit

Labour's flagship welfare policy, child tax credits are paid to families with children regardless of whether the parents work.

Child Trust Fund

To be withdrawn completely by the start of 2011, parents were paid a voucher to invest for their children who could access the money at the age of 18.

Cold Weather Payment

Paid to people who are in receipt of certain benefits to help with their additional heating costs during winter. A payment of £25 is made for each seven-day period of very cold weather between 1 November and 31 March - when the average local temperature is recorded as, or forecast to be, freezing (zero Celsius) or below over seven consecutive days.

Community Care Grant

Financial help to live independently in the community for those who have, for example, just moved out of care, or to ease exceptional pressure on them and their family.

Constant Attendance Allowance

To help those who need daily care, are 100% disabled according to medical examination, and who receive Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit or the War Disablement Pension.

Council Tax Benefit

Financial help for those on low incomes to pay their council tax bill.

Crisis Loans

Interest-free loans for those who do not have enough money to meet their, or their families, immediate short-term needs in an emergency or as the result of a disaster.

Disability Living Allowance

A tax-free benefit for disabled people, including children, who have difficulty walking and who need somebody to help look after them. (This can be lucrative as many people get a new car every 2 years from the government. Special cases get an extremely expensive modified vehicle to accommodate a wheel chair)

Employment and Support Allowance

The successor of Incapacity Benefit, it is paid to those with an illness or disability but aims to get them into some kind of work.

Funeral Payments

Help for those on low incomes to pay for a family funeral but might have to be paid back from the estate of the person who has died.

Guardian's Allowance

A tax-free payment of £14.30 a week per child on top of Child Benefit for people who are bringing up children whose parents have died.

Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme

Those on a low income and who need NHS treatment at a hospital, another NHS centre or a private clinic and have been referred by an NHS hospital consultant, doctor or dentist, can apply for help with travel costs at the time of their appointment.

Health Costs

Various options of financial assistance for the young, old and those on low incomes to pay for health costs ranging from dental work to wigs.

Health in Pregnancy Grant

A one-off grant to help with costs in the run-up to a baby's birth - however, this is being withdrawn in 2011.

Healthy Start Scheme

Help for pregnant women and low-income families by giving them vouchers that can be used to buy milk, fresh fruit and vegetables, and also coupons which can be exchanged for free vitamins for women and children. It is the only benefit administered by the Department of Health.

Housing Benefit

Aimed at those who struggle to pay their rent because they have a low income, irrespective of whether they work or not. Planned reforms by the government have proved to be extremely controversial.

In Work Credit

A fixed tax-free payment of £40 per week, or £60 per week in London, for parents bringing up children alone. It is payable for up to 52 weeks on top of earnings.

Incapacity Benefit

A weekly payment for people who become incapable of work owing to illness or disability, which started before 27 October 2008, while under state pension age. It is being replaced by Employment and Support Allowance.

Income Support

Financial support for those on low incomes who have not signed on as unemployed.

Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit

The amount depends on individual circumstances, but this is a weekly payment for those made ill or disabled by certain types of work - such as working with asbestos. It covers accidents, disease and deafness. Those who are self-employed are not eligible.

Industrial Death Benefit

Payable to the widow or widower and children of a person working as an employed earner who died as a result of an industrial accident or prescribed disease. The death must have been before 11 April 1988.

 Invalidity Benefit

This was replaced by Incapacity Benefit from April 1995 but is still payable if the invalidity started before April 1995. (free Car)

Job Grant

A one-off, tax-free payment of up to £250 as a stepping stone for those moving from benefits and into work.

Jobseeker's Allowance

The widely recognised main benefit for people of working age who are out of work or work less than 16 hours a week on average, and who are looking for work.

Local Housing Allowance

Similar to Housing Benefit, this is the allowance paid to a private tenant on a low income who is renting property or a room from a private landlord.

Maternity Allowance

This pays a standard weekly rate of £124.88 or 90% of your average gross weekly earnings, whichever is the smaller, to somebody who does not qualify for statutory maternity pay.

Mobility Supplement

Some people might be entitled to a free tax disc if they are disabled and get the higher rate of the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance, War Pensioners Mobility Supplement or have a new car.

Over 80 Pension

A payment of up to £58.50 a week for individuals aged 80 or over who do not get the basic state pension.

Pension Credit

This guarantees a minimum income to those of state pension age by topping up the weekly income to £132.60 for those who are single, and £202.40 for couples. There is also a Savings Credit for those aged 65 and over.

Pneumoconiosis (including asbestosis), Byssinosis and Miscellaneous Diseases Benefit

A benefit paid to the husband, wife or civil partner of somebody who died as a result of pneumoconiosis, byssinosis or certain other diseases which they got from work before 5 July, 1948.

Reduced Earnings Allowance

A payment of up to £58.32 a week for those who do not earn as much as they could owing to a work-related accident or disease that happened before 1 October 1990.

Retirement Allowance

This replaces Reduced Earnings Allowance for those who have reached pension age and have given up regular employment.

Return to work credit

A tax-free payment of £40 per week, payable for up to 52 weeks, for some people returning to work.

School uniform allowances

Help for parents to pay for their children's school uniform but administered on a council-by-council basis.

Severe Disablement Allowance

Paid to those unable to work for at least 28 weeks in a row because of an illness or disability - but no new claims have been accepted since April 2001.

State Pension

Arguably the best-known of all benefits, this is a payment of £97.65 to all those who have reached state pension age - which is set to rise.

Statutory Adoption Pay

Help to take time off work after adopting a child, it is paid at £124.88 or 90% of your average weekly earnings if this is less, for 39 weeks.

Statutory Maternity Pay

For new mothers, this is paid for the first six weeks at 90% of their average gross weekly earnings with no upper limit and - for the remaining 33 weeks - at the lower of either the standard rate of £124.88, or 90% of their average gross weekly earnings. This is one of a series of rights for new parents.

Statutory Paternity Pay

For new fathers, this is paid for one or two consecutive weeks at £124.88 or 90% of their average weekly earnings if this is less. As with maternity pay, they must have worked for the same employer without a break for at least 26 weeks by the 15th week before the baby is due.

Statutory Sick Pay

A standard rate of £79.15 a week, it is paid by employers for up to 28 weeks if somebody is unable to work because of illness.

Sure, Start Maternity Grant

A one-off payment of £500 for each baby to help those on low incomes pay towards the cost of a new baby.

Tax credits

The former Labour government's policy to integrate benefits within the tax system, rather than straightforward handouts. The benefits administered by HM Revenue and Customs consist of Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit.

Training premium

A small amount of about £10 a week paid as an incentive to train for a job.

Travel to interview scheme

For those out of work and on benefits, Jobcentre Plus may be able to help pay to get to a job interview.

Unemployability Supplement or Allowance

This is paid to people who suffered industrial injuries, but no new claims have been accepted since 6 April, 1987, when Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit was increased.

Vaccine Damage Payment

A tax-free payment of £120,000 to those severely disabled and whose disability was caused by vaccination against various diseases, such as tetanus.

War Disablement Pension

A pension, dependent on the level of injury, for those injured or disabled as a result of service in the Armed Forces, who are no longer serving in the Armed Forces and who were injured in service before 6 April 2005.

War Widow's/Widower's Pension

A tax-free pension paid to the wife, husband or civil partner of somebody who died as a result of their service in the Armed Forces or during a time of war before 6 April 2005.

Widowed Parent's Allowance

Up to £97.65 a week paid to a parent whose husband, wife or civil partner has died and they have at least one child who they receive Child Benefit for. Previously known as Widowed Mother's Allowance.

Widow's Pension

Payable weekly at a reduced rate for younger widows, the pension can be paid until the widow reaches 65 but if she retires after reaching state pension age of 60 it will usually be replaced by the state pension.

Winter Fuel Payment

This year it will be paid to all those born on or before 5 July 1950. The annual payment can be between £125 and £400 depending on the recipient's situation, to help pay the increased heating bills of winter. It is different to the Cold Weather Payment.

Working Tax Credit

Another element of the tax credits system, it pays in-work credits to people on low incomes through the wage packet including, where appropriate, part of childcare costs.

I’ve gone to the trouble of listing them all as I am so angry about how many there are. You must ask yourself the question … does it pay to work in the UK?   I dare say most other countries have nothing like this in place to encourage people to be so lazy!! I guess we are a victim of our own socialistic success, but the UK is already writing checks it can’t afford, sooner or later it will collapse due to lack of funding (tax receipts) and then there will be anarchy on the streets! In the UK people who receive these benefits or if you like, free handouts and calling them their entitlements! What I would like to know is how are they entitled to them if they have never worked for them? The top and bottom of it is in the UK, the more you earn the more tax is taken from your wages at source. This can be disproportionate and discourages people from working overtime or taking that job promotion. As the financial gain is gobbled up by the extra tax you must pay when you fall into the next government tax bracket. Is it a ‘Robin Hood Tax’ , how can it be when the middle classes are relying on these handouts to make ends meet too?

Tax comparison

The UK government collected £690 billion for FY 2017 In comparison the Filipino government collected P1.779 trillion or £ 25.8 billion. If we use this comparison it shows the UK is almost 27 time richer than the Philippines.  We have 66.57 million people living in the UK and the Philippines have 104.9 million. This means they have over 1.5 times more people than us paying about 40 times less tax. The middle classes in the UK are buckling under the pressure of taxes, as their wages year on year are not keeping up with inflation and the taxes are increasing every year. Most working families in the UK are on what we regard as the poverty line Hence ‘family tax credits ‘and housing benefits but compared to how people live here, they are rich beyond belief. When I tell people here what the unemployed receive as a package, the free house, car, hospitals, schools, and pretty much everything including cash handouts they just can’t believe it. Most of them said to me, if they got those kinds of benefits here, nobody would go to work!! They asked me why I bothered to go to work in England, I guess the only answer is my pride, in the vain hope of bettering myself after paying 60% of what I earned!! There are only two winners in the UK, the very rich and the unemployed with a family.  By the way just one example, you know why Duterte does ’t increase VAT from 12% to the same as the UK’s 20%, because he knows this would financially crucify the poor people that live here.

Jobs

Even the best paid jobs here are poorly paid compared to the UK and the workers don’t seemed to have any rights. I have relations here who are public servant and there is plenty of times when they don’t get paid on time, could be as much as 3 months late. Private sector is even worse, so it begs the question how do they survive. The answer is they turn to pawn shops or money lenders at high interest rates. Unlike the UK where we get paid on time and lavish free money on the unemployed. They can’t starve though, you can always gather food from the jungle and the climate is such that you won’t die of hypothermia at night if you sleep on the beach. The UK in the middle of winter, if you had nowhere to live you probably would die of hypothermia at night and there’s no jungle to get free food from. Because the jobs here are low paid the employees drift from job to job, and when they want to leave, they don’t bother to let the employer know, they just f**k off. This happened to me twice, I employed guys to look after my pam boat as it is fitted with a lot of expensive gear. When they got fed up with the job they just left without telling me and the boat was at the mercy of anyone who wanted to help themselves. I could understand this if I was unfair to them or they didn’t know me but one of them was my brother-in-law and the other was a good friend (I thought) who I had advances considerable money for hospital treatment he needed. The reason they do this is their pride and they feel shameful to come and tell you they are leaving. Average jobs in the UK on the face of it appear to be well paid, but when you factor in the taxes you are really working for the government for 7 months of the year. The UK government need these tax receipts to fund all the free stuff like hospitals, council houses, free schools, benefits to low paid and jobless families. Over here they do get ‘poor piece’ from the government which amounts to P1500 a month for the mother only. The mother gets P1500 and every child gets P1000 a month. Therefore, a family with 3 kids gets P4500 or £66.95 a month. This only lasts three months, then they are on their own! Could you imagine what would happen if that’s all the unemployed in the UK got this to live on.

Driving, Roads & Traffic

You know in England people spend a lot of time and money getting a driving licence for a car or motorbike. Sometimes sitting a test several times before we make the grade. Everything is done in a precise way because we know it would be dangerous otherwise. Our police enforce the law of the road in a very strict manor to ensure the roads are safe to travel on. Here the complete opposite is true, first the police have no jurisdiction on transport, this is done by a separate government body called the LTO (Land Transport Office) They don’t seem to have enough resources behind them and consequently most people flaunt the law. Driving a car here is frustrating, when you park up inevitably the Filipino will park their motor bikes inches away from your front and rear bumper. This is because your vehicle is offering shade for their bike seat from the sun, plus most of them have no concept of how much space a car needs to manoeuvre. In the UK, we would be so angry about this we would just knock the bikes over and drive off!! Here you must wait patiently until the owners return, (don’t shout at them) then quickly drive off before someone else takes the space. What you must understand is here the motorbike is king of the road as everyone has one. This is closely followed by the tricycle and then the car, particularly on this Island are few and far between. The way they look at it, your car is taking up parking space that 6 bikes could have parked in (you, greedy opulent bastard) When driving, you must use your mirrors all the time as the Filipino will pass you on both sides. Even if you are executing a left or right turn and your turn signal is flashing, they will pass your car in front or behind. Again, your car is just a complete nuisance to them and you are just getting in the way, remember cars are a lumbering beast compared to the nimble motorbike. Most people on this Island don’t even have a driving licence and it shows when you see the way they drive. Fortunately, unlike England where everyone is in a mad rush, these people travel very, very slowly, most of the time a maximum of 25kph, accidents here are frequent but most of the time survivable. The tricycles are the main cause of slow traffic as they are grossly underpowered, they only have a 125cc engine, but still manage to carry 14 people. (second gear full chat!)

  The road surfaces are extremely poor, the main roads are cement but not laid down with any sort of accuracy and are incredibly bumpy. The rest of the roads are just dirt, covered in potholes and boulders. This is ok for the motor bike but f**king useless for a car, the best thing to have here is a 4x4 truck and driver it slow. I’ve travelled on some of the main highways here and I can tell you, the road surface is crap, they post a 60kph limit and you would be doing well if you could run continuously at that speed. One other point to mention is the ambient temperatures here plays havoc with the cooling systems and lead acid batteries on your car. Most lead acid batteries don’t like temperatures over 25 C and the engine cooling system is always struggling to keep the engine cool. Heat is a killer of all batteries, but high temperatures cannot always be avoided. This is the case with a battery under the bonnet of a car. As a guideline, each 8°C rise in temperature cuts the life of a sealed lead acid battery in half. This means that a VRLA battery for stationary applications specified to last for 10 years at 25°C would only live 5 years if continuously exposed to 33°C and 30 months if kept at a constant desert temperature of 41°C. Once the battery is damaged by heat, the capacity cannot be restored. In the Philippines the battery under the bonnet can reach ambient temperatures of 50+ deg C, therefore the battery life would reduce to 18 months. If a good battery costs P8000, then you are paying P5333 year for a battery!!! To preserve the battery life, position it somewhere cooler on the vehicle, like the boot. Maybe a cooling fan would help increase battery life? The same applies to a boat battery only with the added problem of salt water environment. Not only does the engine have to cope with high ambient temperatures but it is working harder driving the air conditioning on full blast all the time. I can tell you, without air con the interior of your car would reach 60 degrees C in the middle of the day!  (totally un-drivable) I don’t care how good you think your air con system is, nothing is ‘bubble tight’ so you find yourself having to get the system re-charge regularly with Freon. Here in the Philippines there are few garages and mechanics who have the correct charging gear and knowledge to do this properly.  New cars are fine for a while until the radiator gets covered in flies and the battery gets to about 1 year old. Motorbikes are great providing you are on the move but get stuck in traffic and your brain starts to cook inside your crash helmet! Maybe that’s why the Filipino keeps his helmet at home where it will be safe. On the other hand, fuel is cheap compared to the UK, it is running about 2.5 times cheaper, a lot less tax on it. The LTO stop you if you are not wearing your seat belt in the car and issue you with a fine. This is ironic as they turn a blind eye when 30 -50 people ride standing up in the back of a commercial flatbed truck, with completely no safety restraints at all!! (see picture of school trip)

If this truck hits anything, I would like to suggest everyone on board goes ass over elbow into the jungle! I must admit though, the Filipino is extremely patient on the road, nobody gets excited if your pull-out in front of them at a junction or casually decide to do a U turn across a 4-lane highway. In England this would cause serious road rage, people would be getting out of their cars to kill you!! The other thing is nobody complains where you park your car, in England people get very upset if you park your car on the road side outside their house!! Yep they might be shit drivers, but they compensate a 100-fold with their patients. By the way, have you noticed how many times I’ve said the Filipino is patient? We will get to that later, but it makes you wonder why we are the complete opposite. In the UK you must pay for parking your car just about everywhere, failure to do so generates disproportionate fines. Our Borough Councils are the main cause of this closely followed by the big supermarkets.  Since I have been here I have not had to pay for parking anywhere, just like Texas in the USA. One last thing about transport, the Filipino is probably the laziest people I have come across. It’s common place to see lots of people in England walking down the street, its good exercise and saves money on transport. Here, nobody walks, they are in a Jeepney, tricycle, flat bed truck or riding 6 up on a motor cycle.  My wife complained to me the other day for walking into town, she said our neighbours would think we were poor and had no money!! When I ask them why they don’t walk, they just say it’s too hot for that. Hey, they should see the weather conditions we walk around in the UK.

