Why Militarism was the Main Cause of World War I

Quote of awesomeness: “War is what happens when language fails” ~ Margaret Atwood

World War I, also known as the First World War, began on Sunday, June 28, 1914, spanned four terrible years, more than nine lives taken, and 20 million people wounded both physically and mentally. Before this war erupted, during the late 19th century, there was this belief, created by European leaders, which they called the balance of power. This idea was meant to justify that all the major powers of Europe, such as Germany, Russia, England, and France would have an equal amount of strength to keep the peace. This very idea, if implemented properly and thoroughly, would make no other influence or dominate another and this would prevent war from ever happening. Unfortunately, this balance of power didn’t push through, the equality wasn’t there and with the state that they were in, the inevitable happened, World War I.

The beginning of WORLD WAR I………………………….

In Sarajevo, Bosnia, there was a Serbian nationalist group known as the Black Hand. When the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife visited Sarajevo, which is also known to be in the Balkans, they were assassinated by one of the members of the Black Hand on June 28. Although the immediate cause of World War I was the assassination of Archduke of Austria, this war had a bigger reason and these are the three underlying causes known as: Imperialism, Alliances, and Militarism. Imperialism and alliances are, without a doubt, very important causes for how World War I began. However, militarism is the main cause because compared to imperialism and alliances, it forms the most fear and puts this obligation to go to war with all the weapons, navy and more that have built up.

IMPERIALISM

First, one of the underlying causes of World War I is imperialism. It was because of this cause which brought nations in Europe to divide. Imperialism was the reason to which countries fought over for more land. This underlying cause made Europe at the brink of war a few times even before 1914 as more countries tried harder to expand their empires. In 1905 and 1911, France and Germany avoided a two-front war with each other over Morocco. Even if they were able to avoid that war, they ended up distrusting and hating one another which led to them being enemies. Imperialism is the reason for why countries fight over for more territories and also ends up making other countries sought out revenge if they didn’t succeed in taking the land.

ALLIANCES

Another underlying cause of World War I is alliances. This has been existent in Europe before the war even began. As more doubt and detestation enclosed around one another, the countries decided that would sign a treaty and make alliances with each other. These treaties made the countries sign a pledge that they would defend each other during a war. The first to form an alliance was: Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. This alliance which was created by the chancellor of Prussia, Otto von Bismarck, is known as the Triple Alliance. When this first alliance formed, anxiousness rose with Russia and England. Although Otto von Bismarck did try to assure England and Russia that there was nothing to worry about, this didn’t do anything and after 1890, another kind of alliance was formed. France, Russia, and Great Britain formed an entente which is an informal alliance. When one of these countries from one of these alliances were to go into war, the other countries they were in an alliance with would have to help and enter the war too, which is part of what they agreed to but also expands the war into more land. In 1914, these alliances fought on the same side and aided each other when the time of war came at the door. World War I unfolded after Austria-Hungary with Germany as it’s alliance, declared war on Serbia. Since Serbia had Slavic people in their population, Russia, with its duty to defend and lead all Slavs, obligated and took Serbia’s side and declared war on Austria-Hungary. Germany then declared war on Russia. With France and its alliance with Russia, it declared war on Germany and Germany returned the favor and declared war on France. At this point, a great number of innocent people and even the numbers of soldiers increased as more countries joined in. Europe was officially at war with itself and any sign of the peace of Europe seemed to be gone from the horizon, this is shown with the cartoon published on August 5, 1914, called the “The Crime of the Ages”, just two months after the war happened.

Europe was a mess and it the countries defending one another looked something like this

MILITARISM

Militarism is the main cause of World War I as it instills fear and intimidation with its neighboring and far-flung countries which caused them to build up and grow their armaments. The meaning of militarism is the glorification of the military. The military was being described as admirable, but most especially unjustifiable. The idea of the “survival of the fittest” is what lingered in the minds of the men who took part in the rise of militarism in the 1800s. The countries who took part in this race on who would have the most and be the strongest were: France, Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Great Britain. The expenditures grew by large amounts, as charted, from 1890 to 1914, as. The growth in armaments was truly a large amount. Emile Zola, a critic, political activist, and one of the most prominent French novelist in the 19th century was an author of the book, The origins of the First World War, and in this, he wrote “War is life itself. Nothing exists in nature, in born, grows, or multiples except by combat”. This explains that they thought that it was a necessity to have a military, and that militarism was the main cause of World War I as it was a great importance to have an army, weapons, navy, and war in order to strive and be successful. The mindset of the fighting countries was that you could only win a war with a strong military. Also, if a country were to have a strong military, and this led to winning wars and more success in battles over claiming more land, this also meant that other countries would respect and wouldn’t want to mess with that country. One of the biggest and fiercest competitions happened between Germany and Britain, these two countries had a naval rivalry. At first, Great Britain was at the top and well known for having the world’s most respected navy. Suddenly, Germany started to make its own battle fleet. This shipbuilding arms race, which began in 1906 and ended in 1914, created this conflict between both countries which had also seen to have caused World War I. Both the feeling of fear and superiority over other countries built up along with the competitions for a bigger arms race. By 1914, when the First World War erupted, all these armaments that had been built-up over the years, which composed of tanks, guns, and more, were all ready to fire away. They’ve built up their army because the countries participating in the growth of it knew that they were going to employ them.

Although imperialism and alliances are important causes of World War I, militarism is the main cause. Some would argue for the other two underlying cause, however, militarism, when compared to the two, had a greater impact to what lead to World War I. Competition, inferiority, detestation, distrust, intimidation, and fear all went into one when it came to militarism. Militarism was imperialism and alliances as it is a mixture of both and more. It is because of militarism that alliances form, a country or nation forms alliances because they know they would need help and more defense from others to protect itself from another country’s or another alliance’s army or military. Without militarism, without an army, without a military, there would be no imperialism. It would be almost impossible for countries to fight over for more land, or for countries to even take over land because in order to do this you would need an army, you would need a military, and you would need militarism. This is why militarism is the main cause, it’s the exact recipe to create destruction, disaster, and most especially war, World War I.

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

 

Quote of awesomeness: “A promise must never be broken.” ~ Alexander Hamilton

One of the greatest man in history who has helped in shaping our bank system today, establishing the system of Federalism and is also known as one of the founding fathers of the nation, Alexander Hamilton. There is still so much more that he has done, so much more. It has been such an honor getting able to read about him because without him, and his awesome mind the world would be different today. Yes, he also has a play, called Hamilton, about his life.

