CHINA GOT IT RIGHT AGAINST COVID-19

New York is one of the worst hit in the U.S. by the global pandemic. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo appealed on TV for medical teams from other U.S. states to help in the fight against COVID-19. So far only a handful have officially or unofficially began organizing teams to heed the call.

China's central gov't effectively isolated Hubei province's Wuhan City. It sent thousands of doctors and nurses from other parts of China to Wuhan. It poured resources of equipment and manpower into Wuhan, even constructing a massive, well-equipped Leishenshan (Thunder of God) Hospital in a record-breaking 11-days.

China was so successful in fighting COVID-19 because of its centralized response to the crisis. In contrast, U.S. states fought among themselves and fought with its Federal gov't. for much-needed equipment and manpower resources at the expense of a greater no. of human lives. This is one of those countless cases where an authoritarian form of governance, much like Saudi Arabia's, Jordan's, Singapore's and many other nations, has a distinct advantage in resolving more quickly and handling with relatively much success.

HAPPINESS IS A VOYAGE

We convince ourselves that life will be better once we are married, have a baby, then another.  Then we get frustrated because our children are not old enough, and that all will be well when they are older.  Then we get frustrated because they reach adolescence and we must deal with them.  Surely we’ll be happier when they grow out of the teen years.  We tell ourselves our life will be better when our spouse gets his/her act together, when we have a nicer car, when we can take a vacation, when we finally retire.

The truth is that there is no better time to be happy than right now.  If not, then when?  Your life will always be full of challenges.  It is better to admit as much and to decide to be happy in spite of all.

For the longest time, it seemed that life was about to start.  Real life.  But there was always some obstacle along the way, an ordeal to get through, some work to be finished, some time to be given, a bill to be paid.  Then life would start.

I finally came to understand that those obstacles were life.  That point of view helped me to see that there isn’t any road to happiness.  HAPPINESS IS THE ROAD.

So enjoy every moment.  Stop waiting for school to end, for a return to school, to lose ten pounds, to gain ten pounds, for work to begin, to get married, for Friday evening, for Sunday morning, waiting for a new car, for your mortgage to be paid off, for summer, for rainy season, for your song to be played on the radio, to die, to be reborn…before deciding to be happy.

HAPPINESS IS A VOYAGE, NOT A DESTINATION.  There is no better time to be happy than NOW.  Live and enjoy the moment.

- Author unknown

U.S. IMPERIALISM BEHIND BOGUS CHARGES AGAINST VENEZUELA PRES. NICOLAS MADURO

U.S. has recently filed bogus "narco-terrorism" charges against a sovereign country's leader - Venezuelan Pres. Nicolas Maduro - and other known associates, after the U.S. and its European allies-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido failed to get critical mass support for an attempted overthrow of Pres. Maduro. Guaido is not as popular as Pres. Maduro with the Venezuelan people, his image is just propped-up by paid or biased Western mainstream media abroad.

The U.S., with its European cronies, had directly or indirectly overthrown sovereign leaders before - Panama's Manuel Noriega in 1989, Iraq's Saddam Hussein in 2003, Libya's Muammar Khadafy in 2011, among others. The U.S. always comes up with excuses like narco-trafficking, weapons of mass destruction, oppression or what-have-you. All these cases have two things in common - these leaders have become unfriendly to the U.S. and their countries had something very important to U.S. interests. For Pres. Nicolas Maduro's case it is Venezuela's very rich oil reserves (Venezuela has 20% of global oil reserves).

In December 2018 Russia landed 2-long range nuclear bombers (TU-160's) in Venezuela at the invitation of its long-time ally to make a statement. Let's hope that Russia continues to stand up to these constant U.S. aggression against unwilling "allies". Let's hope that Russia and China remains a potent force in helping keep in check U.S. and its European allies' imperialist overtures.

PRRD'S BRILLIANT MOVE ON ABS-CBN: ACCOUNT FOR YOUR WRONGDOINGS!

Pres. Rodrigo Duterte delivered a masterfully-crafted political checkmate move on the Lopezes of ABS-CBN - while Congress hears the franchise of the purportedly arrogant media giant for the next months or even year(s) - a Provisional Certificate to Operate (PCO) practically puts them on notice that you're on probation so better put your act together or else!