Noise

The Filipino is the noisiest people on the planet!! On the roads all you can hear is horns tooting day and night. They convert their motor bike exhausts so that they make 10 times more noise, very childish. They love Karaoke and where ever you go it’s blasting out. Noise pollution doesn’t mean anything to these people, from their point of view, the noisier the better. So, if you want peace and quiet don’t come to the Philippines!! Don’t think you can complain to the authorities about it, they would just laugh in your face. My policy is, if you can’t beat them, join them, I regularly give the neighbours a taste of 500 watts of my old 80’s music.

They must get fed up with it as most of them are young people, but they never complain. Because there are no noise abatement laws over here the airliners climbing out of Davao airport just fly over built-up areas on full throttle. On the roads all you can hear is car and bike horns tooting continuously. The whole place is a relentless cacophony of noise!! You either get use to it or it will completely drive you mad. By the way, note the lady with her finger in her ear, yes, it’s that loud!!

Smoking

You know what is ten times more antisocial than smoking? Someone who is constantly texting on their mobile phone when you are trying to have a conversation with them! Ignorant F**ckers!  Also, some fat overweight bastard telling you that you can’t smoke here! Why doesn’t he concentrate on getting his own house in order first?

This is my only vice in life, and I enjoy it, I am always mindful though about how it might affect the non-smoker. I go out of my way to be considerate to others before I light up and always try to dispose of my cigarette butt properly. That said, it angers me that the minority in this world are always singled out by society and picked on. As an engineer I can tell you that the biggest carcinogenic air polluter in this world today, is not the smoker, it’s the internal combustion engine. See this article; https://metro.co.uk/2019/02/01/thick-toxic-smog-making-people-cough-blood-bangkok-pollution-crisis-8423277/   Of course, everyone turns a blind eye to this big problem as we all use motorised transport. The car has also become a status symbol’ look at my big car, look how well off I am’ ( F**k Off) Ask yourself this question, which scenario is survivable, being stuck in an enclosed space for an hour with people smoking or the same space with your car ticking over? (the carbon monoxide chokes my thoughts away ..hay hay) Here in the Philippines strictly no smoking in public places (OK)… and no smoking on the streets (why?) As the jeepneys and badly maintained vehicles roar by belching black smoke everywhere, god help us if there is a hint of cigarette smoke mixed in with it!! Penalty first offence for smoking on the street is P5000. You can smoke in your own car, but with the windows up! Oh yeah, what happens to the smoke when you open the door to get out? Non-smokers always complain about cigarette butts on the ground but fail to see all the other litter! The worst litter of all is chewing gum, this stuff stays on the side walk for ever, its durable rubber, full of bacteria! So, here is a product that is legal to grow, legal to manufacture cigarettes from, legal to tax, legal to sell, legal to purchase but not legal to consume. To address the outdoor smoking issue the Filipino’s have dotted around the city small spaces, usually not under any shade, cordon off with some nylon rope. The Philippines are the only country to my knowledge that have invented magic nylon rope which contain the extremely, and I mean extremely harmful cigarette smoke from the rest of the general public. As you inhale another lung full of smog from the traffic spare a though for this poor chap sweating his balls off in the sun! He’s even checking to see if they are still there!

   Can anyone show me on the following chart where the carbon monoxide from cigarette smoking is shown? Carbon monoxide is the main cause of global warming and health problems, I think the people who complain about cigarette smoking should direct their efforts to this problem, its more lightly to kill them in the long run. (See pie chart below)

 Ho, a couple of other things I find peculiar about the anti-smoking campaign:

Why is vaping considered just as antisocial as smoking? it contains no nicotine products and is purely water vapour. It cannot harm anyone around and the smell of it is no worse than the smell of most foods. Yet here in the Philippines, the people who vape must come with me to stand behind the magic nylon rope!!

Why is it considered offensive to even hold an unlit cigarette in your mouth in a public place? How is this going to affect anyone around ?

Personally, I think the anti-smoking has gone too far and is extreme discrimination, which is not tolerated in other aspects of life.

  You know why countries don’t just completely ban smoking? because they are all making vast amounts of tax on it. Last year in the UK, smoking generated £7.6 billion tax, that’s why. Ho , and cost to the NHS for smoke related diseases was only 3.4 billion. This is government income the non-smokers are benefiting from. Personally, I think the smokers should get top priority in the UK NHS as they have contributed a considerable amount towards funding it. If common sense prevails throughout the world, then you must admit this anti-smoking campaign is a complete and utter farce. The draconian rules on it are in place to satisfy the Holier than Thou small minded dullards, who have nothing better to do in their lives except complain about f**k all. (wins votes though) Funny how these people never complain about the shit coming out of their car exhaust! Maybe the cigarette manufacturers should try to emulate the smell of a cars exhaust when the cigarette is burning.

Hygiene

Here in the Philippines hygiene does not rank as a priority. To start with you see lots of them including women, spitting on the street. Toilet paper is not popular in the ‘CR’ instead they sluice their ass with water out of a bucket. You can always tell if a girl has been to the toilet by the wet patch on their shorts or dress. They are not too worried about this as it dries up quickly in this climate. They don’t seem to understand that the ambient temperatures they live in are in the danger zone for bacteria and food. As mentioned above the food hygiene is bad, I don’t eat any street food here for that reason.

 Money & Finance

Planning, what’s that I hear the Filipino saying, money is for spending and then lend some more. Yep, they have no concept of planning probably because they don’t get enough of it for any job they do and are forced to live from day to day. Saying that it doesn’t seem to bother them and most people you see look a dam sight happier than people in England.  Why? The banks over here are not regulated like they are in the UK and charge outrageous interest rate. Of course, that doesn’t bother most people here as they don’t have a bank account. This is a cash economy, full stop! Where the paper peso is king. In a way I don’t blame them from not having a bank account and a bank card, the shit I have had with BDO one of the biggest banks here, you would not believe. Some time ago I used my bank card to make two purchases. On both occasions the retailer swiped my card twice because the first time it didn’t work, the swipe machine also did not print a receipt. Eventually I paid the retailer with cash and got a receipt from both. A day later I was looking at my on-line bank statement and to my horror the bank had taken out both transactions twice from each retailer. I took the receipt to the bank to show them I paid cash and asked them to return my money to my account. Here we go… I had to fill in 4 forms at the bank for each transaction then they had to send it to Manila headquarters. After 4 months they said they had lost this information, and could I go back to the bank and do it all over again!! At this point I got an attorney to write a letter to the bank manager in Davao stating that they must return my money with interest immediately or we will take the bank to court. I then went into the bank a week later and asked the manager if she had received the letter and what she was doing about it. She said she had sent it to Manila head quarters but had not heard from them. I asked her to contact them and find out what was going on. She tried to contact them but could not get through…. This is a branch manager who could not get through so what chance do I have? A week later they reimbursed half of the money back into my account, no interest of course. Up shot was they finally returned all my money after a total of 6 months with no interest and no apology. Now if they did this with a lot of customers I can see how BDO gets its interest free capital to invest. The government just lets this sort of thing go on, unlike the UK where the government ombudsman would be on it like a fly on shit!! And the bank could end up getting some hefty fines. It’s interesting whether it’s a bank or a government body, all decisions are made in Manila while the poor folk at the local branches catch all the flack and can’t do a dam thing about it. The other strange thing here is your on-line bank statement takes 3-4 days to be updated. I suspect, it’s because of the poor internet connection and the bank does not invest in their IT and hardware. I bet their server has a massive buffer it is working through to update the customers statements. This creates a problem as the balance on your statement is always showing more than you have got in your account. The retailers here and services such as taxis don’t carry a float. When you try to pay with anything bigger than 200 pesos note they don’t have any change! I once tried to pay a taxi driver with a 1000 peso note (£14), he had to get out of the car and run around all the shops in the vicinity to find some change. This took him about half an hour while I sat in the taxi waiting for him.  I tried to explain to him that shops, taxis etc should have a float to be able to give the customer change… Nope, they can’t grasp that concept.

 A country of spectators:

This is annoying; the Filipino must lead a very boring life or all of them have a mental age of a 4-year-old, because wherever you go, they are watching you. Reminds me of that song: ‘Why does it feel like… somebody’s watching meeee, and I get no privacy whoo, whoo’

Some examples:

I am unloading my car with previsions to take on my boat…. I get this feeling I am being watched and sure enough when I turn around there are at least 10 people (Adults) just stood there staring at me! Have they never seen a guy unloading his car before I ask?

I am in the supermarket and people are deliberately stopping to look inside my basket to see what I am going to purchase, wonder what is going through their minds’ wow, that’s what a white nose eats!

I am having trouble starting my car, so I flip the bonnet to see what’s wrong, again this draws a big crowd of spectators from the local church, I guess I was more interesting than god. I stopped what I was doing and just stared back at them with a menacing look on my face. No, this didn’t phase them one bit, they just stared at me with blank expressions on their faces!!

I am walking down the street and people across the road stop and stare, shit did I forget to zip up my flies?

The biggest crowd I manged to draw was when I fitted a 2 HP outboard motor to my Banka. (Small boat) There must have been 40 people watching, I shouted in a loud voice, ‘would you like me to sing for you as well?’ They said nothing and continued to just stare at me.

I asked my wife about this and told her in the UK this behaviour would be considered extremely rude, but she told me this is normal in the Philippines, people are just generally nosy. They would not understand why you would get angry about it! In the UK, people would turn around and say to you’ What the f**k are you looking at? You better have a good explanation otherwise it’s goodbye to your front teeth!

Sex & Kids

Yeah, lets change the subject to something more interesting. Like most people on the planet Filipino’s like it and because most of them are not occupied with work, it turns out to be a national past time, hence the number of children produced. I think this country has a population of 100 million, maybe more. People here have children but have not planned how they are going to feed and clothe them; never mind how they are going to afford hospital bills or send them to school. I see lots of kids on the street who are of school age and not at school, so poverty, ignorance and having to pay for schooling really does breed moron’s!! Mind you, that’s also a problem we have in the UK with the unemployed on our massive council estates and the schools are free. Difference is, the poor tax payer must foot the bill over there for those f**kers!! (literally) Just like the UK the unemployed have lots of kids, as this generates more income from the government handouts. I must say this, unlike the council dullards in UK the kids here are very polite and have a more positive outlook on life with less expectations from their parents. Our kids are generally fat and lethargic, where their kids are thin and active, much like it use to be in the UK back in the 70’s. While our kids stay indoors playing on the Nintendo, these kids are playing outside and swimming in the sea, much healthier. Of course, their life expectancy is less than ours, because our shitty NHS keeps people going on a cocktail of pills well into their 80’s. These people just can’t afford the operations and pills, so the average life span is a lot less.

  Finding a partner or wife

Most of the white nose here have retired and are on average between 50 to 75 years old. You are hard pressed to find a white nose who is in his thirties here, as the job prospects are virtually non-existent, so it’s only the retirees who reside here. Now back in the UK men at 50 -75 years old are completely transparent to any woman aged between 17 – 45. What I mean by this is you would have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting a young woman interested in you back there. Here in the Philippines you must understand that the women from the age of say 17 onwards see us white nose as security and an opportunity to get them out of the poverty trap. You would be kidding your self if you think that they are interested in you for your good looks and charm. Even when they butter you up and say that they think you are handsome, don’t believe it, what they really mean is, I am in love with your wallet. So, what you find is a lot of old fart white nose end up with a woman /girl that is far too young for them, who are only interested in their money and security. This leads to an incompatibility; mother nature did not intend it to be this way! What I am saying is, the girl wants a different life style to the one you want at your age. They want to go out and party with their friends at the local night clubs all night. You don’t want to do this as the music is not your taste and in any case its all just too noisy for you and by 11:00pm you’re falling asleep. Their libido is much higher than yours and only a man closer to their age can satisfy them.  They want to go shopping and spending their time at beach resorts. You can do this for a while, but it gets a bit much and you don’t really have the energy to keep up. They are always on their mobile phones, chatting to their friends on Facebook or taking picture of themselves all the time. This becomes an irritation to the old fart white nose, who would rather sit down and have a face to face conversation. You find yourselves with two choices, go with them and try to keep up or let them go on their own. Trouble is they are young girls and good looking so you are wondering if they are seeing somebody else their own age. What a ‘clusterfuck’, and don’t forget, if you marry a young girl here, they get to own the property you bought, not you. The problem is that a lot of the old white nose here are like kids in a candy store when it comes to finding a partner / wife.

They don’t seem to use any common sense, it’s just an absolute ego boost for them to have a young girl by their side and in bed. Ok, that’s understandable but you must think of the consequences as mentioned above. The other thing to bear in mind is despite their catholic upbringing, most of the Filipina’s are promiscuous even if you are married to them, you really should not trust them entirely. My wife has cited many examples of people she knows who are married and seeing somebody else! For those guys who have found someone on Asian dating sites, all I can say is this, beware. As it ever occurred to you why these beautiful young girls are on there in the first place and targeting the white guy?  Personally, when I came to the Philippines, I was not looking for a young girl, I chose one who was more mature, and compatible with my age. I eventually married her and so far, I have not had any trouble. My moto is, think with your brain, not your balls!!

Schools

Unlike the UK, these people must pay for their kids schooling, this focuses the mind of the parents to ensure they don’t skip school and they do their homework. The collyrium is on par with the UK and don’t forget the kids have to learn this in English. Most schools teach the lessons in Tagalog or English. The school my girls go to make them speak English all the time. Consequently, the kids here can speak three languages, English, Tagalog and Bisaya, could you imagine our kids being able to do this? That’s another thing I noticed here, the very young kids have a good grasp of language, where as the toddlers in the UK are very poor. This is because parents in the UK are too busy working and don’t have enough time for their pre-school kids, so it’s left to the schools in the UK to shoulder the burden. Here most parents aren’t occupied with a full-time job, so they spend more time with the kids talking to them.

Internet & Phones

Before I tell you about the situation here in the Philippines, I must give you my opinion on this technology. The mobile phone is a fantastic invention but is abused beyond belief!! In the UK deaths on the road caused by ignorant people texting while driving has far surpassed road deaths caused by drinking and driving. If you are caught by the police using your mobile while driving, there is a fixed penalty of £60. The penalty for drinking and driving could result in 6 months' imprisonment, up to £2500 fine or a possible driving ban for three years. It’s the old, old story again, its ok to pick on the minority but don’t pick on the majority! (that doesn’t win votes) Here in the Philippines there is no penalty for using your phone while driving, but P18,000 fine and 5 years in prison for drinking and driving.