Our First National bank was because of…

FUUUN FACT!: Did you know that Hamilton founded the first National Bank in the US which both Thomas Jefferson (as a Republican) and James Madison (who became the 4th president of the United States) was going against him and trying to prevent him from making it happen (but it did happen, Hamilton succeeded and with a good purpose)

Alexander Hamilton was well aware of the system that the British were using for their banks and he wanted the US to have it’s own like them. His reason to have a bank which he had the plan of spreading all throughout the other states were:

• The US would have its own uniform currency
• The bank could lend to people and governments (especially to start for business purposes)
• The US basically needed one
• The US was using Spanish dollars and they should have their own currency because it’s better
• It could hold deposits

Childhood of Alexander Hamilton

Alexander may have been living in a house in NYC and became famous and met so many important people before but it wasn’t always like this. He wasn’t born into this kind of life. He brought himself up without any of his family members to help but just himself to depend on. His father left them (him, his brother, and his mother) at a very young age, and, unfortunately, his mother died from a sickness which left Alexander and his brother, James, with nothing. You may be wondering why would they not inherit anything from their mother. The reason is that their mother, Rachel Faucette Buck, was forbidden to marry anyone else as she was still married. Rachel had a son, Peter, who was legally left with him all of his mother’s things.

This still didn’t bring down and he strived harder to succeed in his life goals. He started out small and worked his way up. His talents didn’t go unnoticed and this brought him to greater things.

One of his special moments was when he gave a speech once when he was just in college which inspired so many people and which also left a lot of them astonished (in a good way) as they realized he was just a “Collegian!”

Did you know that there were plenty of times when which Alexander would fight in the war against the British? He was one of the men who greatly helped in winning the war against the British. And, Alexander wrote and thought of important choices for George Washington.

The Affair

Although he has done many great things, Alexander did have flaws like everyone else. Unfortunately, with his past of his father leaving and abandoning his mother (his reason being: not wanting hamilton’s mother to be charged with bigamy) he had a “soft spot” for women and went into this affair while married to Elizabeth Schuyler-Hamilton with Maria Reynolds after she begged him for him one night and told him her story about how her husband was abusing her. Hamilton couldn’t say no or bring down a woman in need. He would visit Maria and have stached up money in his pocket. He tried to stop this (his affair) but then Maria sent a letter to him explaining how she doesn’t find a reason to live unless he would be with her. This again affected him and he continued seeing her. Soon enough, they got caught by Maria’s husband, James Reynolds.

Hamilton was being blackmailed by James into paying large sums as he threatened to tell the media about his affair. He needed to protect his honor, it was very important to him. But there was a cost, one day, his firstborn son, Philip fought at a duel against George I. Eacker with the intent of protecting his father’s honor. Philip didn’t win but something worse happened, his wound was too bad to heal that no doctor was able to do anything and he died on November 23, 1801. This hurt Alexander and his wife greatly and this is when Alexander made the decision to quit his job.

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Alexander Hamilton was George Washington’s right hand or aide-de-camp. And, they worked very closely. Hamilton also looked up at Washington as a fatherly figure as his own father he never met. He became the first treasurer secretary which Washington gave to him. He had eight children. He died at the age of 49 a few days after a duel against Aaron Burr in the same place where his son, Philip, got a mortal wound.

According to toptenz, it was in August 1772, when Hamilton was 17 (but telling people he was 15 (yes he lied about his age – L.O.A.S.H)) the West Indies was hit by a horrible hurricane. Hamilton, who was working as a clerk, wrote about the hurricane in a letter that he planned on sending to his father. However, first he showed it to a Presbyterian minister named Hugh Knox, who was also mentoring him. In an interesting side note, Knox was ordained as a minister by Aaron Burr Sr., the father of Vice President Aaron Burr. As you probably know if you ever studied American history, Aaron Burr is going to be a big part of this list.

But, back to the letter – Knox read it and was impressed with Hamilton’s writing. He encouraged Hamilton to publish it in the newspaper where Knox filled in as an editor. It was printed in October along with a foreword by Knox. After the letter was published, several businessmen in St. Croix wanted to know the identity of the writer and when Hamilton came forward, they took up a collection to send him to America to be educated. Several months later, Hamilton was sent to New York where he enrolled in King’s College (which is now Columbia).

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This is Alexander’s Letter which brought him to America:

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It began about dusk, at North, and raged very violently till ten o’clock. Then ensued a sudden and unexpected interval, which lasted about an hour. Meanwhile the wind was shifting round to the South West point, from whence it returned with redoubled fury and continued so ’till near three o’clock in the morning. Good God! what horror and destruction. Its impossible for me to describe or you to form any idea of it. It seemed as if a total dissolution of nature was taking place. The roaring of the sea and wind, fiery meteors flying about it in the air, the prodigious glare of almost perpetual lightning, the crash of the falling houses, and the ear-piercing shrieks of the distressed, were sufficient to strike astonishment into Angels. A great part of the buildings throughout the Island are levelled to the ground, almost all the rest very much shattered; several persons killed and numbers utterly ruined; whole families running about the streets, unknowing where to find a place of shelter; the sick exposed to the keeness of water and air without a bed to lie upon, or a dry covering to their bodies; and our harbours entirely bare. In a word, misery, in all its most hideous shapes, spread over the whole face of the country. A strong smell of gunpowder added somewhat to the terrors of the night; and it was observed that the rain was surprizingly salt. Indeed the water is so brackish and full of sulphur that there is hardly any drinking it.

My reflections and feelings on this frightful and melancholy occasion, are set forth in the following self-discourse.

Where now, oh! vile worm, is all thy boasted fortitude and resolution? What is become of thine arrogance and self sufficiency? Why dost thou tremble and stand aghast? How humble, how helpless, how contemptible you now appear. And for why? The jarring of elements—the discord of clouds? Oh! impotent presumptuous fool! how durst thou offend that Omnipotence, whose nod alone were sufficient to quell the destruction that hovers over thee, or crush thee into atoms? See thy wretched helpless state, and learn to know thyself. Learn to know thy best support. Despise thyself, and adore thy God. How sweet, how unutterably sweet were now, the voice of an approving conscience; Then couldst thou say, hence ye idle alarms, why do I shrink? What have I to fear? A pleasing calm suspense! A short repose from calamity to end in eternal bliss? Let the Earth rend. Let the planets forsake their course. Let the Sun be extinguished and the Heavens burst asunder. Yet what have I to dread? My staff can never be broken—in Omnip[o]tence I trusted.

He who gave the winds to blow, and the lightnings to rage—even him have I always loved and served. His precepts have I observed. His commandments have I obeyed—and his perfections have I adored. He will snatch me from ruin. He will exalt me to the fellowship of Angels and Seraphs, and to the fullness of never ending joys.

But alas! how different, how deplorable, how gloomy the prospect! Death comes rushing on in triumph veiled in a mantle of tenfold darkness. His unrelenting scythe, pointed, and ready for the stroke. On his right hand sits destruction, hurling the winds and belching forth flames: Calamity on his left threatening famine disease and distress of all kinds. And Oh! thou wretch, look still a little further; see the gulph of eternal misery open. There mayest thou shortly plunge—the just reward of thy vileness. Alas! whither canst thou fly? Where hide thyself? Thou canst not call upon thy God; thy life has been a continual warfare with him.

Hark—ruin and confusion on every side. ’Tis thy turn next; but one short moment, even now, Oh Lord help. Jesus be merciful!

