tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933501.post113812597493948915..comments2024-03-20T12:50:48.895+08:00Comments on The Ignatian Perspective: In Defense Of The US Armed ServicesAmadeohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040096079637569742noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933501.post-1138417533988180762006-01-28T11:05:00.000+08:002006-01-28T11:05:00.000+08:00Thanks, Dean.Unfortunately, I do not have contacts...Thanks, Dean.<BR/><BR/>Unfortunately, I do not have contacts with the FilAm bloggers here, though the various email groups continue to be participated by scores of FilAms.<BR/><BR/>As a personal observation though, I have noticed that the younger first generation Filipino immigrants who do blog align themselves more with those in the old homeland, and continue to pine for the old country. Thus, they tend to congregate around the Pinoyblog site and other similar venues.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, I do not run across in my periodic incursions into the world of blogs many older first generation FilAms who are into blogs. I suspect they are still stuck with the email list/group fora.<BR/><BR/>Now, with regard to the young second generation FilAms, now that is almost like a complete unknown to me. Though a Michelle Malkin definitely would be part of that. <BR/><BR/>Now, very political DailyKos is quite an anachronism because Markos is a legitimate first-generation immigrant from El Salvador, even spending a part of his youth in his old homeland.<BR/><BR/>Of course, in all this I may be limiting my observations to those who have politics and public social issues as their focus.Amadeohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00040096079637569742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933501.post-1138412105680230042006-01-28T09:35:00.000+08:002006-01-28T09:35:00.000+08:00great post Amadeo! I've really got to start readin...great post Amadeo! I've really got to start reading a lot more of the Ignatian Perspective. <BR/><BR/>Say, regarding the discussion on Fil-Ams back at PC, have you ever done a survey of the FilAm Blogosphere? I still have lots of friends in the US but have lost touch with some of the writers who probably have blogs by now. <BR/><BR/>More power Amadeo. I'm proud to link to your site!Deany Bocobohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01443168826029321831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933501.post-1138206543361778222006-01-26T00:29:00.000+08:002006-01-26T00:29:00.000+08:00Hi, Phil,Thanks for dropping by and lending some w...Hi, Phil,<BR/><BR/>Thanks for dropping by and lending some words of wisdom on the issues presented.<BR/><BR/>First, I have no doubts that countless less than exemplary things happened between the two peoples, from the time the first American set foot on the islands until the last base was closed. And particularly in the areas where the bases were located, like Subic, Clark, and even in such faraway places as in Northern Mindanao where a “weather station” was maintained by the US forces, many unsavory incidents got publicly magnified to put the entire US presence in a very bad light, or as we say, that gave it a black eye.<BR/><BR/>Still we do not generalize. It happens in the best of peoples, in the best of cultures, with the most educated societies.<BR/><BR/>I would even suggest that in the case of the bars and houses of prostitution around those places because of the rather symbiotic relationships that helped make them thrive, both sides can be handed parts of the blame.<BR/><BR/>Let us not allow strong negative personal experiences color and warp the prism we use to view the entire world of creation, especially mankind, that we swear by faith was created by a loving, most merciful, and civil Being.<BR/><BR/>Lastly, let us be made aware that to have personal discriminating preferences is not really that unnatural to man, but to depict ourselves as more intellectually superior and thus better than others is an entirely different thing.Amadeohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00040096079637569742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933501.post-1138158748425498432006-01-25T11:12:00.000+08:002006-01-25T11:12:00.000+08:00Amadeo, thanks for sticking up for us in this post...Amadeo, thanks for sticking up for us in this posting, and thanks for commenting in my last one. <BR/><BR/>This Ms Ilangan is a victim same as me, same as a lot of folks are. We are all victims, if we let ourselves be, of our past experiences. She's right in many ways about the attitudes and actions of the troops stationed at Subic and Clark. I was there and I saw some terrible things from my fellow servicemen. The way those "boys" acted was NOT typical of how they acted back home. Coming here back then made a lot of us absolutely nuts. For a few dollars a sex-starved sailor, marine, or airman could have any kind of sex he could think of, and it was a corrupting thing. <BR/><BR/>But, that was then. In fact, recently the UCMJ has been changed to make it an offense to avail the services of a prostitute. If that would have been in place prior to '91, virtually every man stationed here would have been at risk legally. But now, for her to make judgements on those young marines held at the embassy is a mistake. She, and everyone else, need to with hold judgement and tone down the hyperbole until it's sorted out by the law. <BR/><BR/>Getting back to Ilangan's statement that we were "taught" that the dream of the island girls was to get to the states, now that IS true. And from my 23 years of experience of living here and associating with those wonderful girls, it STILL IS true, and why wouldn't it be? For many people living here, marrying a foreigner, especially an American, is like hitting the Lotto. For one to deny that means to deny the reality of this place.<BR/><BR/>Back then, we were taught that generalism for a reason: to make sure that the girl of your dreams actually loves you before you marry her and take her home. It's still good advice and I'll give you a recent example:<BR/><BR/>One of my fellow vets, a 52 year old retired officer, fell head over heels for a local girl in her 20's and he married her. Hmmm. Whenever I saw them together I was impressed with how much she seemed to care for him. They were SO sweet together. He had no doubts at all about her. He took her back home to Louisiana and within 3 months she stopped being affectionate. Within 6 months she moved out and moved in with a younger man. He is devastated, angry, and suicidal. I shrug my shoulders and told him, "Hey! She's only human. What did you expect? Come on back, fall in love again, and this time, don't take her home!" He's too bitter and upset to think about coming back. <BR/><BR/>And Ms. Ilangan is probably right about bad grammar and poor punctuation, and that's supposed to prove what? That we recruit from the dregs of society? (oops fragment...poetic license!) She's trying to substantiate bad behavior, stating that it must be because we mostly come from poor and uneducated backgrounds. As a recent military retiree, and as a guy who was here in the old days, I say that the bad behavior was more an example of poor leadership. If those young Americans were decadent, it wasn't because of their "class" or background, it was because the officers and NCOs in charge were NOT doing their job. It's why I got paid the "big bucks" after I became a sergeant. For instance, after I became an NCO, I couldn't get involved in fights anymore EXCEPT in stopping them and breaking them up. <BR/><BR/>Good post Amadeo. I have a lot of respect for you and your sons. You must have done something right that all of them have chosen to serve our society instead of simply taking from it. Good job man!PhilippinesPhilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com