Einstein said:

You know, the guy was right, I owned a pub in England and one day a group of young lads came in, they ordered a drink, and all sat down at a table. After a while I noticed they were all very silent looking at their phones and not talking to one another. So, I went over and ask them if everything was ok, one of them looked up and said they were ok, so I said, ‘but you are not talking to one another’, he said ‘yes, we are’!  Today, wherever I go, everyone is just staring into their mobile phones, young people feel naked without them. When I take a group of people on an Island-hopping trip, the majority just stare at their phones all day. They never see the beautiful scenery or even talk to their fellow ship mates, very sad. I have a sign on my boat saying: Please switch off your mobile phone, it interferes with the owner! People have become so addicted to them, they get worried if they don’t work, they are wondering why the person they are texting isn’t answering straight away. They never think that the recipient’s phone could be out of power or phone service range. The modern phone consumes a lot of power because of its big colour screen. On my boat everyone is asking me to charge their phones all the time. Most teenagers only have one hand to do things with nowadays, the other is a perpetual cradle for the phone!! (wonder how they take a shit?) Ask yourself the question, could you live for just one day without your mobile phone? If the answer is no, then I would suggest you are a slave to this technology! (no wonder the phone companies are making a fortune) I have an engineering solution for those of you who are getting fed up with battery life on their phone.  Purchase a 100Ah, truck battery with some good shoulder straps. Buy a phone charger lead and convert the power side with two Crocodile clips. Connect to the truck battery and carry it around on your shoulders all day, bet the phone battery last more than a month!!  Some of the readers are thinking right now, ‘so what, that’s his opinion’ I say, GET A F**KING LIFE PEAPLE! By the way, I don’t have a mobile phone, if you want to contact me, you can skype me, e-mail me, send a letter…. or better still just come talk to me, now there’s a novel way of communicating!

Back to the Philippines: The internet is a big bone of contention for the white nose. It’s what we regard as an essential service but to the young Filipino it’s primarily used for SMS messages and Facebook so not that important. There are two main providers of broadband internet service. Globe and PLDT, both charge about the same and provide a very poor service. The poor speed and occasional black outs are common place, no amount of complaining will change the situation so you just keep on paying to stay connected. President Duterte is angry about this as it is holding back the country to be able to communicate domestically and abroad. I heard him say at one of his conferences, that Globe are ‘Mother f**kers’ . He is inviting overseas companies to come in in and sort out the problem, then he said he will revoke Globe’s licence to operate. Most Filipinos don’t own a computer, it cost too much for them, they do everything on their mobile phones or at the ATM machine. They go to designated retail outlets and load their phones for air time with their provider. This doesn’t last very long and costs them a fortune, surfing the internet is a luxury for them as it is a costly exercise. Most of the time they just send SMS messages as the load would not last 5 minutes if they made a phone call. In a way I do know why the providers don’t offer a contract with these people. In the UK you get a contract with a free up to date phone and very competitive service.  I guess the Filipino would pawn the new phone and buy rice straight away with it. You can stand waiting for 20 minutes at an ATM machine while the person in front of you does all their internet banking on it. I think this is an ignorant thing to do particularly when there is a lot of people waiting to use the machine. Why don’t they do this in the evening when there’s no one around? The ATM machines relies on a good internet connection, guess what a lot of them say on the screen when you go to get some cash!

Power Utilities

Where I live on Samal Island a company called Daneco provides all the electrical power. Most of it comes from diesel generator sets which struggle to run at the correct speed under heavy loads. Consequently, the frequency fluctuates quite a lot from 60hz down to as little as 45hz, you can hear this most noticeably with the air con motors and electric fans. As we all know, when the frequency drops off an induction motors slows down, and they draw more current to perform their duty. This is not good and could burn out the armature windings if this condition persists. Daneco are fully aware of the problem but don’t have the resources to fix it. We also get regular ‘black outs’ for two reasons as one of the Daneco engineers explained to me. First, when we have bad weather and a tree falls on the power lines, this could cut the power for days! The second is more frequent, where people don’t pay their bill and Daneco cuts them off, this usually takes about 10-15 mins. It amazes me how many 10-15-minute black outs we have, this suggests that the Filipino’s don’t like paying for their electricity… perhaps the religious nuts think god provides it free of charge! And god said ‘let there be light’… and there was light .. and Daneco said ‘Pay your bill or there will be no light’! Personally, it gives me great satisfaction when we have the 10-15-minute black outs… another one bit’s the dust ha ha. In the UK, the utility companies must go through quite a legal procedure to cut off someone’s power... human rights again, I love Daneco.

 Hospitals

It’s a far cry from our expensive NHS (National Health System) which last year costs the British tax payer 145 Billion pounds and directly employs over 9 million people. (It’s the biggest employer in Europe) This equates to every man, woman and child in the UK paying £2,166 each or P153,786 each. It’s no wonder the tax in the UK is so high and the NHS still need more money and resources. The Filipino can get help from the government with ‘Philhealth’ which covers them for a measly P14000, (£197 a year) after that, they must pay! Having said all that, their A&E is fantastic compared to the UK, here there is no waiting to get seen by a doctor. In contrast, you must wait for hours in the NHS unless you are bleeding to death!! It begs the question. are the British the sickest people on the planet or is the system being abused because it is free at source? I think it’s the latter, again if you must pay for a service it tends to focus your mind. The doctors and the rest of the staff are very professional here, but the hospital and equipment look out dated and worn out. You must pay for all your prescriptions and a long-term illness like Diabetes can cost the Filipino a fortune. Guess that’s why a lot of them die from the disease. Most people here take out loans to pay for relatives who are in hospital, which puts them further and further in dept.

  Police

As mentioned above, no judication over road traffic, but overall do a very good job with their limited resources. Like our police in the UK, they are very courteous and helpful but with the exception, they can be bribed. The only complaint I have as a Britt is that they carry a gun, just like most other places in the world. Wonder when the rest of the world will fall in line and get civilised about this? I once had an American ask me how our police make an arrest without a gun. I explained to him that our police would tell your mam if he didn’t come along quietly! On this Island the police have some powerful motorbikes as a car would be useless when chasing assholes on motorbikes through the jungle!!

 Garbage collection & pollution

This is a complete joke compared to our sophisticated system in the UK for waste management. On this island the barangay (Borough Council) have set up small bamboo huts where people are supposed to put their garbage for collection. Well the people do …sort of, you find most of the garbage around the hut, not in it, lying there for the vermin to chow down on. Failing that they just throw the garbage in the jungle or the sea… back to laziness. It’s such a shame as they have some of the most beautiful surroundings on the planet. Again, here in the Philippines there doesn’t seem to be any penalties for this behaviour, so people get away with it. As I sail along in my Pam Boat between Davao city and Samal Island there is a plethora of plastic bags, bottles and you name it, floating in the beautiful turquoise sea. God knows how many times I had to stop and remove stuff from the propeller, it a disgrace! This problem is indicative of a country that has no money to spend on waste management, they have bigger problems to sort out, like poverty and crime. But just listen to me, I am sounding like a whinging white nose when in fact it is the first world countries that are the biggest polluters by far! Let me give you a simple example: most people on this Island only have a 60-watt light bulb and an electric fan, those with money may have a 350-watt karaoke set. They cook their food over some sticks out of the jungle and if they can afford it, they have a 125cc motorbike. So, from a carbon foot print point of view here’s the facts:

Filipino burns: light 60 +Fan 50 +Karaoke 350= 460 watts, ride 6 up on a motorbike.

Average family in the UK (three-bedroom semidetached house) burns:

Lights 1000W, TV 300W, computers, sound systems400W, refrigerator250W, microwave1500W, electric water emersion heater 2000W, hair drier 1500W, electric lawn mower 750W, electric drill 750W, electric jet washer1300W, electric kettle 2000W, electric food mixer 150W etc etc

Gas cooker 9kW

Gas Central heating Boiler 30kW

Car 50kW- 120kW depending on the size x 2

So, where the hell, do we think we are getting all this power from? That’s right all our power stations are running full tilt to supply it, burning huge amounts of fossil fuels like gas or coal, the carbon emissions are outrageous! I keep hearing from our government that they want to phase out diesel and gasoline powered cars in favour of electric powered. What good is that going to do for the environment? The fossil fuel brunt’ will simply be transferred to the power stations with the added extra fuel required to transmit the power across the grid to the charging stations for the vehicles!! The governments just use the adage, ‘out of sight, out of mind’ don’t they ever consult with the engineers and scientists of this world? It’s so bad in the UK we must import electricity from France otherwise our lights would go out. Most families in the UK have two cars where over here the whole family rides on their 125cc motor bike. Ask yourself the question, who are the biggest polluters on the planet? Yes, so let’s stop being holier than thou with these people and get our own house in order first, we really are a bunch of hypocritical bastards. By the way, I am using the mealy mouth UK as an example on household power consumption, you should see how much an average family uses in the USA. Besides their enormous gasoline guzzling cars, their houses are energy gobbling beyond belief. When I lived in Texas, I remember the air con was on virtually all the time!

 You know, the USA consume about a 20% of the planets power resources to satisfy their opulent life style. Just compare the tons of CO2 per capita on the chart below. Even Canada is not the cleanest country you might think it is, compared to the Philippines.

    Nevertheless, they seem to have the most activists on planet rubbishing other countries, regarding global warming, it’s ironic!! I remember President Bush Jr, saying at the Kyoto conference, the USA will just simply plant more trees to soak up the CO2 emissions the US produces… Ho yeah! What a numskull.

We should be using hydrogen as our primary fuel!!

It’s in abundance on this plant, trapped in the water, we just gotta figure out a way of extracting it economically, the by-product after burning it is water! I dare say this technology already exists but is kept under wraps because governments & oil companies, make a lot of profit and tax on oil, how the hell would they go about taxing water? Consider this, the first world countries are hanging by a thread, if oil prices go up or dry up due to demand out stripping production it would have disastrous effects.  Economies in the first world, would collapse overnight and there would be anarchy on the streets!! The USA and the UK are very mindful of this, hence the 2 Iraq wars where we hung our hat on Saddam Hussein having weapons of mass destruction. They never did find these weapons but did secure the cheap oil we all enjoy today. Notice the second time we went in, we secured the oil fields first so that Saddam could not set fire to them! I remember in the UK, the oil tanker drivers went on strike for only 4 days, England almost came to a grinding halt. Supermarket shelves were becoming depleted and fuel for vehicles was rationed to only essential personal and services. We are all fossil fuel junkies, the average Filipino would just reluctantly walk everywhere, instead of riding his 125cc motor bike and burn candles at home. The electric fan and Karaoke not working would just be a bit of an inconvenience, and in any case, they are used to frequent black outs!

Animals & Pets

The Filipino’s are very religious people, primarily Catholic’s, they believe they have a soul, but animals don’t. They believe god put the animals on the earth to be used and eaten, that’s it. If your neighbour kills your dog, you have no legal recall. If you see someone hurting or even torturing an animal here, you can’t do anything about it. Here there is a voluntary group called the Philippine Animal Welfare Society is a volunteer-based, non-government organization whose goal is to prevent animal cruelty through education, animal sheltering and advocacy, based in Quezon City. They have no teeth to bring legal prosecutions and, in any case, the legal system is not very interested. They have managed to make some prosecutions, but the fine was poultry. In the UK you can prosecute the bastard and he might serve time! yes in the UK animals have rights. Heaven must be a boring place for the Catholics, devoid of all other life purely because it has no soul! Can you imagine a place without birds, cats, dogs, horses, fish etc etc, what a boring place it must be? I have been whiteness to a few pigs being dispatched and turned into leachon (Hog roast) which is the favourite food of the Philippines. I owned 4 pigs at one time, two of them were eaten at my wedding and the others were used for birthdays. All of them were dispatched and butchered in the jungle in a very professional manor. First the pig is tied and laid down on a table, it is calmed by scratching its belly. Once the pig is calm, they slip a very long sharp knife into its throat and up towards the heart. The pig seems to feel nothing, it just lies there bleeding to death. They collect the blood until the pig is dead, then proceed to immerse the pig in boiling water. This helps to loosen the hair on the skin so that they can clean it toughly. At this point people come from everywhere out of the jungle with big pots and start boiling water over some burning sticks. They then start to carefully gut the animal, taking out all the major organs and distributing them amongst the local people. These parts are boiled in the pans and eaten straight away. The blood is turned into a blood sausage kind of soup, which everyone has a share of.  Aim thinking, ‘hang on a minute, this is my pig’ but I have no say in the matter, this is local tradition. Anyway, when they get through with this they stick a big galvanised scaffolding pole up its ass and out of its month ready for the roasting. This is done over coconut charcoal and wood which takes 1-3 hours depending on the size of the pig. On completion they get big banana leaves out of the jungle and wrap it up ready for transport to the event. Back to pet’s, unlike England where we keep out pets indoors, theirs stay outside. We bring ours in because in the winter they would probably die of hypothermia. They don’t make a fuss about their pets the way we do, and it is rare to see a Filipino walking his dog. Remember I said they are lazy people so walking the dog is not an option. Most dogs on this island are free to roam around, generally in packs until the Barangay regard it as a public health hazard. Because of rabbis over here they must do something about it, so they collect up the dogs and dispose of them in the jungle! (club, club, bang, bang) This has happened to some of my wife’s family dogs but no matter they just get another puppy and go on. Furthermore, on a rather disturbing note, three little puppies belonging to my in-laws were killed yesterday. They all laughed as they told me that one of their 3-year-old kids sat on them until they were dead. I was looking out of my bedroom widow one day and saw a couple of kids with a chicken, they were throwing it up in the air and then proceeded to push a twig up its ass. Sounds funny but the chicken didn’t seem to think so. I stopped the kids from any further torture but resisted doing the same to them as this is a crime in the Philippines.

Engineering:

I must cover this subject as an engineer I find some fascinating comparisons with the UK. First, most of the British mechanical engineering disappeared in the early 80’s. An end of an Era, I am sure a historian can explain to me, why a county like mine, once the most powerful on the planet due to its engineering prowess, ends up this way. I often wonder why counties like this one never evolved at the same rate, I guess necessity is the mother of invention as Mr Winston Churchill once said.  The shipyards, steelworks, coal mining, and car manufacturing was decimated primarily by the Labour party and the strong unions. Most of these industries were nationalised but the Labour government did nothing with regards to investing in these nationalised companies to keep them competitive. Instead they kowtowed to the unions to a point where there was more and more strikes and less productivity. A newspaper in the UK called the News of The World, once got into British Leyland (Our big Nationalised Car Company) one night and took some great photos of workers sleeping on the job. Back in the mid 70’s when I was working in the shipyards we seemed to be on strike over the most stupid reasons virtually every month. I refused to join the union and one night in the car park I was threatened by a couple of big thugs that suggested I might want to re-consider, as they said it would be a shame to lose my good looks and have my car smashed up! (The democratic Labour Party!) In the yard I would say only 20% of the work force did any work while the rest of them sat around playing cards and sleeping. They knew their jobs were protected by the powerful unions of the time. When Margert Thatcher became prime minister, it was too late to save these outdated, over maned, low productivity companies. Furthermore, they were costing the taxpayer a fortune and the products coming out of the door were shit! (a car called the Austin Allegro comes to mind) She offers management buy out to sell it off but guess what, nobody was interested. I lived through these times where we all sat round candles at home because there was no power due to coal miners on strikes. The country had to power share, and this led to a three-day working week which let’s face it did nothing for productivity. It’s interesting looking back, the communist labour party and their supporters, even today, blame Margret for the demise. They all have conveniently forgotten about the winter of discontent under Jim Callahan’s labour party and how the country on his watch was brought to its knees. Anyway, when you look around this place you can find small to medium size company’s doing some good engineering. It reminds me of the good old days where you could get anything made in the UK. The big difference here is none of them can read an engineering drawing due to lack of education and no formal apprenticeships. I stopped producing engineering drawings for parts I want and instead produce a 3D drawing with dimensions on it. It gives me great pleasure to see something tangible produced rather than the situation in the UK with all those call centres, mobile phone shops and marketing firms. Be advised, due to lack of money here a lot of things are maintained on a shoe string, so second-hand cars and boats require great scrutiny before you buy them.