Thus did I reflect, and thus at every gust of the wind, did I conclude, ’till it pleased the Almighty to allay it. Nor did my emotions proceed either from the suggestions of too much natural fear, or a conscience over-burthened with crimes of an uncommon cast. I thank God, this was not the case. The scenes of horror exhibited around us, naturally awakened such ideas in every thinking breast, and aggravated the deformity of every failing of our lives. It were a lamentable insensibility indeed, not to have had such feelings, and I think inconsistent with human nature.

Our distressed, helpless condition taught us humility and contempt of ourselves. The horrors of the night, the prospect of an immediate, cruel death—or, as one may say, of being crushed by the Almighty in his anger—filled us with terror. And every thing that had tended to weaken our interest with him, upbraided us in the strongest colours, with our baseness and folly. That which, in a calm unruffled temper, we call a natural cause, seemed then like the correction of the Deity. Our imagination represented him as an incensed master, executing vengeance on the crimes of his servants. The father and benefactor were forgot, and in that view, a consciousness of our guilt filled us with despair.

But see, the Lord relents. He hears our prayer. The Lightning ceases. The winds are appeased. The warring elements are reconciled and all things promise peace. The darkness is dispell’d and drooping nature revives at the approaching dawn. Look back Oh! my soul, look back and tremble. Rejoice at thy deliverance, and humble thyself in the presence of thy deliverer.

Yet hold, Oh vain mortal! Check thy ill timed joy. Art thou so selfish to exult because thy lot is happy in a season of universal woe? Hast thou no feelings for the miseries of thy fellow-creatures? And art thou incapable of the soft pangs of sympathetic sorrow? Look around thee and shudder at the view. See desolation and ruin where’er thou turnest thine eye! See thy fellow-creatures pale and lifeless; their bodies mangled, their souls snatched into eternity, unexpecting. Alas! perhaps unprepared! Hark the bitter groans of distress. See sickness and infirmities exposed to the inclemencies of wind and water! See tender infancy pinched with hunger and hanging on the mothers knee for food! See the unhappy mothers anxiety. Her poverty denies relief, her breast heaves with pangs of maternal pity, her heart is bursting, the tears gush down her cheeks. Oh sights of woe! Oh distress unspeakable! My heart bleeds, but I have no power to solace! O ye, who revel in affluence, see the afflictions of humanity and bestow your superfluity to ease them. Say not, we have suffered also, and thence withold your compassion. What are you[r] sufferings compared to those? Ye have still more than enough left. Act wisely. Succour the miserable and lay up a treasure in Heaven.

I am afraid, Sir, you will think this description more the effort of imagination than a true picture of realities. But I can affirm with the greatest truth, that there is not a single circumstance touched upon, which I have not absolutely been an eye witness to.

Our General [Ulrich Wilhelm Roepstorff, Governor General of St. Croix] has issued several very salutary and humane regulations, and both in his publick and private measures, has shewn himself the Man.

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AMAZING, RIGHT??!

If you are going to read about Alexander Hamilton, I highly recommend the book Alexander Hamilton Revolutionary written by Martha Brockenbrough. It was copywritten on 2017 and its pages will leave you excited to know about Hamilton

Yours Truly,

L.O.A.S.H

“Never Again, Never Again, Never Again to Martial Law!”

September 21:

I still distinctly remember the rally that was formed around the stage at Luneta Park. It was about 2 hours before dusk when we decided to check out how many people had gathered for the rally so far. There was a crowd of thousands who were either standing or sitting as groups on the side, and, as we followed their gaze, we saw a group of people standing on the stage talking about how we cannot go through martial law again. 

I agree, don’t you?

To fully understand why these people put up the courage, action, and passion to stand up on stage and speak to thousands of people watching, we should go a few decades back.

President Ferdinand Marcos, who was elected in 1965, made the decision and declared martial law on September 21, 1972.

Martial Law was removed in 1981. 

As we look up, we notice that the time from when martial law began and the time to when it (finally) stopped is 9 years. Can you imagine nine years of suffering? NINE FLAT YEARS. To even fully understand it more to what their suffering means here are the horrible things they underwent:

Here’s the thing, instead of using their brains to solve “world peace” or to slowly diminish famine around the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos (and whoever else devised these ways of torture) just, you know, used their brain powers to construct cruel and unnecessary devices and ways to hurt people and torture them till they die. 

The following are from Rappler:

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(WARNING: The following illustrations may be graphic to some readers. Kindly view at your own discretion.)

Electric shock – Electric wires are attached to the victim’s fingers, arms, head and in some cases, genitalia.

San Juanico Bridge – The victim lies between two beds and if his/her body falls, he/she will be beaten.

Truth serum – An injection administered in hospitals and used for interrogation, making a victim “talk drunkenly.”

Russian roulette – Loading a bullet into one chamber of a revolver, spinning the cylinder, and then forcing the victim to pull the trigger while pointing the gun at his/her own head.

Beating – Victim is beaten by a group of soldiers.

Pistol-whipping – The victim is beaten with a rifle butt.

Water cure – Water is forced through the victim’s mouth and then forced out by beating.

Strangulation – Constriction of the victim’s neck done by hand, electric wire, or steel bar.

Cigar and flat iron burns – Victims of torture are inflicted with burns using cigarettes, and even a flat iron.

Pepper torture – A “concentrated pepper substance” is put on the victim’s lips or rubbed on his/her genitalia.

Animal treatment – The victim is shackled, caged, treated, and fed like an animal.

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It’s too much. Thousands were brought unto this dreadful times and even some described it as “worse than death”. Nobody, not one single human being, deserves this kind of treatment. So say it with me!! Never Again, Never Again, Never Again to Martial Law!!!!

Going back to what happened at the rally:

As night fell, the rain seemed to follow along with some thunder. But the crowd never faltered. Barely anyone was leaving. We even spotted six people all huddled together under one single umbrella still having their laser focus on the speakers at the stage. The energy was great. And, with every second passing, with every trickle of rain streaming down someone’s umbrella, with every roar of thunder, the crowd just kept growing with the excitement with the feeling of victory and teamwork. Even though no one really knew each other except for their friends or family that they had with them, there was a split second when everyone joined in for the shouting of freedom (“NEVER AGAIN TO MARTIAL LAW”) and singing (Do you hear the people sing?) that I saw the closeness and the bravery of each and every one. It was an awesome night and it truly changed my perspective of how I saw martial law.

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LAWNS = NO, GARDENS = YES!!!!

Hi, guys! Welcome back to my blog! And, advanced MERRY CHRISTMAS to all of you awesome humans!! Here’s a blog on lawns and how we shouldn’t

Yes, those huge green spaces, usually found in front of a house, which normally has sprinklers (around 1-3, really depending on how big the lawn is), grass, grass- oh! Did I forget to mention there’s grass? And, if you’re really lucky, you would find one or two dandelions around. Some people even consider putting a sign or two saying “KEEP OFF OF GRASS” or “WALK ON PATHWAY ONLY”.