Thanks to political allies in Congress, both in the Lower House and in the Senate, joint resolutions asking or enjoining the National Telecommunications Commision (NTC) to grant ABS-CBN a Provisional Certificate to Operate means that conditions need be met and maintained in order for the same to continue to take effect. Violate these conditions and the PCO may be revoked by the NTC.

Pres. Duterte was at least 5-steps ahead all along - just like a chess grandmaster doing what he does best - for the benefit of the greater good. Pres. Duterte is a strong leader and a master tactician at crushing his political opponents in his pursuit of providing a relatively better, comfortable future for  the greater majority of Filipinos - and they'll be forever grateful for it!

JUST IN: I think that even before a provisional franchise, PRRD intended ABS-CBN to lose so much asset and/or cash because advertisers are pulling out or staying away from the errant network. Then its stocks would come crashing! In a few more weeks closed it may not even be able to get back on its feet. Brilliant!

TRUMP IS UNDEFEATABLE IN 2020

U.S. Pres. Donald Trump will likely have another term in office. U.S. Democrats (Dems) already had an inkling for a long time that this will be the case but as true-blue politicians they're just going through the motions. The impeachment process was dead in the water even before it passed the House of Representatives but the Dems are hoping it'll make a dent in Trump's solid approval rating in time for the 2020 presidential elections. They know it is a far shot but they had to try nonetheless.

Americans aren't going to buy that "misdemeanor" charges that the Dems are trying to sell as amounting to high crimes punishable by removal from office. Americans will still look at how P.O.T.U.S. Trump performed to "make America great again" for the past four years. Many may realize that it wasn't enough even for the "master of the art of the deal" - and another four years might  "do the trick". I have two siblings who are American citizens for a long time and they've been die-hard Trump supporters from the start. They believe that Trump has done more in less than a term than what Obama had accomplished in 8-yrs.

This is the age of strong, decisive leaders. Traditional politicians may have to wait for at least another decade until voters start reconsider letting them at the helm again.

MAYOR LEN-LEN ORETA DID IT AGAIN

One-Stop-Shop (OSS) for Business Permit Renewals worked for Malabon City again. 2-years before Pres. Duterte's first SONA ordering LGUs to make permit renewals fast and easy - Mayor Oreta was already trying to do that. For 2020, renewal payment is in under 3-hrs. thru 7-Windows (could have been 5 if BFP and Cedula payments weren't separate lines) with permit release within the day or the next.

Business Permit renewals should be basically ministerial. Any query or clarification, if direly necessary, should be tackled at the pendency of the business year, NOT DURING the very hectic 2-3 week renewal period at the year start.

I hope that that Mayor Oreta makes this a tradition for others to follow. I'm a proud PRRD supporter but during the recent mid-term elections, I hesitated on a new Mayor - even if she was endorsed by Pres. Duterte, whose Davao City is a model of efficiency and ease of doing business - because a new administrator might not adapt the same OSS.

Guess who I voted for?

ANY TEAM BUT U.P. MUST WIN UAAP

Di ako galing sa Ateneo o' La Salle o' NU o' UST o' FEU pero gusto kong manalo ang team na hindi U.P. Fighting Maroons sa UAAP Finals. Bakit? Kasi noong 2018, nakasali pa nga lang sila - hindi pa nga nagcha-Champion - sobrang ya-yabang na ng mga taga-U.P. Imagine kung manalo pa sila?! Eh di malamang "right in your face" ka pa sila!

At ang Ateneo o' La Salle o' FEU o' NU o' UST, so gracious kapag nagcha-Champion, wala halos ere...

BEIJING WILL NOT INTERVENE IN HK

Beijing will just let these rioters and terrorists run Hong Kong into the ground.

Rioters think that they can provoke Beijing into intervening in Hong Kong by resorting to violence and unabated disruptions. Their first mistake is that they've overestimated their region's importance to Beijing.

Hong Kong isn't the crown jewel that it used to be more than a decade ago - because of the fact that many mainland cities have overtaken it in terms of business potential, stability and actual progress. Amidst the continuing chaos and uncertainty, companies will likely reconsider its future in HK and may find it more sensible to move its businesses to the mainland.