Summary

After reading all this you are perhaps wondering why the hell do I like living here? To understand this, I must tell you a bit about my life in England. I lived mainly in the North of England where the weather is crap seven months of the year. low grey cloud, raining, snowing or hail stones is the norm with usually a cold cutting wind to complement it.  As mentioned, I started work in the shipyards back in the 70’s, during the winter months I hardly ever saw the sun. I remember one day I was wiring up a distribution box for the radar, on the mast of a super tanker which is 30 metres above sea level. The snow flakes were traveling almost horizontal with a cutting wind speed of 30kts and a temperature of -5C.  My fingers were turning blue and I was losing feeling in my feet, it’s at this point you have to ask yourself ‘what the F**k am I doing here? I could go on and sight more examples of the inclement weather conditions in the UK, but I think you get the point. I am a guy that likes out door activities, like riding a motor bike, power flying and gliding. I love sailing, wind surfing and swimming, all these require just one ingredient that’s in scarce supply in the UK…. Nice weather! The amount of time and money I have wasted in the UK trying to pursue these activities due to the shit weather. Its no wonder football and rugby are our national sports, you can play this in any weather and all you need is a ball. Guys in the UK use to say to me because I wasn’t interested in football ‘you’re not a sportsman are you Nige?’ The cheeky bastards, all they use to do was sit on the couch with a beer in hand watching their game, while I actively participated in mine!!  Remember I was saying the British kids just stay indoors and play on their Nintendo’s, well I wonder why? The Australians are right to call people from the UK ‘Whinging Poms’ , we are probably one of the worlds most discontented people and are always complaining. Due to, paying high taxes and the cost of living, most people in the UK are wound up like clock springs. Both man and wife work like dogs to pay the mortgage and the rest of the bills… and for what?  Most of them live in tiny three-bedroom houses with a small car in the driveway and a big overdraught in the bank. It’s no wonder they are aggressive towards each other and generally sick of there lot. Divorce is prevalent in the UK due to these stresses and the poor kids just compound the misery further. I was weighing it up the other day, a family with two kids in the UK need to be making about £60K a year minimum to live. That’s an absolute fortune here in the Philippines, currently PHP 4, 200,000. The same family here needs only PHP 300,000 a year to live. Just before I left the UK I was renting a property, this is what I paid for a roof over my head:

£1,300.00 a month for Rent (due to the miserably expensive housing situation in the UK)

£46.00 a month for Water (reasonable)

£230.00 a month for Electricity (rip off)

£310.00 a month for Gas (always running the boiler because its so cold in the UK)

£203.00 a month for council tax (refuge collection and more parking meters)

I now pay a total of £204 a month which includes electricity and water for a bigger house which is about the same as what I was paying in the UK for council tax!!! Here’s another example, I bought a brand-new Honda motor bike here for P86,000, the exact same bike in the UK is P284,000. why? Because of our massive import duties. We should really call England, Taxland. Finally, on this subject of tax, as a smoker I am winning big style, a packet of 20 cigarettes in the UK is around P1000, I only pay P70 for a pack here (up yours, non-smokers). Holy mother, the UK is expensive!!  By the way, UK stands for United Kingdom… wonder how long that’s going to last? UK is currently going through Brexit… wonder how that’s going to pan out?  So now, I live here, where it is only a fraction of the cost to live, the weather is good every day all year round. The people although poor are friendly, patient and always smiling a big contrast to the miserable, argumentative ass holes in the UK. One point of interest is that I have had no arguments or problems from any Filipino over the last two years. In contrast to my neighbour who is Austrian, who I have had no end of trouble! Guess, wherever you go in the world you just can’t escape from ass holes! When I left the UK between personal and corporate tax, I was paying over 60%. I don’t mind paying directly for things I use, like hospitals, medicine and schools. I’ve always been a firm believer in paying for what you get but not for what someone else gets! As I said above, free at source services only get abused by the greedy assholes of this world. Yes, the services are poor here because the country is poor but that doesn’t mean its crap, it just means you must be more patient and accept it. I have white nose friends here who are always complaining about things, my answer to them is the airport is only a taxi ride away. So, to summarise, I believe this place is a better way of life, less stress, slower pace and much better weather. Your money gets you a lot more and the taxes are far less.  

So:

If you don’t like:

·        Noise

·        Poor hygiene

·        Slow traffic and bad roads

·        Having to pay for schools and hospitals

·        The Bureaucracy

·        A problem with their human rights policies

·        Lack of concern for animal welfare

·        Slow internet

·        Hot weather

·        Religious fanatics

·        Police with guns and corrupt

·        High Interest rates for borrowing

·        And their family values

 DON’T COME TO THE PHILIPPINES

If you like:

·        Friendly people

·        Low Taxes across the board

·        Tough policy on corruption, drugs and terrorism

·        Affordable Housing

·        Affordable utilities

·        Affordable boats

·        Affordable motor bikes

·        Incredibly cheap cigarettes

·        Incredibly cheap booze

·        Corral reefs

·        Good weather all year round

·        Slower pace of life

·        Getting a sun tan

·        Swimming & scuba diving

·        Sailing

·        Flying

·        Good looking Girls who will care for you providing they are of combatable age.

THEN THE PHILIPPINES IS FOR YOU

 Yeah, sure you can cherry pick for a limited time living in a resort or hotel, but the above headings are reality if you want to live here permanently.

Ho, just one final note, I can’t put my finger on it, but I feel like I am not as personally restricted as I was in the UK. I feel like some of my personal liberties have been restored living here, I guess life back in the UK was becoming too regulated for me. Will I ever go back to the UK… you’ve gotta be f**king joking?

Thanks for reading,

Nigel

[loki-subterfuge]

Irked

Title: Irked Author: lokilover9 Chapter: #19 Notes: Movie ~ What Women Want with Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt Rating:Teen Twenty minutes after Shandis initial panic, coffee was finally brewing in the kitchen as Nat watched her pace back and forth from the table. “Sit, woman. You're making me dizzy.” “I can't believe Loki left his phone here. He’s to have it with him at all times. And why isn't Clint answering his? Where are they?” “Stop worrying, I'm sure they're together. Why would Loki go out in this storm alone? Clint probably left his phone in the truck. It's a habit. Shandi poured equal amounts of cream and coffee in her mug, then added three spoonfuls of sugar. “I'm Cactus sitting, responsible for him at all times. Couldn't he have left a note or something? What if Tony calls? Oh man.” Nat smirked, as she paced again. “Maybe coffee isn't the best option, for you.” “I'm worried.” “No shit.” Shandi then downed her coffee, went to look out the front windows, returned and paced yet again. “Final warning.” Said Nat. “You've about three seconds to halt, or be tied to something.” “If he thought I was upset last night, that was nothing. You wait, Natskies.” “The spanking paddle might be handy. Unless he runs.” Nats comment fell on deaf ears, then Shandi stopped abruptly. “I should go clean my room, make my bed and shit? Yep. Maybe that’ll help me relax.” She darted upstairs and Nat sipped her coffee. “I’m staying down here.” Another twenty minutes past and she heard Shandi shower quickly, run down the front stairs, grapple with something amidst a closet, run back up and start the Central Vac. Two minutes later, Loki and Clint returned. “I can't believe you convinced me to drive in this. You're a manic, Cactus.” “And you're a whiner.” Loki teased. “How does Kroshka even tolerate such nonsense?” “Bite me and you're now in debt another coconut cake.” “Shall I decorate it with candied nipple clamps?” “Go for it.” Nat suggested as they entered the kitchen. “Hardy har.” Said Clint. “Mind if I use your bathroom, to shower? I need more sleep too.” “Certainly baby cakes and again, thanks for the escort.” Clint started up the stairs. “Maniac!” “He was tanked last nigh, Cactust. How did you get him up so early?” “I threatened to tattoo ‘Porn Bitch,’ on his forehead. When ignored, I handed him a mirror.” Said Loki. “Baby cakes would have sufficed, but good choice.” Nat kept smiling, observing Loki organize what sat upon the island. “Something on your mind?” He asked. “Care to know why Shandi loves those movies, I mentioned?” “I do.” “Both are about men who fall for women, in ways they could never fathom. In the beginning, they mess up, then become determined to make amends.” “I see. I gather Shandi spoke of my deceit?” “Yes and you and I never had this conversation.” Said Nat. “I understand.” “Considering the subject, I convinced her you meant well, but may I offer more friendly advice?” “Of course.” “A beautiful heart, doesn't mean a weak soul, Loki. Disrespect her personal choices and she'll toss you to the curb.” He nodded in acknowledgement. “Duly noted, Kroshka. Anything else?” “Yes. The next time you go anywhere without informing her, remember your phone or consider leaving behind a horse tranquilizer?” “Whatever for?” Nat explained and he laughed. “My bad. As we’re on the subject, what did I miss from that scene in What Women Want, which captivates her?” “When they're dancing in the bedroom?” “Yes.” “Watch it on YouTube, Cactus. You’ll figure it out.” Shandi was toiling away in her room when the vacuum stopped and Nat entered. “I wasn't done with that.” “Yes you are, they're back.” “She flopped onto the bed with her arms stretched out. "Thank heavens.” Nat pulled her up. “Come on drama queen. There's something you need to see.” As they entered the kitchen Shandis mouth fell ajar. “What? He actually did this?” There on the island, sat everything Loki hadn't purchased during their shop, including her two boxes of Fruit Loops. “Yes beautiful. He went out in that storm, to make things right with you.” Nat smirked as Shandi blinked at her, misty eyed. “Are you just going to stand here like a love sick puppy, or go talk to him?” Loki had retreated to the library, closed the door and searched that movie scene on his laptop. It was very evident the love and adoration the male actor portrayed towards the female, as though she meant everything to him. ‘Do you seek such affections, Pet?’ Someone knocked then and he closed the app. “You may enter the God of Mischiefs lair.” Shandi peeked in and smirked. “Is it safe?” “For now.” Loki kidded. She leaned against the doorframe, in momentary silence. ‘Damn him when he looks at me like that.’ “I noticed you went shopping..in the storm. You didn't have to do that. I mean, I could've waited until tomorrow. Regardless, it was very kind. Thank you.” “You're quite welcome, Shandi. I apologize for my deceit.” A warm smile, overtook her. “I accept. Nat and I thought to watch another movie. You're welcome to join us.” Loki recalled Nats fantasy from the previous night, Shandis pleasured response and hesitated. ‘I've only presently escaped trouble. Perhaps I shouldn't lead myself into temptation.’ He cleared his throat. “You ladies enjoy. I've still some research on Shamus's hobbies to do." Two movies later, Clint woke and everyone except Nat, had some drinks. They stayed until late evening, Shandi disappeared for a few minutes, then brought some food from the entertainment room, to help tidy up. Loki noticed the booze had gotten to her and swiftly took action. Shandi returned from a second trip and found the drink she'd left behind, replaced by a water bottle. “Seriously Loki? Yur doin’ this again? Where's my drink?” She politely, asked. “Pardon me. I thought you were done and emptied the remaining contents.” “You should've assed.” ‘Assed? Good thing I didn't.’ “Next time, I'll be sure to.” He changed the subject. “I thought we'd visit Carters Bakery tomorrow, but may I take you someplace first?” “Where?” “It's a surprise.” “K.” She slid her hands into her pockets. “So’s this sorta’ like a..mini date kinda thing?” Loki smirked. “Would you like it to be?” Before she could answer, odd squeaky noises and the washing machine lid rattling, caught her attention. She darted down the hall and Loki followed, just in time to see bubbles overflowing from beneath the lid and her slip on soapy water, leaking out the bottom. She landed on her ass, legs spread on the floor and cursed. “Oh fur fuck sakes.” He burst into laughter, helped to her feet and turned the machine off. “Generous with the detergent, were you?” “The model hasn't a soap dispenser. You gotta pour it on yur clothes.” She lifted the lid and saw nothing beyond the bubbles. “Maybe I was too generous. Still, it must be broken if…” She faltered again and as Loki moved to balance her, she slid into him, grasping at the front of his shirt. Loki smirked and gently placed a hand on her back. “Welcome to my personal space.” ‘Oh lord.’ “Sorry.” “It's alright. I did say welcome.” ‘Stay a while.’ Shandis heart raced as she gazed between his lips and eyes, contemplating a kiss, when an uncomfortable sensation stopped her. “My butt feels soapy an’ wet.” He noted her rapid pulse, the sudden softness in her tone and how her hands spread open on his chest. ‘Please, Pet. Feel away.' “Norns, what a predicament you're in.” “Yeah..an’ now I've a melvin.” “And what pray tell, is a melvin darling?” Shandi slowly backed towards the door, shifting her hips and tugging at the back of her shorts. “It's kinda like..where your panties creep waaay too far into places ya wish they didn't.” Loki smirked. “I see.” “Let me go change, come back an’ clean all this up.” She left and he chuckled under his breath. ‘And risk yourself an injury? I think not.’ Magic fixed the problem and when she didn't return, he found her passed out in bed. ‘Might I assume, lack of sleep caught up with you? What a shame.’ She was sprawled out on her back, naked beneath a robe, with one leg folded and part of her hoo ha exposed. ‘I would've enjoyed watching you clean up in this attire.’ He resolved her impending hangover and licked his lips. ‘Time to occupy myself elsewhere.’ ***** Back at the Tower, Tony had just finished tinkering with one of his suits, when his phone rang and he put it on speaker. “Hey Cactus. Everything alright?” “Everything's fine.” “Oh. Where's Shandi?” “Sleeping.” Silence fell and Tony thought it odd. “Cactus? Are we still in the same dimension?” “We are and I've been thinking.” Tony's eyes closed and fists clenched. ‘If you're backing out of this, I'll call you a taxi for the fucking BiFrost.’ “About?” “Events, since my return.” His eyes opened as Pepper came up beside him and placed a finger to her lips. Loki then spoke of regret for the immense responsibility, Odin had placed upon Tony and apologized for all the hardships his presence, had brought each Avenger. He expressed remorse for being the reason Tony feared for Peppers life, the person he loved most and also expressed gratitude for every minute kindness, they'd shown him. Then he asked a question, Tony least expected. “Has requiring me for this job, weighted your concerns?” “It has.” “Remember my given word in the truck, regarding everything?" Asked Loki. "Yes." "Understand, it was genuine and I intend no malice. If Shamus is involved, I will learn of it and help resolve this problem to the best of my ability. Alright?” Tony was utterly astonished. “Uhhh..well, hey. Alright, Cactus and...thanks for all that other stuff too.” “Your welcome Tin Man. Goodnight.” The call ended and Tony looked at Pepper. “Do you think he's gotten into some spooky broccoli?” “And what would you know of it?” She asked. “Nothing..pshh..I..did that just happen? Can you pinch me?” Pepper obliged and he yelped. “Bully!” She rolled her eyes. “I think he meant it.” “You do?” “Yes. He's changed. A lot, recently. Are you coming to bed?” Tony picked up his phone. “You're asking all sexied up in your pajamas? Why wouldn't I?” They were halfway up the winding staircase, when Peppers bottom lip began quivering as tears filled her eyes. Tony stopped her. “Pepper?” She sobbed then and leaned into his chest. “I'm sorry, Tony.” After they sat for a moment, he lifted her chin. “For what?” Her sobs suddenly worsened. “I was worried because you were so worried..about this mission and..sending Loki and then..what else Obadiah might have done...I..feared adding to it.” Tony’s heart hurt, having never seen her so distraught. “Adding to it? Virginia, what's going on? Talk to me. Whatever it is baby, we’ll get through it.” “That's what it is. A..a baby, Tony. I'm pregnant.” At first his mouth fell open, then he beamed, cupped her cheeks and repeatedly kissed her face. “Ha! Tony Stark is gonna be a father! Well holy shitballs!" Then what she’d said struck and he became serious again. This is what you're sorry for?” “Yes. I haven't missed..a day of my new birth control, but it must've failed. I've known for two weeks, but..couldn't bring myself to tell you.” “Oh Virginia, please don't cry?” He sighed and wiped her tears. “Out of concern for my well being, you withheld this? We're in this relationship together and how selfish of ‘me’ for not grasping your distress. You're the other half of my logic, my serenity and often my sanity. By causing your inability to share such a significant moment in our lives, I've obviously taken that for granted. 'I'm' sorry.’ “That's untrue, Tony. You were stressed, you're human. Hearing Loki brought such relief, I just couldn't hold it anymore." “My point is, you shouldn't have felt required to.” He placed a soft kiss to her lips. "Baby, listen. Now that there's to be three of us, it's imperative you ‘never,’ forget this. I don't give a rats ass what I'm stressed about. If you need me, then come to me and I mean it. Always Virginia. Promise?" She nodded. "Promise. I love you, Tony." "And I you. How far along are we anyway?" "Eight weeks." "Whaaat? Who else knows?" "I'd never tell anyone, before you." "Perfect. To keep you safer, we only inform your family and close friends. Then when you get bigger, I'll buy you a porta potty for the limo.” “Tony!” He chuckled and scooped her into his arms. “Two months means a lot of celebrating we're behind on. Let's play catch up. Jarvis, please bring some champagne and whipped cream to our room?” “Whipped cream?” Asked Pepper. “I'm not sayin’ what that's for. You'll have to wait.” “I beg your pardon, Sir?” “I should fire him for not having legs.” Minutes later, Tony laid Pepper on their bed and was about to kiss her. “What is ‘whipped cream,’ Sir?” “Yep. He's definitely fired.” Pepper smiled. “Privacy please, Jarvis?” Tony kissed beneath her lobe. “Now that we're alone, Iron Man has something special just for you.”