The thing is, lawns have been existent as far as the 16th century. In the beginning, lawns just had the purpose (waaaaaay before) to help the people see if an animal or some person were coming from a direction which seemed to be endangering others. Then soon enough years passed then bowling came the next “cool and popular thing” that went around until it was banished for the “commoners” in England by several kings, which is just unfair. Let’s fast forward again, the Northern Europeans migrate and travel to North America, they share their ideas with the lawns and what they need to start their own. Only the rich and wealthy were able to afford these new “cool” grass trends, at the start. Then looking at today, you can find lawns nearly anywhere. There are too many gallons of water that endlessly get wasted to just these lawns.

I just found out that according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, that more than 30-60 percent of water from the total percentage which a household uses goes to your outdoors. If we look at both what would be worth using up water on, lawns or gardens? Another thing the US EPA mentioned was this:

If the average sized lawn here in the US gets 20 minutes of watering every day seven days a week 

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running the shower constantly for 4 days 

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taking more than 800 showers 

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this is the amount of water needed for the average family to take 1 year’s worth of shower

I was blown away by such an extraordinary amount that is being used just by ONE average lawn, just one. Can you imagine the hundreds of thousands of lawns using this much water? That’s way too much. But it’s not too late to change this numbers and change our currently occupied spaces by lawns into something better. It’s never too late.

The benefits of having a garden:

Plants and trees absorb sounds. Yeah, you read that right. They absorb sound and these are actually one of their not – so – known traits that they have. Meaning this benefits us when it comes to noise pollution.

Secondly, plants and trees also aid with our pollution. They take in the carbon dioxide that we humans exhale and create, as they give out and produce oxygen. And, this oxygen is a very important component for us to live and survive.

If you have edible plants you could even save a bit of money by reducing the times you visit the market and grow them yourself and produce more in your backyard! And since you’ve grown these plants yourself, you’ll also be aware that there won’t be any preservative or other stuff that barely anyone could spell being injected or placed into your food.

Gardens also help other types of wildlife which insects and other animals like to hang out and even eat a bit of fruit from the trees and take shelter. It’s awesome knowing that we’re helping these creatures while we help ourselves, too. It’s awesome that we’re able to help in these little ways to our one and only home, earth, especially since plants help remove chemicals and bacteria from water in the ground.  

Here is an awesome (oh you know, they’re just so awesome) solutions:

• Home Gardens for everyone!

Here, imagine this, trees that bear awesome tasting and healthy fruits at your front door. You look up and even find a bird perched on one of your tree branches singing a lovely tune. A breeze swifts past you momentarily spreading an aromatic smell filling your living room with a fragrance of ripe oranges, basil, rosemary and you even take a hint of sage which seemed to be lingering from your next door neighbor’s newly planted herb. Wouldn’t this be such a wonderful sight (or should I say smell) to wake up to? Everyone can try to convert their lawns to a garden which would not only be such an amazing sight to see but very useful to this earth, the animals that live in it and even ourselves. It doesn’t have to be a humungous garden with trees and herbs everywhere you could barely walk back to your house. There are plenty of ways you could design your garden to your liking! Small or big, it all helps. Students and everyone who would want to could even volunteer to help water or take care of the plants.

Spread the word, guys! You could also probably be the one to influence others wherever you live to do the same! Just keep being awesome and create your own ideas! 

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The great powers that come with wind turbines.

Wind turbines were invented way before you. Like a thousand years earlier. Circa A.D. times, Wind Mills already existed. Did you know that way back even in 5000 BC Egyptians already started using the concept of wind power for their boats? Yup, they did. Pretty awesome, I know.

My Question: Why are wind turbines not everywhere?

I would have thought that with these thousands of years that have passed we would have been able to establish some worldwide wind turbine system put both onshore and offshore around this planet. Although some would debate that it would be a disadvantage to some wildlife such as birds and bats and also some complaints on the noise pollution it creates, we can find a way to fix that problem (right?).

The simple principle on which wind turbines use to create energy and produce electricity

There is a small device attached to the very end of the wind turbine (kind of like a tail) which has two to three blades (but instead of being sharp it’s rounded and caved like a spoon and its movement is similar to that of mini propellers) and is known as an anemometer. This device (anemometer) is connected to a rotor which is connected to the main shaft which is connected to and spins a generator which produces and create electricity! 

 

Creds: Department of Energy

 

There are a minimum and maximum speed of air which is needed for the wind turbine to move or stop (especially if the winds are too strong). And, according to WilloWindEnergy (which is both a developer and operator of wind farms in the UK), the wind turbine would need a minimum wind speed of 4 to 5 meters per second (circa 10 miles per hour) and a maximum wind speed of 15 meters per second (circa 33 miles per hour). 

What is the difference between offshore and onshore wind turbines?

First and the main difference between the two types are the locations. Offshore wind turbines are in the ocean and onshore wind turbines are on land.

 

Offshore Wind Turbine

Offshore wind turbines are farther away from humans which makes it safer and less irritating (with its noise pollution). Also, because winds are usually higher at sea, they built these wind turbines to be stronger and they are also better at producing as well. But, unfortunately, it is more difficult to install offshore wind turbines compared to onshore because it’s like in the middle of the ocean. Okay, fine, not exactly at the center of the ocean but really far from civilization in the middle of rough waves and strong winds. Also, the wind turbines (offshore) have the disadvantage of having less maintenance as it’s not such an easy task to grab a boat with the tools and fix the underground wires or other problems that may occur. According to GroundSure, they install the wind turbines in open water by bringing the parts and assembling the parts like a kit. They ship the parts, dividing them by their main components and then when they’re at their location they assemble the turbine piece by piece. Also, the drilling is different (and in my opinion) much harder than onshore because they need to drill deep underneath the seabed whereas onshore wind turbines just need to drill a deep hole underneath the surface of the earth (on land, which should be obviously easier. At least, I think it will).

 

Onshore Wind Turbines in Scotland

 

Onshore wind turbines, on the other hand, have their advantages and disadvantages as well. For your onshore wind turbine (just like the offshore wind turbine) you’ll need to dig a hole where you will place the turbine. The depth of this hole would be around 1 meter or 3 feet but it varies with the size of your wind turbine. The bigger the turbine = the bigger the drill and dig. Most cons lie on the noise pollution they omit, the dangers of wildlife getting hit by this that onshore wind turbines, and apparently, they also don’t look a pleasant sight to some.

 

Creds: Union of Concerned Scientist This is the revolution of how wind turbines came to be today and probably in the near future.

 

How do we calculate wind power?

We can calculate the wind power that is used by the anemometer on the wind turbines with the equation: P = 1/2 ρ A v³  

P = power

 

ρ = density of air 

 

A = area wind passing through (which is perpendicular to the wind)

 

v = wind velocity (m/s)

How do we choose which is the best place to put a wind turbine?

