WHAT’S GOING ON in President Joe Biden’s mind on the Ukraine crisis?  First, he announced that the U.S. would not send soldiers to Ukraine to fight the Russians. Secondly, he just announced that the 160 National Guard troops deployed to the American Embassy in Kiev, are going to be withdrawn and sent home. Thirdly, he didn’t send the… Read More »

WHEN RUSSIAN PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin went to Beijing to attend the opening of the Winter Olympics last February 4, little did anyone suspect that it would lead to the beginning of a strategic partnership between Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.   It was then that the two leaders would fashion out a lengthy 99-paragraph joint statement that… Read More »

FORMER PRESIDENT Donald Trump on September 23, 2020, was asked if he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power should he lose the election to Joe Biden?  His response was “Well, we’re going to have to see what happens. You know that I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster.”  What… Read More »

IN AN ATTEMPT to institute sweeping changes to rules regarding voting and campaign finance, the Democrats passed the House version 220-210 with no Republican support.  But when it went to the Senate, it stalled –- like a car about to run out of gas – with two votes short of the minimum number of senators to pass the… Read More »

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin told the nation on April 25, 2005, that the “demise of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.” “It became a genuine tragedy for the Russian people,” he said.  He lamented, saying  “Tens of millions of our fellow citizens and countrymen found themselves beyond the fringes of Russian territory.” “The… Read More »

IN 1284, AS THE LEGEND GOES, the people of Hamelin, Germany, hired the town’s rat-catcher, a piper, to lure the rats away with his magic pipe.  The piper was dressed in multi-colored (“pied”) clothing; hence he was called the “Pied Piper.”  He led the rats out of the town and into the sea where they drowned.  When the… Read More »

RECENT DEVELOPMENT seems to suggest that the U.S. is veering towards a rightward trajectory.  The problem with this is that the law of the jungle is supplanting the rule of law.  Yes, proponents of the law of the jungle are  bamboozling those who adhere to the rule of law.  It is survival of the strongest.  And as someone… Read More »

WHAT IS THE TROUBLE with the Democratic Party? Are they going crazy?  They have the presidency, the Senate and the House of Representatives.  They have full control of the Executive and Legislative branches of government!  They haven’t done so well in a very long time.  They passed the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, which surpassed any government program since… Read More »

IN THE AFTERMATH of the “People Power” that deposed President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, the word “balimbing” became popular. The “balimbing,” or star fruit, became the mark of a turncoat. The star fruit’s cross-section is shaped like a five-sided star; thus, a person who changes political loyalty is called a “balimbing.”  After Marcos was ousted from the presidency,… Read More »

AT THE VIRTUAL SUMMIT between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping last November 15, the two world leaders got themselves embroiled in some delicate matters.  Xi told Biden that U.S. support for Taiwanese independence would be dangerous.  “Taiwanese authorities have repeatedly tried to ‘rely on the U.S. for independence’,” Xi was quoted as saying by… Read More »