[feywildatheart]

Saram-Devon,

Elyn told me I should write to you about my new bow, and of course she’s right (although I daresay she’d do better at it than I; she understands magic and its workings a far sight better than I do).

Have you heard Ren singing the Ballad of Perrick Starstriker? We happened upon them singing it one day while we were on Nosirion-1, but I can’t know if it’s something that they do often enough that you might have happened upon them at it as well. And in any case, I recall they were singing it in Halfling, when we did, so perhaps you might not know, even if you had heard it.

Perrick is a heroine, a legend amongst halflings. I grew up on my mothers’ knees, hearing them trading tales of her stepping out into the cosmos, singing her ballad with them, jumping from rock to branch in the forests of the Feywild and pretending to be her. And, well, Honion is a halfling planet, and of course HASAI in turn is staffed by many of my kind, so I suppose it should only make sense that they’ve grown up hearing the same tales I have, idolizing her the same way I did. It only makes sense that, when they set out to craft and enchant a magical bow, they’d take their inspiration from her. And yet, finding it felt like being given an unexpected breath of air while drowning in a tempest of the unfamiliar and unwelcoming. We had a very difficult, and several times very frightening, fight through HASAI and into the Hall of Voices, and finding this bow felt like a lifeline thrown to me, a reminder of home and family, of gentler times and kinder places and the people who love me, and whom I love in return. That was at least as much of a boon as its enchantment is.

It is powerfully enchanted, though I think you’ll need to turn to someone else for more of the details about that, for I haven’t yet had the opportunity to use many of the abilities the scientists crafted into it. But it’s lovely, too — I’ll attach a picture of it, so you can see, and if you’d like me to pass on any questions about its enchantments to the scientists who crafted it, know that I would be more than happy to.

I’m glad that Elyn suggested I write to you, for I’ve been meaning to for a while, only I’ve been trying to get my thoughts in order before committing them to a letter. But I suppose you will just have to have my thoughts as they are, jumbled and messy, and probably far more true to life, and to me, for being that way.

We were on Veled Kerverion recently, and while we were there Pika took it upon herself to find a tutor for me in manners and etiquette. It ended up not being quite so terrifying as I expected — I was expecting a second Pika, I suppose, but the woman was as kind and patient as you could hope a teacher would be, and when we’d done, she asked me if I had any questions for her. I didn’t have any for myself, but I thought— well, you asked me for advice not that long ago, and I did my best to give you some that I thought would be helpful, but I’m far from knowledgeable about these sorts of things, as I think we all know. And here I had an expert at hand, willing to answer me whatever I liked, and so I asked her the same questions you asked me, that day on the observation tower.

And so, here are the answers she gave me, as best as my memory can recall them: She said that being as gracious as much as you can is never a bad way to go, and that if you’re polite and you’re trying to be kind and respectful, that people will give you quite a bit of leeway. She recommended listening and paying attention, and finding a confidante who knows the rules that you don’t, who can give you advice and answer your questions. (I hardly think I count for that, I’m afraid. Sometimes I feel I’m only half an adult. My moms taught me how to navigate the rings of the Feywild, and how not to offer grave insult to a member of the fey court, but for those who don’t fall within those rather narrow categories, I feel as much at sea as you do. Still — should you find yourself in the Feywild someday, or conversing with a faerie queen, I’m your girl.)

She also said what I think you already know, which is that you’ll learn the rules of a place through exposure and time. She said that if you’re willing to wait and to participate even when it’s perhaps uncomfortable or even terrifying, that you’ll eventually start to learn and internalize the rules the same way that those around you once had to do, and that what once seemed impossible to figure out will start to sem more and more natural.

Now— that was her advice, and I can’t say I know enough on the matter to speak otherwise. And if what you want is to fit in, then I daresay her advice will likely hold you in good stead. But I will say, from one outsider to another — there can be merit in letting others change to accommodate who you are, just as much as you change for them.

You are wonderful just as you are, Devon. You are clever and talented and brave, and you’ve gained the affection of the three of us by being who you are, not by being who we expect you to be — whatever that might be. And anyone who’s worth anything will want that from you, and for you. Let others meet you halfway, and work to teach you what you need to know just as much as you work to learn it. I know the Yeruses made you think that you owe something to the people who help you in exchange for that aid, but you don’t. There’s a difference between expressing gratitude and feeling as though your very existence places you in debt to those around you. You are not difficult to be around, Devon, and the pleasure of your company is your own reward.

Learn the rules of a place, if it will make you happier and make things easier. But let yourself be strange, too. You’ll be surprised the number of people who will accept it without missing a beat. You’ll be surprised how people can value it.

There, now I’ve probably given you advice that will appall both my teachers. But I stand by it, and I like you as you are too much to see you try to shave pieces of yourself off to try to fit someone else’s mold. The truth is, some of us might do better at camouflaging it than others, but we’re all strange in our own way. There’s no harm in it, and no shame in it.

She’s not wrong, though, about finding a confidante you can trust. You know I — and Elyn and Pika, of course — am always happy to hear from you, and whatever thoughts might be weighing on your mind, and to offer what advice and suggestions we can. But we are a very long way away, at the moment, and don’t always reliably have LICD signal. I would hate to find out that you needed our guidance in a moment where we were unable to provide it in a timely manner. So I think it’s worth reminding you of what I hope you already know, which is that Lorraine is your ally, and can be that confidante, if you’re willing to trust her.

I can’t claim to know what you’re going through. I’ve never experienced its like, and can only imagine how I might feel in your place. I hope that my worries for you are in vain, and that the struggles you were facing in adjusting to your new circumstances have been relegated to the past, if only because it’s my fondest wish that you might know what it’s like to have a guardian who cares for you, and who will fight and advocate for you, and who you care for in return. But there’s no shame in it, if things are still strange or awkward or uncomfortable.

I’ve been thinking a little, lately, about how there’s no word in any of the languages I know that’s like Asar, acknowledging someone who has taken responsibility for you. Sylvan has its own names for parents, and a great deal more of them than Common does. Did I ever tell you much about my moms? I call them cyllaneth, which in Sylvan means ‘the mother that carried me’, and darnaneth, which means ‘the mother that waited for me’, and there’s no equivalent to either name in Common. Common doesn’t name or acknowledge the different types of mothers one can have, and so they aren’t valued in the way that they are in Sylvan, for their own strengths and their own contributions.

I don’t know that I have a point here, exactly. I’m not like Pika’s tutor, knowledgeable and serene in that knowledge, and confident in my ability to dole out advice to others. I hardly even know what I’m doing myself, half the time. But when you have been raised to think of a mother as one kind of thing, I think perhaps it can be helpful to know that those definitions are not universal, and that mothers can be many sorts of things, and that there can be many different ways to be a mother. A mother can be someone who carries you in their body, next to their heart, and births you into the world. A mother can be someone who doesn’t, who waits for you to come, who watches you grow within another’s body and protects you both. A mother can be someone whose only connection to you is through genetic material she donated to someone who proved to be unworthy of that gift, but who still was willing to fight for your freedom and your happiness, when she learned you were being ill-treated. A mother can be someone who is willing to give you up, even though she wants desperately to welcome you into her family, if that’s what would give you the greatest chance of finding happiness.

Love is a gift, not an obligation, and you don’t owe Lorraine anything for what she’s done for you, or how she cares about you. You don’t owe her your labor, and you don’t owe her your affection. If the only sort of mothering your language acknowledges is that of a mother who carries you and raises you, who loves you and who you love in return, then it’s easy to think you might be expected to play-act that relationship, even when your mother is someone you’ve only just met, and don’t know at all. If I have any advice to give you, it’s that — there are as many ways to be a mother as there are mothers themselves, and you don’t need to try to force your relationship into someone else’s mold, to fit someone else’s idea of what it ought to be. There’s value in it just as it is, for what it is. It doesn’t need to be anything other than what it is, and you don’t need to be anything other than who you are, either.

I don’t know if any of this will help you. I don’t know if any of it is useful at all. But I hope it is. I hope you’re making a place for yourself on Nosirion-1. I hope you’re happier than you were.  I hope you know how many people care for you, and would move the stars themselves to see to it that you are.

If you need anything at all, we are only a LICD-message away. Squirt sends you lots of licks.

Love,

Maliah

[reactingtosomething]

Kris Reacts to Game of Thrones: 701, “Dragonstone”

“Would That Be So Terrible?”

The Setup: I (Kris, aka @omeletsforpepper) am not the only one of us who keeps up with Game of Thrones, but I wanted to try my hand at solo reacting. This could change, but my plan is to pick out a theme (not necessarily “the” theme) of the week’s episode, and discuss in depth just one or two scenes/sequences that involve it. I’ll also include some extra thoughts at the end, in the vein of The AV Club’s “Stray Observations.”

SPOILERS for the season 7 premiere of Game of Thrones immediately after the jump.

Though it isn’t actually one of the scenes I want to spotlight this week — largely because I’m sure it’s the one most discussed already across the internet — the bloody cold open gives us a pretty clear thematic statement: this is an episode about debt, and desert. (As in, the condition of deserving something, spelled like the geographical feature, but pronounced like the thing that comes at the end of a meal.) After killing almost everyone who was still eligible to be punished for the Red Wedding, almost everyone’s favorite Stark turns to the late Walder Frey’s newest wife to deliver not only a certain weather announcement, but also probably everyone’s second favorite Stark line: “The North remembers.”

That the North remembers is critical to both Jon and Sansa in the surprisingly nuanced scene that ends with the loyalty oaths of Alys Karstark and Ned Umber. For Jon, Northern and more specifically Stark memory is tied up in the very sense of tradition that kept him a lesser member of his family in the eyes of the late Catelyn, tradition into which he always wanted to be accepted. In spite of everything he’s learned, and all the compromises he’s made, Jon Snow (or should we be calling him Jon Stark now?) still holds as tightly as he can to the ideals and customs of his father. In this case, that means not taking away the ancestral homes of families who fought against him, under the Bolton banner. The Karstark and Umber heirs, both children, will inherit their fathers’ titles. As Sansa points out, although the specific Karstark and Umber men who fought for Ramsay Bolton are indeed already dead, the rest of the North will not receive the message that betraying the Starks will be punished. And more importantly, they will not receive the message that loyalty to the Starks in difficult times will be rewarded.

This is where the “surprisingly” part comes in. Though it’s often been a fiercely intelligent show, and always one that reveled in moral grayness, Game of Thrones isn’t really something I’d describe as subtle, or as being particularly adept with philosophical uncertainty. It has always claimed to be a show concerned with subtlety and ambiguity, but in practice that ambiguity often just meant subjecting characters (partially or completely naked women, disproportionately) to heavy-handed awfulness. Something like Joffrey’s sadistic torture-murder of Ros isn’t a marker of cleverness or depth, it’s Dark and Edgy for the sake of Dark and Edgy. Also, this is just one of those shows that typically doesn’t do subtext in its dialogue. It just has much better-sounding dialogue than your typical network procedural. And that’s not nothing!

A more interesting reason for the show’s incomplete success in delivering on true moral ambiguity is perhaps that it hasn’t often pitted its traditionally heroic characters against each other, especially post-“Blackwater.” But now that the two characters who’ve perhaps suffered most (not that it’s a contest) find themselves at odds, the show’s creative team clearly understands that doing both those characters justice means using a different kind of suspense from the sort that drove episodes like, say, “The Mountain and the Viper.”

We’ll have to wait to see the consequences of Jon’s very public refusal to take Sansa’s very public advice — advice with which most of the Stark bannermen seemed to heartily agree — not only in the military and political spheres, but in Jon and Sansa’s relationship. But I was glad to see that, perhaps owing to Lyanna Mormont’s influence, the men in the room weren’t dismissive of Sansa’s counsel, and were indeed on her side. I was also glad that even when Jon pushed ahead with his own agenda, we weren’t subjected to a repetition of the “everyone sure is angry at Jon” beats we saw so often at Castle Black. Maybe like the men of the Night’s Watch, they’re all tired of arguing with each other.

Or maybe it was that though Sansa very clearly won the logical argument in this scene, Jon kind of got to win the emotional one. Is it really any wonder he’s so opposed to taking away anyone’s ancestral home? It’s not only that he just took back Winterfell. It’s also that Winterfell was, before all of this, never intended to be his ancestral home. He was born a Snow (cough cough, yeah, I know, but the show didn’t go there this week so neither will I), not a Stark. The reclamation of Winterfell doesn’t necessarily mean more to Jon than it does to Sansa, but it does mean something different.

This layer, important as it is for us, probably didn’t occur to the Stark bannermen. For them, the emotional force of Jon’s case is much more concrete once Jon calls forward Alys Karstark and Ned Umber, the former of whom looks no older than Arya was in the show’s very first episode, and the latter of whom may well be younger than Bran was. Look, on the level of strategy, Sansa is right. Sansa is right! Jon is clinging to an ideal for the sake of the ideal, at least as much as because he thinks it’ll help him win. But even as we acknowledge that he’s making a bad decision, we can also acknowledge that there’s something laudable in it. Despite their agreement with Sansa, the bannermen get solemn when those kids  — those kids, who indeed do not deserve to be punished for the sins of their fathers — approach their king and bend the knee, and cheer when those kids say the words they have to say. And when Alys Karstark cracks a smile out of what’s surely a heady combination of relief, gratitude, and newfound purpose, we can’t help but be moved.