First, you should:

Choose a location

1. Avoid slow winds
2. Avoid turbulent wind
3. NEVER put the wind turbine on top of a building
   1. It creates loud noises which won’t be pleasant for the people in the building
   2. It’s not always a site for everyone to enjoy
   3. It might not be that stable (compared to the once that have a foundation and are built and stabilized underneath the earth surface a bit

High wind speed tip:

1. Open areas are best
2. Upppp high (but not on a building [<— REMEMBER])
   1. If you want it on a higher area just extend the stand to be longer (but you will also most likely need to dig deeper, as well)

And, according to the wind energy association, 

The output of a wind turbine depends on the turbine’s size and the wind’s speed through the rotor. An average onshore wind turbine with a capacity of 2.5–3 MW can produce more than 6 million kWh in a year – enough to supply 1,500 average EU households with electricity.

BIGGER TURBINE = MORE POWER

BIGGER TURBINE = DIG DEEPER

Something that just blew my mind with it’s awesomeness…….

If you check out this website, you will see (in real time) the movement of wind happening around the globe! And, that’s not all! You can also see the global map of wind, weather, and ocean conditions. Here’s a small take on what you will see once you visit the website.

Mind – blowing,

I know,

I know.

Check it out!

 

So, here we are again: why don’t we have more wind turbines? It mostly lies on a couple of problems such as —> the fund. Although you might think that the price of the wind turbines by themselves is quite reasonable (especially considering the length and how much non-polluting energy and electricity it can produce), you would still have to consider all the other factors such as taxes, labor, and transportation expenses on the bill. But, with global funding, greater engineers (to solve the endangerment to flying wildlife and loud sounds emitted), awesome artists (to fix the “looks” maybe so that it could be a sight to sore eyes, too) and imagine that! Teamwork. Passion. We can probably make this work. And, think about it, we could even reduce the problems that come with burning fossil fuel in the long term.

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

Montag Living Museum: Bringing Back the Past

We traveled to the Motag Living Musem in Malay, Aklan, the Philippines on a very fine day. Today, you will go on a very special adventure with me back into the past. Ready? Yes. Yes, you are.

Pricing | Opening and Closing Hours

So before we start our trip, I should let you guys know the details to get in first. You’ll have to pay for your ticket so the following will be the list of prices and package deals:

Adult —> ₱700

Child —> ₱300

Babies are free

Family ticket (which consists of two adults and two children) —> ₱1,600

Student with ID —> ₱500

So…… those are the prices you may as a well know the opening and closing hour ^__^ which are:

Opening days are on: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Close days are on: Monday

Save the dates!!!!

By the way, the best way to enjoy all the fun interactivity in this living museum, I suggest wearing some sort of flip flop or slippers. And, make sure you prepare yourself to get messy. Cause, it can get messy. Real messy.

Our Adventure Begins…

From Wells to Faucets: “Hmm….”

Once we paid our entrance fee, our guide showed us a to a deep well which kids would visit every day to get water for washing dishes and clothes. This was the contribution of the kids for their parents in their chores. My siblings and I each took turns bringing the bucket (which was basically a bamboo cut in half connected to a loooong stick with string) up with water from the bottom of the well. It was quite heavy. But, can you imagine that, compared to the present, kids had to run up the hills or wherever these wells were placed and bring the bucket (A.K.A bamboo cut in half) back to their homes nearly every day. Nowadays, we could just walk to our faucets and twist that handle to make water (which seems to flow forever) flow and flow and flow. Back then, they would appreciate the water more as it was hard work but now some people just let their water run on. The schedule for most kids was before they went to school they would get a bucket of water and run back home, then, at the end of the day after school, they would go back to the well and bring back some water home. This was a good training, right? Although, some people still get their water this way, the “hard” way. Would you want to bring this piece of history back and spread it around??

Showers and Toilets: “Could I have some privacy, please?”

We were then brought to the showers that they used to use before. It was a medium size stall with no door. There was this big pot which had a big scoop made of bamboo. The scoop looked like the ones we use to scoop up some soup. That was pretty much it. I liked the simplicity it had.

Now onto the toilets….  It was a small hut with a hole on the floor. The hole went deep down where they would you know poo and pee. Heh. Personally, I did not enjoy the simplicity in this one, on the other, hand because I was utterly shaken. But, did you know, that even in Taiwan this is how their toilets are? Anyways, apparently, it’s better to poo while squatting. And, I’ve even encountered a toilet like this in France, once! Heh, I was confused when I first saw these. My mind was filling up with questions like: “Why?” “What does it expect me to do?” “Do I still have to go to the bathroom? Eh.”. I refused to go to the toilet for a while, hahaha. Would you want these toilets to be everywhere? At least in France, they had a choice of whether you wanted to squat or sit. But in Taiwan, it seemed as if all the public toilet stalls were already occupied by this type of toilet. At least you get to defecate better?

Shampoo, Condition, Deodorant: “Healthy and Organic”

I was struck by the scent of their shampoo, conditioner, and deodorant. Do you want to know what they use? Yes. Yes, you do. Their shampoo was just pure coconut oil, it has the best texture ever. I think you should try it! WAIT! I know you should try it. It’s amazing how this community in the museum and most people from the past use this before. This is very healthy to nourish your scalp. BTW, the coconut oil comes from coconuts.

Next, their conditioner was just as simple as the coconut oil. What they used was a type of leaf called Maria Maria. My nose melted from the sweet scent of it. I could literally smell 24 hours and 365 days. I didn’t want to leave it. All they did was mash up the delicate leaves in their hands and apply it to the hair. Simple.

Last but not least, deodorant!!!! Even back then people’s armpits smelt so here comes the life saver. To make this you will need Coconut oil + coconut shredded meat + Maria Maria = Happy armpits. Yay.

I’m actually considering converting all of my shampoos, conditioners, and deodorant (which I don’t know the last I used) into homemade natural and safe products rather than these chemically very good smelling products on the market. Care to join me? You can literally buy coconut oil at your local drugstore (well, most of the time). I’ll report back to you guys if my hair has changed by the coconut oil… Or, you could test it out and report back to me. That works too.

Hous- er, Bahay Kubo: “Bahay Kubo is house in Tagalog (language lesson!!!)”

 Since they used only materials that are local, the house was constructed of bamboo. THE WHOLE HOUSE!!! Their walls were cut in half pounded bamboo to make it look straight and wall like. While their flooring was cut up straight line pieces of a bamboo all tied together. Just look at the pictures if you have zero clues as to what I am describing, please.

Inside the house: “DUN DUN DUN!! YAY!”

We were greeted by an elder woman who was smoking hand made tobacco. She was smoking tobacco while making tobacco sticks. I watched as she rolled up something like leaves in a paper thingy. That was tobacco. But, what you need to know is that their humungous farms of tobacco were replaced by a hotel. A hotel! That hotel is located in Boracay and is called Fairways.

Anyways, their bed is just a mat on the floor. The bigger the family = the bigger the mat. What I enjoyed discovering was their baby crib. No, it wasn’t a square basket made of bamboo (which I’m thinking of now sounds pretty cool). It was a big cloth connect to a string connected to the ceiling. What was cool about this, was that if the child or baby peed, all they had to do was pull the cloth a bit down so that the part of the cloth that contained the pee would go around and the baby would be laying on dry cloth without ever needing to get out or any hassle. *Pants* Y-you g-g-get that right??? Hopefully, that means yes.