Unless we’re Sansa, tragically world-weary and out of fucks to give. Thank the old gods and the new for her bluntness in calling out the dearly departed Ned and Robb for “stupid mistakes.” And for her quiet but firm response — “Would that be so terrible?” — when Jon asks if being smarter than them means taking her advice. And for Jon’s wisdom in not pushing her away (yet, at least).

Something else to keep in mind about Jon and Sansa: Despite their heartfelt reunion and the shared trial of taking back Winterfell, we should remember that they held no special fondness for each other way back before their lives and the world went to hell. I can’t help wondering if that lack of pre-existing closeness will quietly become a complication now that Jon and Sansa both finally find themselves with the tiniest bit of breathing room.

Of course, Danaerys Targaryen gets the prize for longest-awaited homecoming. (Here’s a cool little Vanity Fair piece about the production design of Dragonstone.) I don’t want to go on much longer here, and I guess there isn’t that much to say, other than that the choice to make this scene almost-wordless was a good one, and that Team Targaryen’s tailor wins. 

When it comes down to it, I like the fact of Dany’s arrival to Dragonstone a lot, and I’m still pretty fond of her as a character, and of basically everyone in her entourage. (Varys is one of my very favorite supporting characters on this show.)

But throughout this whole sequence, I also couldn’t shake a meta-criticism, I guess, that the columnist Ross Douthat has made of the show and at least a theoretical subsection of its fans (emphasis mine):

“Game of Thrones” is still working within the framework of its essentially romantic genre — critiquing it and complicating it, yes, but also giving us a set of heroes and heroines to root for whose destinies are set by bloodlines and prophecies, and who are likely in the end to save their world from darkness and chaos no less than Aragorn or Shea Ohmsford or Rand al’Thor.

Put another way: On “The Sopranos,” there is no right way to be a mafioso. But on “Game of Thrones” there is a right way to be a lord or king and knight, and there are characters who model the virtues of each office, who prove that chivalry and wise lordship need not be a myth. Sometimes they do so in unexpected ways — the lady knight who has more chivalry than the men who jeer at her, the dwarf who rules more justly than the family members who look down on him. But this sort of reversal is typical of the genre, which always has its hobbits and stable boys and shieldmaidens ready to surprise the proud and prejudiced. And it coexists throughout the story with an emphasis on the importance of legitimacy and noblesse oblige and dynastic continuity, which is often strikingly uncynical given the dark-and-gritty atmosphere. […] In the end, whatever their politics in this world, both the show’s bad fans and its good fans are rooting a queen or for a king.

I am not, in general, a Douthat fan, mostly because of his hand-wringing in opposition to abortion and other “culture war” matters. But I think he’s a pretty solid pop culture writer, and very often the sort who’s helpful to read precisely because he doesn’t think the same things I think. And in this case, I’m even inclined to agree at least a little.

It’s pretty hard to deny that Game of Thrones has Bad Fans. Most of those Bad Fans are the kind who tweet endless harassment at culture writers who've criticized, say, the show’s use of sexual assault and its racial politics. But I would also love to see more critical and fan engagement with the idea that our designated protagonists are all protagonists-by-blood.

(One of the reasons for my arguable lack of generosity toward my fellow viewers here is that I remain convinced that Steve Rogers’ position in Captain America: Civil War is baldly anti-democratic, and that #TeamCap loyalists generally fail to reckon with this.)

Yes, Jon and Dany and Tyrion have all learned a lot that in theory makes them worthy of leadership. But does any of that actually mean that Dany (let’s just focus on her, for word count’s sake) deserves to be Queen of Westeros? More so than Cersei, sure. But should we really assume that the war has to end with one of our heroes on the Iron Throne? And is Dany actually entitled to any throne at all? Not really, if we’re honest. There’s no great moral case for her to have left Essos, where she could have still done a lot of good (setting aside, too, the White Savior thing). She left Essos because she felt entitled to a throne her family had abused for generations, in a land she barely remembers, full of people about whom she knows next to nothing. She wants to prove that she can be a better monarch than those who’ve gone before her. Tyrion wants to see her be a better monarch. Varys wants the country to stop bleeding. That all matters. But none of it is the main reason Dany started out on this path before meeting either of her newest advisors.

I’m not saying that Game of Thrones, or A Song of Ice and Fire, needs to end like the first year of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s run on Black Panther, with Wakanda finally beginning the process of writing up a constitution to distribute power away from its monarch. And I definitely doubt that it’ll go that way.

But also, um, why couldn’t it? Why shouldn’t it?

Would that be so terrible?

I Don’t Want to Just Call This Section “Stray Observations” but I Don’t Have a Different Name for It Yet Either and Sure I’ll Take Suggestions

Anyone else want to see Brienne spar with Tormund?

I have, for all practical intents and purposes, no real idea who Ed Sheeran is, so I actually really liked that scene of Arya with the Lannister soldiers. Another Surprisingly Nuanced moment. (If you feel the same way I do about the Surprisingly Nuanced thing, definitely read Matt Zoller Seitz on GoT’s grappling with its own legacy).

People not only cross oceans very quickly in this show, but build ships very quickly.

Heh.

When I read A Game of Thrones forever ago, I pictured Thoros of Myr as kind of a Shaolin monk type. I don’t know if that’s what GRRM pictured, but I still wish it was the case. I mean I like this Thoros just fine. But, you know. Asian representation. Just would’ve been cool.

I’ll try to be back here next week! In the meantime, you can follow us on Twitter if you’d like a convenient feed of other, better, culture writers.

[sarahburness]

5 Steps to Lower Your Financial Stress When You’re Drowning in Debt

“You can’t calm the storm, so stop trying. What you can do is calm yourself. The storm will pass.” ~Timber Hawkeye

I never anticipated the stress and pressure that come when you are no longer able to pay your bills on time.

Knowing that you owe money, and that your current income isn’t going to cover it, is a heavy reality to face.

I found myself starting to envy low-income, salaried employees. Even though they don’t earn a lot, which I’m sure brings its own challenges, they aren’t eligible to receive huge credit. This protects them from ever finding themselves owing millions.

My husband and I have recently gone through a time when we found ourselves way overextended. Due to a series of bad beats and various twists of fate, we found ourselves in over our heads. And this is not a good space to be in.

It’s a sickening feeling that has seemed to overshadow all the other areas of our lives. We’ve felt unable to breathe, knowing that debt is hanging over us. When the phone rings from an unknown number, we’re hesitant to answer it. It could be someone wanting to know when we will pay a bill.

Small Beginnings

It didn’t start out like this. Let me backtrack. I grew up on a farm in an average-income-earning household. Although we didn’t lack for anything, we weren’t wealthy.

My husband and I married early on in life and started out with very little. We set up a small business from home soon after we got married. I was halfway through studies at the time and managed to juggle both. Our expenses were minimal, and even though it felt like hard work, we seemed to prosper.

Friends would comment and say we had the Midas touch. As the business grew and branched out, money always seemed to be plentiful. We didn’t start out intending to reach a massive bank balance. Our aim had been to reach financial independence sooner than later. Words like “budget” or “frugalness” never seemed to enter our thinking though.

Over the years, we upgraded our living, our home, our cars. We took overseas holidays and bought properties. As our affordability increased, so did our expenses. In a short space of time, we up-leveled our lifestyle requirements.

The Storm

The stress and anxiety of knowing you are unable to catch up on financial commitments is scary. We had some business ventures fail, we bought out a partner, there was a notable economic downturn. We had new competitors enter the market that we could no longer match, as our running costs had become so high.

Then things came to a boiling point; a perfect storm was in the making. A few clients didn’t pay for larger projects. This meant we had to put out money to complete the work, but nothing was coming in. Our rental property didn’t have a tenant in it for a few months, and major maintenance needed doing. Staff went on strike, and several employees had to get retrenched and paid out.

The strain on our marriage was palpable. The weightiness of the situation was hard to bear. There wasn’t going to be a quick-fix solution. We had to rally, face this storm head on, and ride it out over the next two years.

Downsizing

We took massive action to downscale. It’s very easy to upscale and commit to new financial obligations. Downscaling is hard because it feels like you’re taking a step backward. And in a sense, you are, although you’re going back to go forward.

The new forward for me looks like being out of debt. The new goal is to have a business buffer of funds available to get through unexpected setbacks. We never want to experience the stranglehold of debt again. No fancy dining or luxury goods are worth the stress and worry of financial pressure.

And so, we downscaled throughout the business. Everything got cut back down to size. All the unnecessary extras we didn’t need got cut away. We opted to move home. We cut our rental amount by a third.

I swapped my shiny floors and designer fittings for a modest, old-school, rustic duplex. We no longer have to worry about hiring a gardener or keeping the pool clean. We cut up our credit cards and canceled every debit order we could.

We Have Everything We Need

To be honest, we still lived well and had everything we needed. But only just. When our new large screen TV stopped working, a month or so out of warranty, we started to use an old spare one we had in the garage. When winter came around, I took my allocated winter clothes budget and put it toward better use. That year I made do with what I had. Priorities dictated there were more pressing things to spend on.

My motto became “If you can’t afford it, don’t buy it.” Look for cheaper alternatives. This may be obvious to people who earn a set income and aren’t in a position to over-spend. But it seemed I had to re-learn it.

For a year, my children didn’t get any new toys. In fact, I packed all the old ones away, only took out a few at a time, and tried to think of creative ways we could play with them.

By the time Christmas rolled around, there was a financial improvement, so we spoiled the children with presents. The funny thing is, the novelty of the new toys wore off quickly. They didn’t seem to play with the new ones any more than they did the old ones. It seemed the more they had, the less they appreciated it.

If you’re going through something similar—if you’re drowning in debt and need to claw your way out—perhaps my lessons may help.

5 Steps to Lowering Financial Stress

1. Know exactly where you stand.

Get all your financials listed on a spreadsheet. Open communication is key between the role-players involved. List all your debt, liabilities, and expenses, and your income, investments, and assets.

The starting point is to gain clarity on where you stand. You need to know how far you have fallen behind so you can plan to rectify your situation as soon as possible.

It’s easy to start blaming or regretting or going around in “if only I had done this” circles. We had made one bad judgment call, and that may have changed everything. In hindsight it seems so obvious, but at the time we did what we thought was best.

We had to stop hypothesizing and going back over bad decisions. We needed to work as a team, and now more than ever, we had to support each other, and not go back to “we should’ve.”

2. Make a plan.

After getting a realistic view on where exactly you stand, you can start working on a plan.

Although we felt like throwing in the towel, we had to get our mindset right.

There are usually more options than you think to get things back on track. Under stress we tend to go into survival mode, and this isn’t conducive to creative problem solving.

Try to take the emotion of the situation away when you start to problem solve. Imagine this scenario is happening to someone else, and you’re there to help figure it out with them. You will need to research various options.

Try to make a plan, even if your initial plan changes along the way. It’s important to gain back your sense of control.

Communicate with the role-players. If you owe the bank or your credit providers, call them and meet up to discuss options. Ask for extensions. Get advice from people who have gone through similar experiences.

3. Live within your means.

Cut everything back to what is manageable. Yes, you will feel like you have lost some of your status. We moved from a prestigious housing estate to a random lower end suburb. It was a major personal downgrade, but I’ve come to learn that we are so much more adaptable than we realize. We actually need very little to live comfortably.

We cut back on luxury items and learned the art of patience. Instead of buying on demand, if I wanted something, I would wait until I could afford it. I found that by doing this, it also eliminated impulse purchases. After waiting and giving it more thought, often I decided I didn’t need that item anyway.

We had to get in touch what is most important. When you have only a limited supply to work with, you have to focus on what’s a priority. You need to weigh up the options and decide where you will get the most value for money.

We implemented a budget, where we allocated amounts for the month, so we could plan to get through.

4. Get back to your intrinsic values.

Both my husband and I have never been particularly materialistic. We love quality products, but we’ve never been into flashy status items, although we’ve certainly grown accustomed to the finer things in life.

During our financial crisis, we had to come back to our core values and to the intrinsic value of things. I got to a point when I realized, it doesn’t matter if we lose everything; our health and well-being are most important. We can start over again if we have to.

I stopped fearing the worst and worrying and stressing. Instead I became fascinated by how the whole experience unfolded. I tried to learn and glean from this what I could.

A few key lessons from my experience:

I never want to be in this situation again, so I’ll need to maintain these changes.

I only need to get through one day at a time.

Laughing through tough times is much better than crying through them.

To be a strong team, you can’t have internal conflict.

We had to accept the situation and make the best of it.

A few things we did to get back to our values:

We started to value every penny again.

We focused on all we did have, not on all we didn’t have.

We forgave and moved on.

We left karma to deal with our wrongdoers.

We tried to cultivate a long-term vision, and this was merely a glitch in the road.

5. Practice gratitude and generosity.

Not your typical response when the financial pressure is on. But when you have little, it’s easier to be grateful for the small things in life. If you have a lot, it’s more difficult to be mindful of and value the small things. You tend to develop bigger and better expectations when you have much.

We stopped expecting and taking things for granted. We started for be more thankful for everyday things.

I tried to remain generous, if not with monetary resources, with what I could be generous with. A smile, a text message of encouragement to someone. A flower picked out the garden and given with a hand-written note. Or a listening ear might be what someone else needs. Too often we are so caught up in our own drama, we fail to consider what others are going through.

As we give to those less fortunate, we start to appreciate our great wealth. It puts things back into perspective.

6. Calm yourself while you get through the storm.

This experience has definitely taught me that we can’t control life. We can plan and set goals, but ultimately a lot of things are out of our hands. Life happens, and it doesn’t always unfold how we imagined it would.

During these times you have to find your inner grit. Your character gets tested and refined. You start to move way out your comfort zones and you land up somehow expanding but not breaking.

And just when you think you can’t take withstand the storm anymore, you look back and notice how far you’ve come. You realize how much you’ve grown, and you’re stronger than ever.

Things that helped me get through:

Find my composure daily through meditating, deep breathing, consciously releasing muscle tensions when I notice it, practicing self-compassion, celebrating small wins, and staying focused on the bigger picture

Remember “This too shall pass”

Don’t give in to self-pity or start whining to others

Take responsibility for my part in getting here

Remember that there is always more money to be made

Don’t give way to scarcity thinking

Sell or offload what I don’t need

Think out the box how to re-structure

Keep my life simple

—

I’m glad to report we are well on our way to righting our finances. I honestly wouldn’t trade this experience or go back in time and change things. It hasn’t been pleasant, but I’ve learned so many valuable lessons that I will take with me going forward.

As we build up again, we are going to keep our expenses under control. We are going to be a lot more cautious, and never over-extend ourselves again. We will never enter into bad debt again.

This time has made me respect the beauty and harsh reality of life and tread a little lighter as I move through it.

About Sam Theron

Sam specializes in helping woman declutter their lives. She coaches them on how to organize and design a life that suits them best. She is now offering online courses where you can work with her virtually. Sam resides in sunny South Africa and loves yoga and being in the ocean. You can learn more about Sam Theron here.

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The post 5 Steps to Lower Your Financial Stress When You’re Drowning in Debt appeared first on Tiny Buddha.

from Tiny Buddha https://tinybuddha.com/blog/5-steps-to-lower-your-financial-stress-when-youre-drowning-in-debt/

[jackft135]

10 Tips to Building a Better Social Media Presence

In case you're a brand today, there's a non-zero shot you're via web-based networking media somehow, shape or frame.

 Be that as it may, numerous brands have a functioning, flourishing internet based life nearness?

 Furthermore, what amount of them are simply kind of there?

 Rude awakening: you can't expect much from social when you post arbitrary connections, @mention a couple of people and consider it daily.

 You require some structure. You require a system.

 All things considered, you don't achieve the level of Wendy's on Twitter absolutely unintentionally.

 Wendy's

 ✔

 @Wendys

 Keep in mind when you resembled 7 and figured changing your name to Thunder BearSword would be super cool?