Pillowssss. The cotton that they use is straight from the tree. It’s

The Kitchen: “Mm. My favorite place.”

I love food. How about you?

Their kitchen it connected to their dining area. I’d describe their kitchen as a small rectangular area with the view of the farm. We’ll get there. Patience. Anyways, they place their pots of a small firewood area which they light with some fire. Their ref is a small pot. This confused me. A pot? Really? What does this do? It was a metal pot so maybe it helped to keep cold things cold and hot things hot? The cover of their small, small (, small, small) fridge was made of bamboo. I guess they don’t store things for long. Or, they don’t hide things (like chocolate) in there as there is barely enough space for a bowl of porridge to fit.

Their cups were bamboo. All they had to do was cup a portion of the bamboo then *BAM* cup. Next, their spoon and forks. You might have guessed, bamboo was the material used to make the spoon and forks. Okay, literally everything was made of bamboo. Except for the fridge. Which I’m still contemplating about….

Just got home! Time to drinkkkk! 

I mean juice, guys.

Just outside the Bahay Kubo, our guide showed us some sugar cane plants which she explained that whenever someone came home or someone was just thirsty, all they had to do was bite into the sugar cane and sweet juice came out.  I didn’t get to try it there. But, I’ve tried thiis before. And, I have a few words to share… IT… WAS….. DA……BEST. (Yes, I know I said “DA” not “The ” ~_~, lol). The juice is like so mouth watering. Even though I’m not so fond with the sugar cane juice (for some reason my tongue won’t accept the taste…) I’m in love with eating it. But, you can’t swallow it, BTW. You just chew it, take in the juice and spit it out. Try it some time. It’s an adventure itself

Rice. Rice. Rice: “It’s hard work, dudes…”

Before we get into the rice, lemme say that I rode a carabao! It was so cool. I kinda felt like it was just a 10x bigger doggie, haha. No, they didn’t have those seats that are usually attached to a horse. Anyways, just to mention, it was quite the struggle hanging on to the carabao with hopes of not falling into his poop and pee. It was all worthwhile though. It was a good thing we had our guide to help us with the carabao because I’m 100% sure our guide saved me from his poop. 100%  sure, guys. Funny thing is that 2 seconds before I made the decision to ride, it pooped….. big time. Just a bit of extra info on the carabao because he was awesome: His name is Daiwao and he is 6 years old. He weighs up to 500 kilos. I wonder what he eats.

Time to RICE (suppose to be spice…. get it? heh.) up the partttteeeeyyyy. I had to.

Every year, before, they only got to plant and harvest 1 time a year. Now, they plant and harvest 3 times a year. But, whilst (cool word) our guide explained all this, what went on in my head was “JUST 3 times a year?!”. But, the work can be tedious at times and it’s difficult.

Anyways, have you ever tried planting rice plants? They have to plant one at a time. I tried it. My feet sank into the muddy waters. It felt like I was in quicksand. I went towards the woman who was planting the rice and she handed me a few plants. I carefully placed one plant at a time into the mud while wet soil seeped into my nails. “She does this all by herself?” I ask myself every now and then. We shouldn’t waste rice. There’s hard work behind rice.

More on Rice

That’s not all! In a separate area of the rice farm, was the rice crops which were already ready for picking which they individually cut up the rice and place in a basket. The next step is to dry everything up. Then, we separated the rice from the husks by stepping on it on top of a small elevated floor with small holes on the floor. While the rice fell down, the wind helped to carry away the dead and empty rice from the full rice.

Our adventure was such a great time. I enjoyed finding more about our history. The work that we’ve put into this day was what they usually do everyday before and sometimes now. Did I mention that the only reason as to why this farm doesn’t get any machines for plowing and other is because they don’t want to replace their farmers? This is a very good example for a healthy and happy community which all works together. You should visit! You’ll enjoy ^__^

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

President Lincoln and John F. Kennedy

Two of my favorite presidents of all time. Well, two of the presidents I hear about almost every time we have discussions on past presidents. But, unfortunately, these two great men who changed the world in ways I can’t even imagine have both been assassinated. While given an assignment to “investigate” the similarities from both assassinations, I’ve been spooked. Honestly, the similarities made me feel creeped out.

First, I’d like to discuss President Abraham Lincoln. Yes, he was known for his great role and leadership during the Civil War. He has gone through rough times and has been under immense pressure in the Civil War. President Abraham has also ended slavery when he began the process of Emancipation Proclamation. But, it wasn’t that simple. He didn’t just simply begin the process then *BAM!* slavery ended, it was a huge struggle for him, at the start, to abolish slavery.

It was unjust and inhumane, children as young as 11 were illegally (ILLEGALLY!!) and forcefully taken from the parents and were sold. A man, one great man had the greatest courage to stop this terrible act of slavery, that man is known as the great President Lincoln. President Abraham Lincoln died on April 15, 1865, in a house across the street in front of Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. where they were watching a play called“Our American Cousin”.

Now, let’s learn a little bit about president John F. Kennedy.

I’ll just go ahead and start listing down the weird similarities between President Lincoln and President John F. Kennedy:

---

Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.
John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.

Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.
John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.

The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain 7 letters (not like this has to do with anything???)

Both presidents were concerned with Civil Rights

Both presidents wives lost their children while living in the White House.

Both Presidents were shot on a Friday in the head.

Both Presidents were shot in beside the wives.

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You can choose to believe that they are weirdly similar and is linking to something. I’m just representing you with the facts I’ve found.

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

Dying Paradises of the Philippines

The Philippine waters are usually full of beautiful fish and colorful, live corals. Taking a look back it can change your views on a lot of things. You could have discovered a variety of different colors, shapes, and sizes. There were such a great amount of schools (of fish) you could see as you swam around and had your sunset walks. Everything might have looked great on the outside with shimmering light blue water which seemed so perfect you couldn’t believe your eyes. But, the real story is within. You can’t always see what’s happening on the outside so we have to really dive in and find out. And, while there are many other beautiful utopias (^_~), we will be concentrating on the Philippines waters.

Philippines waters: Some are protected… Some aren’t

Because of the Philippines bountiful amount of marine life, 100 scientists have claimed it (the Philippines) to be the world’s “center of marine biodiversity”. That is a pretty great achievement. So that means 100 different people (that are scientist!!) have all agreed on the fact that the Philippines is full on boasting with underwater sea creature…… cool! And, if you go scuba diving, in some areas, you would feel like you were just transported into a new world. We need to learn to take care of this.

Intro to the Coral Triangle: Underwater heaven 

Did you know that the Philippines is part of the Coral Triangle? This (the coral triangle) is a marine area stretching far across six countries which are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Timor – Leste and Solomon Islands. Others say that it’s nearly the size half of America.Anyways, the Coral triangle is mostly famous for its astonishing amount of corals ranging from 500 to 600 different species of reef – building corals.But, that is not all! This (slightly broken) triangle supports, nurtures, and maintains more than 2000 species of reef fish!! It was on 2007 that the WWF started its Coral Triangle Program. The WWF has taken up the challenge to protect the Coral Triangle and develop sustainable solutions to help the inhabitants of the region. With the help of the USAID, the Conservation Internation, The Nature Conservancy, and the WWF are all working together on policy, fisheries management, marine protected areas and climate change adaption.

Donsol bay: Sneak peak of the biggest fish in the world

Also, the biggest fish swims within the 2000 species of reef fish.This fish is called the whale shark! If you haven’t heard of one or seen one you could watch (the awesome film) Finding Dory. And, yes, this type of fish is called a whale shark. If you want to see and swim with these big fishes, you could go on an adventure to Donsol bay which is also connected with the Coral Triangle. This is one of the many Paradises of the Philippines where you could go to enjoy the bar, hotel, restaurant and more! And, don’t worry….. Whale Sharks, the biggest fish in the world, eats the tiniest living organism in the ocean…. you are safe (most likely) just follow the rules and regulations of not touching them, riding them and chasing them (there is still more). Also, these creatures are very gentle and curious (so they will most likely try to approach you) but you should avoid making any physical contact with the oils on your skin may harm the Whale Shark. And, the good thing about this bay is that it is a marine protected area and that is why you could only snorkel with the Sharks (fish, remember they are fish). Although there is another place called Oslob (in Cebu) where you could find these fish but I advise not to go because it is a huge tourist attraction which has destroyed most of the forms of environmental awareness.

Also, if you are planning to visit, the beach is alluring.

Tubbataha Reef

The Tubbataha Reef is one of the 240 protected areas in the Philippines. It is located at the center of the Sulu Sea. This reef was once a very peaceful, filled with color and life area but it is currently suffering from overfishing, exploitation, and destruction. When other fishing grounds started declining of its fishes, sailors went to Tubbuataha in hopes of more fish in their motorized boats. Some of the problems that evolved over time (very quickly), was that the sailors started using (very, very bad) techniques for fishing like utilizing cyanide (extremely toxic salts that contain anion CN⁻) and dynamite fishing (the practice of using explosives to kill schools of fish). Also, because the boats they (the sailors who started filling up the Tubbataha Reef) used were motorized which polluted the reef with a lot of oil.

Dynamite fishing === Bad…. just bad

This was too much. Explosions?!? This is illegal.

The decision was made with the help of some scuba divers and environmentalists who campaigned to turn the Tubbataha Reef into a national marine park. On August 11, 1988, with the aid of the President, Corazon Aquino, the Proclamation no. 306 was signed, which helped the establishment of 2 (not 1 but 2) Tubbatha reefs into a national marine park of 82,000 acres. Because of this (big) step, Philippines had just done a first time for declaring a marine area into a national park. This national marine park was then being properly taken care of by rangers sent by the Presidential Task Force.

Throughout their (the rangers) early years of protecting the park, they had a few problems. One of their struggles were that in 1996, sliding and shifting sand caused the unstableness of the rangers wooden structure tents. They overcame their problems (yay!) and the marine park rangers are now settled in a styrofoam-reinforced concrete structure. Their location is found on the Southeast Islet on the Tubbataha’s North Atoll. And, they have got their cool equipment with them such as patrol boats, utility boats, radars, radio communications, geo-positioning system (GPS) units, and basic research equipment. 24 hours/7 days a week is the times that the natural park is being guarded by (armed) rangers.

There are plans made by the World Wildlife Fund (or WWF) to make a modernized ranger station that was announced during the 25th anniversary of the Tubbataha’s Reef’s national park declaration in 2013. And, as the WWF says, legendary heroes need great hideouts – Batman had his Batcave, Darth Vader had two Death Stars and Voltes V had Camp Big Falcon.WWF, the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park boasts of unparalleled biodiversity levels. Over 360 hard coral and 600 fish species inhabit the park, which continuously seeds the Sulu Sea with life!!! And, this reef is also a UNESCO World Heritage.This means that this park was listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a special cultural or physical significance.

Future “bat cave” envisioned by the WWF

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just wanted to say thank you to the rangers that are helping guard the Tubataha Reef against exploitation. Thank you for caring about our environment here in the Philippines. Because of the rangers that make it their job to watch on a daily basis, the Tubataha Reef is properly being taken care of. Also, thank you to the strong campaign composed of scuba divers and environmentalist (people who really cared and spent time in the ocean) who made it possible for this reef to be protected and noticed, more!

Trivia: Did you know that on the back of the 1000 pesos bill you could spot the Tubbataha? Now you know!

 

Going there: “Are we there (the national water park) yet?” 

If you are planning to visit this heaven, you will have to take a plane ride to Puerto Princesa. Then from there, it will take about 10 hours to get to the park from Puerto Princesa. That’s a pretty long time but I am absolutely sure that it will be worth the time that was taken. Maybe you could bring some board games or books on your 10-hour trip. Also, the best times to go there would be around mid-March until mid-June…. the waters are calmer at those times. You could also check this, http://www.gopalawan.travel/travel-info/tubbataha-reefs-natural-park, website for more info to book.

Coron: Almost got destroyed by Nickelodeon

“Excitement is something that could blind people from seeing the true about how it could destroy life.” ~ L.O.A.S.H

This was a direct quote from me ^_~. When I wrote “Excitements” I was referring to the one that Nickelodeon was planning to set up. Just recently, Nickelodeon made the plan and announced that they were going to make an underwater theme park in Coron. For me, this sounded so fun I mean I love theme parks but what it also sounded like was that this park was going to be the very thing that would destroy Coron.

In case you haven’t heard of Coron I will be giving you guys a “short” introduction about it. In Palawan, Coron is a first class municipality (a city or town that has corporate status and local government). It’s beach and waters are usually quite and calm. The view is spectacular and the water seems to be crystal clear. After 742 steps of hard – earned sweat, you could watch the sunset in a beautiful angle.

Anyways, proceeding about the theme park. There was a report on January 13-14 where Nickelodeon retracted from building the park because…

 

That was all just a glimpse of what is happening here in the Philippines. There so many people and netizens who are trying to bring a change and help. The Philippines has helped countless people in providing them food and livelihood. But, recently due to the overheating and climate change, more and more fish are dying and more and more people are having a difficult time. Before, if you were to be catching fish you would just take a few hours and barely exert any hard work and your boat would be overflowing with fish. But now, the workload would be longer, harder and less fish would be brought home. This affects all of us. For example, in the market, since it’s become more difficult to catch seafood, the prices will be raised.  We all have a chance to change this. We are all in this together. If you want to help and make a change you can. When you go swimming or have a casual afternoon stroll, you could help by picking up trash. You could teach your local neighborhood more about this. You don’t need millions to help. You. Can. Make. A. Big. Change.