 Like that, however our cheeseburgers are still better.

 9:24 PM - Jun 11, 2018

 118K

 25.6K individuals are discussing this

 Twitter Ads information and security

 What's more, in like manner, there's a motivation behind why GoPro's Instagram posts get "likes" by the several thousands.

 What's more, albeit a portion of these brands may have blockbuster spending plans, the standards they use to make a marvelous social nearness can be repeated by organizations everything being equal.

 Battling for adherents? Adhered on what to do with your social records? We've all been there.

 That is the reason we've broken the nibble estimated tips any brand can take after to get their online life nearness off the ground.

 Presently, we should make a plunge!

 1. Set SMART Goals

 Pop test: for what reason would you say you are via web-based networking media in any case?

 In the event that your answer is resonating "Uhh… " or "Every other person is on it," you may have an issue.

 The idea of SMART objectives has been around for quite a long time, however they are so vital to your internet based life nearness today.

 So, brands should set objectives that are particular, quantifiable, achievable, pertinent and time-bound.

 A case of a decent SMART objective for web based life showcasing would be something like "Well increment our Twitter reaction rate by 25% before the finish of the main quarter."

 Particular: "We've particularly recognized the social channel (Twitter) and a metric (reaction rate)."

 Quantifiable: "The reaction rate can be estimated from the Sprout Social dashboard."

 Achievable: "We didn't make a stunning objective of say, a 100% expansion in 10 days."

 Significant: "Our objective will affect our general online networking nearness, making it exceptionally important."

 Time-bound: "The objective must be met before the finish of the primary quarter."

 Allocating your online networking endeavors a solid reason encourages you keep away from the trap of posting heedlessly.

 2. Distinguish Your Audience

 After you've sketched out your objectives, you have to diagram your intended interest group.

 Professional tip: "everybody" isn't a crowd of people.

 Perhaps it's planned clients. Maybe it's industry players and influencers. In any case, separating your crowd will enable you to make sense of the accompanying:

 Which online networking destinations you're dynamic on

 Your posting plan

 The sort of substance you distribute

 Your image's voice

 The data in your profiles

 Numerous brands waste their time since they don't present substance that talks on a characterized crowd. Invest some energy taking a gander at your group of onlookers personas, understanding what their difficulties are and what brands they as of now love by means of social. This kind of focused investigation can enable you to see how your own internet based life nearness can emerge from the group.

 3. Be Human

 This is a major one.

 One of the most exceedingly bad missteps to make via web-based networking media is putting on a show of being the faceless company with zero identity. In the cutting edge time of straightforwardness, individuals need to become more acquainted with your organization on a more individual level.

 Numerous brands today split jokes and aren't reluctant to converse with their adherents like they would their companions. Though marks were once attacked for falling off like robots, a human web based life nearness has turned into a desire among numerous devotees.

  11

 See Warby Parker's different Tweets

 Twitter Ads data and protection

 Additionally, flaunting the human side of your image implies flaunting the countenances behind your social feeds. Regardless of whether it's office photographs or previews of your group "in the wild," getting individual with your devotees can enable you to frame a genuinely necessary association.

 Also, hello, that leads us straightforwardly to our next point!

 4. Look for Relationships, Not Just Followers

 We can discuss throughout the day regardless of whether your adherent check is a vanity metric.

 All things considered, having 100 adherents who consistently draw in with you and your substance are vastly more significant than 10,000 that disregard you.

 It may be buzzword to state, however don't leave the "social" out of your internet based life nearness. The excellence of social is that you can shape connections in a moment with adherents from pretty much anyplace.

 For instance, Sprout Social's own #SproutChat gives us the chance to routinely associate with our exquisite devotees who are in like manner fed to connect with us.

 Shannonigans

 @mausi_nana

 Got my jams running for #sproutchat with grow stagram well known @sproutdarryl!! My work area move isn't in the same class as his information move yet whatevs...

 12:52 AM - Jun 14, 2018

 9

 See Shannonigans' different Tweets

 Twitter Ads information and protection

 In case you're not precisely beyond any doubt where to begin with regards to relationship-working, here are some fast thoughts:

 Continuously @mention individuals you reference in your web based life posts

 Answer questions individuals inquire

 Answer when individuals @mention you or offer your substance

 Don't simply Retweet and Like other individuals' substance; answer with a remark to begin a discussion

 5. Make an Editorial Calendar

 Spoiler alarm: adhering to a substance plan isn't simply something "additional" that brands do.

 In the event that there's an ongoing theme between the greatest brands on social, it's that they post on a predictable premise.

 Odds would you're say you're are juggling various social channels and are endeavoring to ensure you tick a great deal of boxes as far as depictions and when to post, isn't that so? Think about how as a substance schedule can make the procedure considerably less demanding by…

 Enabling you to tweak every one of your posts for every stage without jumping between destinations.

 Timing your presents on expand commitment, shielding you from having to continually post progressively.

 Abstain from rehashing a similar substance again and again, guaranteeing every one of your articles or pictures gets the most love conceivable.

 To put it plainly, setting aside the opportunity to make a timetable does twofold obligation of keeping your web based life nearness composed while additionally boosting your substance's scope.

 Social booking encourages you spare time and legwork with regards to your internet based life nearness

 6. Computerize the Right Way

 Computerization is extremely popular in advertising at the present time, and in light of current circumstances.

 Nonetheless, you can't hope to effectively put your social nearness on autopilot and leave.

 For instance, mass auto-answering has gone the method for the dinosaur as it commonly appears to be crafty. This now-great tweet from Bank of America is a decent case of how to kill your social devotees by means of ill-advised robotization.

 Poor robotization can influence your organization to seem cool or coldhearted

 Quick forward to introduce day and plainly client mind is a bit of web based life that ought to be customized, not autmoated.

 Giving customized help is an immense part of any given brand's web-based social networking nearness

 So, robotization through booking or curating content is absolutely reasonable amusement. Simply stay away from it when you're managing real clients or devotees' inquiries.

 This is the reason brands depend on social instruments to help minister bits of substance officially endorsed by promoting pioneers. Bambu by Sprout Social, is truth be told, only that bit of programming expected to transform your workers into mark advocates. Take advantage of your workforce to help construct your quality!

 bambu current stories include

 7. Spotlight on Helping Over Selling

 Albeit social offering is for sure on the ascent, once in a while should your online life nearness be about the "hard offer."

 Without a doubt, in case you're in internet business it bodes well to push offers and arrangements to your devotees. What's more critical, however, is noting the inquiries of devotees whether through answers or substance promoting.

 ♉Miss Tee Butts♉

 @missbutts85

 · Jun 15, 2018

 @WholeFoods when are the prime rebates coming to Maryland? I saw th publication at the enroll, joined and was exceedingly disillusioned that they weren't accessible in my general vicinity yet 😢

 Entire Foods Market

 ✔

 @WholeFoods

 A debt of gratitude is in order for connecting! For data on where funds for Prime individuals are accessible, see http://bit.ly/2ybN1po

 5:49 AM - Jun 15, 2018

 Prime Savings

 We've been concocting awesome things with Amazon, and now you can spare significantly more as a Prime part at Whole Foods Market with extraordinary arrangements on top choices all through the store. Furthermore, get an additional 10% off...

 wholefoodsmarket.com

 See Whole Foods Market's different Tweets

 Twitter Ads information and protection

 In the event that your adherents make an inquiry, you ought to react in an auspicious way.

 Also, if your adherents appear to buzz about a specific issue, you should make content that talks straightforwardly to it.

 By offering answers for issues rather than simply pitching your items constantly, you're demonstrating your organization is a specialist and conceivably winning a deep rooted client.

 8. Streamline Your Accounts for Engagement

 First of all: don't give "advancement" a chance to crack you out.

 Not at all like SEO, web-based social networking improvement isn't especially specialized. So, profiles can be upgraded through symbolism, watchwords and completely rounding out your record data.

 For instance, brands can utilize their Instagram bio to connection to advancements, promote their hashtag and let their image's voice be heard.

[startupcanada]

Donlin Gold Project Receives Record of Decision and Major Federal Permits

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued a joint Record of Decision for the Donlin Gold project four months after the publication of the Final Environmental Impact Statement, marking the completion of the multi-year federal environmental review process

The Corps issued a combined Clean Water Act Section 404 and Rivers and Harbors Act Section 10 permit to Donlin Gold

The BLM also issued the Offer to Lease for the pipeline right of way to Donlin Gold

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Aug. 13, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Barrick Gold Corporation (TSX:ABX) (NYSE:ABX) and NOVAGOLD RESOURCES INC. (TSX:NG) (NYSE American:NG) are pleased to announce that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have issued a single Federal Record of Decision (ROD) for the Donlin Gold project following completion of the federal National Environmental Policy Act process. Along with the ROD, the Corps issued a combined permit under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act. Additionally, the BLM issued the Offer to Lease for the right-of-way for those portions of the natural gas pipeline that would cross federal lands.

“The issuance of the Donlin Gold ROD and key project permits is a significant milestone for both partners,” said Rob Krcmarov, Executive Vice President, Exploration and Growth for Barrick. “It would not have been possible without exceptional professionalism of the Donlin Gold team as well as members of the Corps, BLM, and other federal and state agencies. As one of the largest undeveloped gold deposits in the world, Donlin Gold represents exceptional optionality within our portfolio. Now, with key permits in hand, we can concentrate on further exploring ways of reducing initial capital and unlocking the value of this asset for all of our partners, in keeping with our deep commitment to community engagement and environmental stewardship.”

“The permitting process for the Donlin Gold project was very comprehensive and thorough,” said Greg Lang, NOVAGOLD’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “At various stages of this multi-year undertaking, all stakeholders had multiple opportunities to engage and make meaningful contributions to the final outcome. We would like to extend special gratitude to the Corps, BLM and other cooperating agencies for their successful navigation of this complex process. We would also like to thank Calista Corporation and The Kuskokwim Corporation, our Native Corporation partners, for their unwavering support and commitment to the project. Congratulations to the Donlin Gold team on achieving these important milestones. The ROD is a very detailed document, which serves as the foundation for issuance of the federal permits required for us to build a technically, environmentally,  and financially responsible, as well as a socially sustainable, operation.”

The Path Forward

As one of the world’s largest and highest grade undeveloped open pit gold resources, Donlin Gold is well positioned to benefit from rising gold prices. Receipt of the ROD and federal permits represents a very important milestone in its development. Now, Barrick and NOVAGOLD can concentrate on wrapping up the optimization studies and value enhancing options designed to reduce initial capital outlays and improve project economics. Donlin Gold anticipates providing further details in the fourth quarter on the path forward to update the 2011 feasibility study.

About the Donlin Gold Project

Donlin Gold is located in Alaska, the second largest gold-producing state in the U.S. With approximately 39 million ounces of gold grading 2.24 grams per tonne in the measured and indicated resource categories (100 percent basis),1 it hosts one of the largest and highest-grade undeveloped open pit gold endowments in the world. According to the Second Updated Feasibility Study (as defined above), once in production, Donlin Gold has the potential to produce, on average, more than one million ounces per year over a 27-year mine life on a 100% basis. The Donlin Gold project has substantial exploration potential beyond the designed mine footprint which currently covers only three kilometers of an approximately eight-kilometer long gold-bearing trend. Current activities at Donlin Gold are focused on optimization work, and community outreach.

Donlin Gold LLC is an Alaska-based company owned equally by NovaGold Resources Alaska, Inc. (NOVAGOLD) and Barrick Gold U.S. Inc. (Barrick), which are wholly owned subsidiaries of NOVAGOLD RESOURCES INC., and Barrick Gold Corporation, respectively.

Scientific and Technical Information

Some scientific and technical information contained herein with respect to the Donlin Gold project is derived from the “Donlin Creek Gold Project Alaska, USA NI 43-101 Technical Report on Second Updated Feasibility Study” prepared by AMEC for NOVAGOLD with an effective date of November 18, 2011, as amended January 20, 2012 (the “Second Updated Feasibility Study”).  Kirk Hanson, P.E., Technical Director, Open Pit Mining, North America, (AMEC, Reno), and Gordon Seibel, R.M. SME, Principal Geologist, (AMEC, Reno) are the Qualified Persons responsible for the preparation of the independent technical report, each of whom are independent “qualified persons” as defined in NI 43-101.

Clifford Krall, P.E., who is the Mine Engineering Manager for NOVAGOLD and a “qualified person” under NI 43-101, has approved and verified the scientific and technical information related to the Donlin Gold project contained in this press release.

Barrick Contacts: INVESTOR CONTACT: Deni Nicoski Senior Vice President Investor Relations Telephone: +1 416 307-7474 Email: dnicoski@barrick.com

MEDIA CONTACT: Andy Lloyd  Senior Vice President Communications Telephone: +1 416 307-7414 Email: alloyd@barrick.com Toll Free: 1-800-720-7415 www.barrick.com

NOVAGOLD Contacts:

Mélanie Hennessey Vice President, Corporate Communications

Allison Pettit Investor Relations Manager

604-669-6227 or 1-866-669-622

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes certain “forward-looking information” and “forward-looking statements” (collectively “forward-looking statements”) within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as “expects”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “intends”, “estimates”, “potential”, “possible”, and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results “will”, “may”, “could”, “would” or “should” occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on a number of opinions, estimates and assumptions that management of NOVAGOLD and Barrick considered appropriate and reasonable as of the date such statements are made, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking statements.  These forward-looking statements include statements regarding the advancement of optimization studies at Donlin Gold; potential opportunities to enhance or maximize the value of Donlin Gold; the timing and likelihood of further permits; opportunities to reduce capital outlays and improve project economics; the potential completion of an updated feasibility study on the project; mine life and production estimates at Donlin Gold; the potential development of Donlin Gold; perceived merit of properties; mineral reserve and resource estimates; work programs; capital expenditures; timelines; strategic plans; benefits of the Donlin Gold project and market prices for precious and base metals. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, intentions, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts but instead represent management of NOVAGOLD and Barrick’s expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events or circumstances.

Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include the need to obtain permits and governmental approvals; the timing and likelihood of further permits; the need for additional financing to explore and develop properties and availability of financing in the debt and capital markets; uncertainties involved in the interpretation of drilling results and geological tests and the estimation of reserves and resources; the need for continued cooperation between NOVAGOLD and  Barrick for the continued exploration and development of the Donlin Gold property; the need for cooperation of government agencies and native groups in the development and operation of properties; risks of construction and mining projects such as accidents, equipment breakdowns, bad weather, non-compliance with environmental and permit requirements, unanticipated variation in geological structures, ore grades or recovery rates; unexpected cost increases, which could include significant increases in estimated capital and operating costs; fluctuations in metal prices and currency exchange rates; and other risk and uncertainties disclosed in reports and documents filed by NOVAGOLD and Barrick with applicable securities regulatory authorities from time to time. The forward-looking statements contained herein reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections of NOVAGOLD and Barrick on the date the statements are made. NOVAGOLD and Barrick assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law.

Cautionary Note to United States Investors

This press release has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of U.S. securities laws. Unless otherwise indicated, all resource and reserve estimates included in this press release have been prepared in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”) and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM)—CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the CIM Council, as amended (“CIM Definition Standards”). NI 43-101 is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators which establishes standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning mineral projects. Canadian standards, including NI 43-101, differ significantly from the requirements of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and resource and reserve information contained herein may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by U.S. companies. In particular, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the term “resource” does not equate to the term “reserves”. Under U.S. standards, mineralization may not be classified as a “reserve” unless the determination has been made that the mineralization could be economically and legally produced or extracted at the time the reserve determination is made. The SEC’s disclosure standards normally do not permit the inclusion of information concerning “measured mineral resources”, “indicated mineral resources” or “inferred mineral resources” or other descriptions of the amount of mineralization in mineral deposits that do not constitute “reserves” by U.S. standards in documents filed with the SEC. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of “measured” or “indicated resources” will ever be converted into “reserves”. Investors should also understand that “inferred mineral resources” have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. Under Canadian rules, estimated “inferred mineral resources” may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies except in rare cases. Disclosure of “contained ounces” in a resource is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations; however, the SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute “reserves” by SEC standards as in-place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures. The requirements of NI 43-101 for identification of “reserves” are also not the same as those of the SEC, and reserves reported by NOVAGOLD and Barrick in compliance with NI 43-101 may not qualify as “reserves” under SEC standards. Donlin Gold does not have known reserves, as defined under SEC Industry Guide 7.  Accordingly, information concerning mineral deposits set forth herein may not be comparable with information made public by companies that report in accordance with U.S. standards.

_______________________

1 Donlin Gold data as per the second updated feasibility study effective November 18, 2011, as amended January 20, 2012 (“Second Updated Feasibility Study”). Donlin Gold measured resources of approximately 8 Mt grading 2.52 g/t and indicated resources of approximately 534 Mt grading 2.24 g/t, each on a 100% basis.  Mineral resources have been estimated in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”).

Shared from The Canadian Business Journal https://ift.tt/2LGsdfR Canada Incorporation & Corporate Registry Services

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from Company Formations Canada https://ift.tt/2B5Ti7B

[noctomania]

kinda helped to remember im not alone

i was talkin to a coworker i was training and we got on the topic of obligated gratitude. She brought up that she is grateful to her parents but that they really negatively impacted her at the same time. And it’s literally what i’ve been ruminating over for years ever since i had been in therapy, and she was with me that it just feels like obligated love and it feels wrong but we’re ashamed to ever say such a thing.

They just don’t seem to understand that it’s very hard to be grateful for an opportunity that 1- i didnt want, 2- had practically made me forget who i am and shattered any shred of confidence by the end, 3- has left me in an inescapable mound of debt that didn’t get me any farther than I would have been without the diploma. I know i’ve gotten a lot from it but all it does it just sit in my mind and torment me now because i have nowhere to apply it. I simply was not ready to make the decision that i did and i have to sit with that but they refuse to sit with my resentment of both my choice and their pushing me. hell they don’t even believe they pushed me.

“if you don’t go now you’re going to end up in a rut”

OH YOU...YOU MEAN...LIKE NOW. Right now. I am in a rut the biggest rut of my life it is bigger than my last rut because it’s approx $30,000 deeper, dude, what rut do you understand what a rut is?

and if i had refused to go you know what my option was? to get a job and a place of my own.

okok lemme extrapolate this ....so...you want me to get a degree so that i can get more money at a better job to afford shit, yeh? but somehow you think i can manage to do that a fresh egg out of high school with like max 1yr exp at any job ever and manage to afford rent utilities etc all on my own are you on crack madam. if it was to “teach me a lesson” then theyre bein pretty fuckin redundant since i had a pretty fair understanding of the expense of rent since my mother had to move all the fuckin time bc rent kept goin up while my dad adn stepmom were fuckin buyin houses like candy i am not as stupid as i fuckin look. And I know they never offered to pay my rent if i didnt want to go to school otherwise i abso would have done that. AND would have worked but at a job I would have been interested in not just a job for a money and then i might have found a path i actually wanted instead of picking one out of the air that “might be able to support me later” which turns out being an art teacher is about as stable as being an artist. at least when youre an artist you at least have a room.

and then the audacity to even mention my friend when trying to guilt me for being honest about my resentment. “Think of your poor friend he was poorer than you dont you feel bad resenting what we pushed you in to bc he doesnt have the same opportunity as you do to obtain tens of thousand of debt” why didnt you just put him through instead you fuckin wankers how dense can you be. Like I would have been OVER the moon. No instead they also push him and he flunks out and ends up with debt he has to pay off too.

they say “You could have gone to a cheaper school...”

ok again this is making the whole point of getting an education like something of a mystery to me. If i am going to be made to go and you are going to support me in going to college and leave my options open to which i go to, im going to pick a place that speaks to me considerin i’d be spendin 4 yrs there. my uni didnt have frats or sororities and seemed to have good stats and at the time i was a hopeful teen with hardly ANY idea of what to expect aside from what little hollywood bullshit i was fed about college and college life. i didnt visit a single college except when my sister visited hers (many of mine were out of state bc i just wanted to be tf away from them at that point to be fucking honest), i was hardly involved in the process of FAFSA bc they were like well just do it for you and you sign. i didnt get any of the scholarships i applied for (plus that was exhausting bc they always want to know about the hardest challenges in your life and im sorry but a college essay is not where i want to exhibit a therapy session) what few there were I could apply for. lgbt ones werent really that common at the time.

you know what WOULD have been helpful? is if i had been given more options considering there were a lot more options. like i didnt understand the whole basic classes vs major classes until i was already in the process of figurin out the classes i would be takin. Like i didnt know i coulda done the basics at like a community school real fast or something. Or even get just an associates to test the waters and kinda meet middle ground with me. like there were SO many more options than “go to 4yr college or move out on your own”. all i got from them is they genuinely have no faith in me to get anything done and well dont ya know wouldnt you see i’m getting nothing done. because where i once had imagination, individuality, creativity, and energy....i now have regrets, resentment, mental instability, and work and debt.

They genuinely don’t understand colleges/universities are businesses, not schools. they literally run like a business model moreso than anything because they have to. what this means is they do everything they can to keep you giving them money. i observed it all when i was an RA. i learned about it all in my half-masters. do you understand how frustrating it is to sit there and have they pretty much tell you to your face we are doing everything in our power to keep in here longer to keep your money coming in longer even if it hurts you in the end.

Ok i feel the blood vessels in my right eye wanting to bust so i gotta stop before i go off on other tangents that are lingering

[dudence-blog]

Dear Dudence for 5 October 2017

It’s the start of the ALDS and the Astros are up on the Red Sox 8-2 in the top of the 9th.  To celebrate this it’s time to enjoy a St. Arnold’s and get on to answering the people seeking help from Prudence!

My 15-year-old daughter is a freshman in high school and has her first serious boyfriend. They are both star athletes, honor students, nondrinkers, and really nice kids. I love it that they are starting this new adventure in the dating scene together. He is a year older than she is and occasionally drives her around town. He is black, and she is white. What, if anything, should I say to her about traffic stops?

Dear Concerned Mom, Newdie did a great job informing us of the risks inherent to be a black person in America.  I think we are all owe a debt of gratitude to the late 20s white woman for explaining to us about the horrors of institutional racism. While we are grateful for her enlightening point of view based on her extensive experience, she did a pretty damn poor job of answering the question you asked.  What you’re asking about isn’t really dating advice; it is advice for situations across a wide spectrum of activities.  You’re not being a “crazy white mom” to talk with your child (who will soon be driving age herself) about how to react when, not if, she is stopped by the police.  It has nothing to do with you being worried that her boyfriend is going to get profiled, it has to do with the fact if you drive long enough you’re going to get stopped.  When stopped, whether as the driver or passenger, tell her to remain calm, be polite, keep your hands visible, and don’t interfere with the police.  Follow the instructions from the officer, and if she receives conflicting instructions stop and ask for clarification.  Most importantly try not to make the situation worse.  A good thing to keep in mind is that she is dealing with someone is one of the few people society has given the authority to initiate the use of force, including lethal force.  Even if the police are completely in the wrong, they pulled her boyfriend over because he’s black and they are being awful people abusing their authority on the street while stopped is not the place where the problem can be addressed.  Heck, it might not be able to be addressed elsewhere because life just ain’t fair, but it certainly can’t be addressed there at the point of friction.  The police officer is not going to hear a teenage girl tell him “you are, like, totally wrong to be stopping him and you’re only stopping him because he’s black!” and respond with “You know what Kindra, you’re right.  I was mistaken, here is your license sir.  Please drive safely.”  Have the conversation with your daughter about how, because of her boyfriend’s race, it is possible he’s going to be unjustly targeted by police.  That it’s “not okay” for that to happen, and that you and your family, as decent people want to do everything you can to combat that attitude.  Heck, if you want to have a conversation with your daughter about the wider issues of racism in society, how her privilege as the child of wealthy parents living in an upper class neighborhood means she’s the cause of all of society’s ills, knock yourself out.  But that is separate from the issue of “what to do if you’ve just been stopped by police”.

My husband and I have been preparing to adopt a baby from “Anita” for six months. We’ve paid Anita’s medical bills and an allowance so Anita didn’t have to work too hard during her final trimester. She’s due in six weeks, and we discovered by accident that at some point she’d changed her mind. Anita will be keeping her baby. It’s a devastating but not unexpected loss. My husband and I wish Anita well, because we want her baby to succeed, but we also want to sever our relationship with her.

Dear Paying for Baby, that is quite the gut-punch.  Anita’s mother can lob all the accusations she wants, that doesn’t mean she’s correct.  Regardless of whether you and your husband could afford to keep financing Anita’s pregnancy while pursuing another adoption option, it wouldn’t be heartless for you to stop.  Anita and your family had an agreement and she has reneged on her end of the agreement.  You’re under no obligation to continue and don’t let BadPru’s habit of ignoring information you provide in your letter guilt you into considering something against your short and long term interests..  If you were working with a lawyer I’d recommend speaking with them about terminating your support, and if you’re not working with one I’d recommend getting one who’s experienced in family law and adoption.  As for BadPru’s assumption you’re working either independently or with a disreputable agency, you can tell her to pound sand.  It’s not like “mother putting baby up for adoption changes her mind” is a wholly unheard of event within “reputable” adoption services.

I have a weird etiquette question: I was in an abusive marriage for a decade, and after we split, I had to distance myself from both my social and professional circles because we worked in the same industry. I’m very healthy and happy now. Recently, I’ve started to fold a few previous connections back into my life. Nobody has any idea how bad the abuse was, or why we divorced, and I still have to see my ex on occasion.

Dear No Polite Way to Say This, I’m not sure which is the weird etiquette part.  Is it where you’re not sure how much you want to reveal about the circumstances of your divorce or is it the part where you think people want to hear the details of the circumstances of your divorce?  That you’re asking about “etiquette” makes me think you’re looking for advice when dealing with more casual acquaintances; co-workers, peers within the industry, etc.  “Oh you know Elaine too?  Yes, we were married, but we divorced a few years ago,” for most people standing around at an industry convention that would be enough information.  If you want to invite follow-up questions then say it wasn’t amicable.  If we’re talking about a more intimate relationship; say a friend who knows the both of you, then it’s really going to be limited to what you’re comfortable discussing.  “Yes, Elaine and I had a very troubled marriage, it got really bad towards the end and I left.”  I will advise you that if you get into discussing your spouse’s abuse it’s going to get back to them and you’re going to open-up a whole new realm of social-etiquette fun.  Counter-accusations, justifications, side-choosing, etc.  While Newdie thinks it isn’t the case some people will be put off by your revealing the unpleasant details of your marriage, Newdie has a well-established history of being shockingly ignorant of how people can interact in a work environment (seriously, the new hire wanting a window view is a reasonable idea?!!?).  There are people in your professional and casual social circles who will be put-off by your “over-sharing”.  It’s going to put some people in a position where they feel obligated to distance themselves from either your ex or you.  It’s not fair, it’s probably not how it should be, but the world doesn’t deal in “should”.  I’m glad you’re doing well now and I wish you the best of luck in retaking some of those parts of your life.

I’ve known my friend “B” for around five years. We met as students and had a wonderful companionship through school and still remain close. The only problem is her escalating interest in the cast of a television show, particularly one male actor. It began with a minor interest in the show while we were students. She was going through a rough time personally and began watching; over the years, she has become so obsessed with one of the lead actors that she now spends thousands of dollars to go to conventions across the country, attends related events, and generally finds reasons to be in his neighborhood. They have “coincidentally” met several times, and he was rude to her on multiple occasions. This is only a fraction of what B has done to research, stalk, and meet this actor, who is twice her age. He now recognizes her.

Dear Caught Up in Fandom, a dude dressing up as a surprisingly convincing Super Girl might be caught up in fandom.  Your friend blew past that and went off the cliff into “creepy shrine” territory a while ago.  Your friend has a problem, and today I learned there is a whole spectrum of problems dealing with people who become obsessed with a celebrity.  As for your actual question, I’m not a fan of ghosting.  There are situations where it’s the least bad option, but people generally deserve to the respect that comes from saying “hey, it’s been fun but we’re just after different things; you’re not interesting, etc”.  Other friends have told B that her behavior is disturbing and driving them away, so it’s not like she hasn’t been made aware how people people.  Maybe she’s not putting 1 and 1 together, but she probably is.  I think you should tell your friend what her actions have been doing to you and why you’re going to cut her out of your life.  If you want to leave the line open to reconnect in the future that’s your prerogative.

I have been with my husband for five years. He is attentive, kind, thoughtful, and attractive, which are all qualities that make him appealing to other women. Four years ago he cheated on me, and I found out almost immediately after the affair started. He showed remorse, we went to counseling, and I decided to stay with him. Since the affair, I check his Facebook, emails, phone calls, and texts regularly. It’s obviously insane and has become somewhat of an obsession. I have attempted counseling but this hasn’t stopped or curbed my snooping. I am just waiting to catch him again and feel that it’s only a matter of time before he strays.

Dear Husband Monitor, you should probably attempt counseling again.  Try a different therapist.  I don’t know what, if anything, there is about you which screams “cheat on me”.  To say “because you believe they will and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy” is tempting, but unfair and not very helpful.  Long-term relationships do end, and the infidelity at the end of your previous relationships might have been a symptom rather than a cause.  Eventually you’re going to need to have a talk with your husband about your feelings here.  You’re not clear about whether he’s aware you’re checking up on him, so I’m going to assume he isn’t.  That is probably going to be an unhappy conversation because it involves a pretty significant breach of trust (whether it is as bad as cheating in a marriage is a debate I’ll leave to the philosophers).  You’re going to need to talk with him about your feelings, why you are so anxious and suspicious, and whether it is reasonable.  Your snooping on him doesn’t seem to be helping you, and you don’t refer to anything other than your history as to why he will eventually stray.  It might be time to let him out of the doghouse, and that forgiveness might have the added benefit of giving yourself the permission to trust again.  I know how hard it can be to put your trust and faith into someone, and how much, much harder it is to restore those feelings after they’ve been betrayed.  But holding on to that isn’t doing you any good.  

I am a casual Spanish speaker—I can understand a good bit of what I hear and read, but have more difficulty speaking it. My mom, bless her, thinks I am fluent. Normally, this isn’t a problem. She might call sometimes with a question about something she heard on TV or about something on a menu, but that’s it. Recently though, something happened that made me uncomfortable. She had some furniture delivered, and the men who dropped it off spoke Spanish. She wanted me to give them instructions in Spanish, and I told her it wasn’t necessary, as it was obvious they also spoke English.

Dear Not Your Translator, after you follow NuPru’s advice and lecture your mother about her racism, then delve into just what drove her to those thoughts, you should grab a cup of hot chocolate and talk about health insurance.  You don’t need to be racist to be irrational.  Maybe your mom is uber racist, maybe she is just normally racist or maybe she isn’t, but that doesn’t change the fact it can be off-putting to be left outside a conversation happening in front of you because you don’t sprich die sprach.  There’s also nothing wrong with you informing her you’re not comfortable eavesdropping on someone else’s conversation.  Heck, go ahead and let her know you think it’s rude for her to ask you to do so.  But you can set your boundaries while also assuaging her concerns; let her know that if you do hear anything untoward you’ll address it and then don’t.  She gets what she wants: she’s comforted by knowing you’re listening in.  You get what you want: you’re not having to listen in.  The work crew gets what they want: to do their job while talking about the ignorant woman and he dumbass child.  It’s a Win-Win-Win!