We all have a chance to change this. We are all in this together. If you want to help and make a change you can. When you go swimming or have a casual afternoon stroll, you could help by picking up trash. You could teach your local neighborhood more about this. You don’t need millions to help. You. Can. Make. A. Big. Change.

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

Death Penalty in the Philippines

You probably know what a death penalty is, right? Well, it’s a very crucial punishment that the government has done before to people who have violated the law. For example, if you committed a crime, before, then you would go to jail but now you would die. It was terrible, really. But, there is a threat that the death penalty might return to the Philippines soon.

Timeline of the death penalty (in the Philippines):

It all started a long, long, long time ago.

1800 – 1890: The Spanish Periods

The 18th century is when the death penalty was first implemented in the Philippines. It was the Spanish who started it all. Their reason was to lessen the riots and rebellions. This was known as the Spanish Period. What the Spanish colonizers first did was bring to the Philippines with them a system known as the Europe’s penal system. The penal system is when people get punished for violating laws. The punishments in the penal system include crucial executions like burning, decapitation, drowning, skinning, garrote (the process of which people were killed by strangulation), hanging, shooting, stabbing and others. I was displeased by the fact that people would actually kill others with such excruciating pain; I was displeased by the fact that people would actually kill one another if they didn’t like the other person. As 1848 passed, the death penalty and the other (very cruel) punishments were only said to impose on locals who challenge or disrespect the authority of the colonizers. Now, the people who are enshrined as heroes like Dr. Jose Rizal, Burgos, Gomez, and Zamora have meted the death penalty and executed. There is actually a movie with Dr. Jose Rizal of how he died and why he is a hero.

1898 – 1934: The American Periods

Nope. It still wasn’t over.

Sadly, the American colonizers still retained and kept the death penalty. Also, they (the American colonizers) adopted the Codigo Penal of 1848, at least most of the provisions. In 1932, the Codigo Penal was revised which considered treason, parricide, piracy, kidnapping, murder, rape and robbery (with homicide) as capital offenses and should people who has any of the offenses were to get dealt with a death penalty. Force used against ALL nationalist Filipinos were sanctioned with the Sedition Law (1901); Brigandage Act (1902); Reconcentration Act (1903); and Flag Law (1907), according to the PCIJ Blog.

Of course, there were so many angry people at the time because they thought it was a terrible choice to kill and torture for stealing and others. A man known as Macario Sakay lead a resistance group and later on was sentenced to die by being hanged in public because of it. So what the American authority did was continue the punishments and torture to forcibly put an end to any resistance.

Also, did you know that it was the Americans that introduced the Philippines to electrical chairs? America and the Philippines are the only countries that actually have this type of torturing machine. It sounds crazy, I know.

1965 – 1986: Marcos Years

Ferdinand Marcos was a Filipino politician and a president who ruled from 1965 to 1986. From 1972 to 1981, under martial law, he ruled as a dictator. And, here are some points from PCIJ:

• “Deterrence” became the official justification for the imposition of the death penalty. This is the same justification used for the declaration of Martial Law in 1972.
• The number of capital crimes increased to a total of 24. Some crimes which were made punishable by death through laws and decrees during the Marcos period were the subversion, possession of firearms, arson, hijacking, embezzlement, drug-related offenses, unlawful possession of firearms, illegal fishing and cattle rustling.
• Jaime Jose, Basilio Pineda, and Edgardo Aquino were executed for the gang rape of movie star Maggie de la Riva in 1972. Despite prohibitions against public executions, the execution of the three was done in full view of the public.
• Nineteen executions took place during the Pre-Martial Law period. Twelve were executed during Martial Law.
• Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. was sentenced to die by firing squad for charges of murder, subversion and illegal possession of the firearm in 1977.
• The last judicial execution under the Marcos years was in October 1976 when Marcelo San Jose was executed by electrocution.
• Similar to the reasons for the imposition of capital punishment during the Colonial Periods, the death penalty during the Marcos Regime was imposed to quell the rebellion and social unrest.

1986 – 1992: Time to Chill

Finally, the death penalty was abolished with the 1987 constitution. And, because of this great big step, Philippines became the first Asian country that allowed all crimes to be death penalty free. Everything was down to either life sentences in jail or just short time in jail but death penalty left the Philippines.

Now: ???

There is a huge possibility that the death penalty might come back to the Philippines, again. Before, the 21 crimes that were listed for the death penalty were:

• Treason
• Qualified piracy
• Qualified bribery
• Parricide
• Murder
• Infanticide
• Rape
• Kidnapping and serious illegal detention
• Robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons
• Destructive arson
• Importation of dangerous drugs and/or controlled precursors and essential chemicals
• Sale, trading, administration, dispensation, delivery, distribution, and transportation of dangerous drugs and/or controlled precursors and essential chemicals
• Maintenance of a drug den, dive, or resort
• Manufacture of dangerous drugs and/or controlled precursors and essential chemicals
• Possession of dangerous drugs
• Cultivation or culture of plants classified as dangerous drugs or are sources thereof
• Unlawful prescription of dangerous drugs
• Criminal liability of a public officer or employee for misappropriation, misapplication, or failure to account for the confiscated, seized and/or surrendered dangerous drugs, plant sources of dangerous drugs, controlled precursors, and essential chemicals, instruments/paraphernalia and/or laboratory equipment including the proceeds or properties obtained from the unlawful act committed
• Criminal liability for planting evidence concerning illegal drugs
• Carnapping

Then after the House Caucus, the list was reduced to 4 crimes to be punished with death penalty. But, now, President Duterte announced that the death penalty that he is trying to revive will only be implemented to drug – related crimes. According to CNN, when asked if he (President Duterte) thought the removal of plunder from the list of crimes contradicted his anti-corruption campaign, Duterte clarified he had only vowed to stop corruption — and not to kill plunderers. It is just a matter of time before we find out if death penalty will come back to the Philippines.

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

Journalism History

Roman Empire: 130 BCE

People started to receive news in the Roman Empire. This time was before the year zero around 130 BCE and onwards. In most places, the daily events A.K.A Acta Diurna, in Latin, were carved into stone and placed into different public places such as the market. Most of the information that was written on the stones were about deaths, marriages, births, and results of legal trials. It you imagine the great stress and difficulty people have to go through just to send news out to everyone? It’s a struggle. By hand, stones were being carved every day. And, notice, since they had a daily report, people would have to replace the stones on those streets and markets and local places every day. It’s pretty much a workout to work for the news stones.

But, the news that people should have been aware of were being blocked by the government threatening the publishers to cut them out if they didn’t post propaganda. If you’re wondering what propaganda is, it is information that gives aid and spreads the good things about governments. Which is?

Chinese news: 100 BCE

Anyways, the news was also being used in China around 100 BCE. Instead of Acta Diurna, they called the government’s messages, Dibao, which means Government Report. And, of course, the government was controlling everything that was being heard and read on the news. So this is how the locals heard their news in China. And, can you believe that for decades, hundreds and thousands of years, this was how people got their news?

Carving on stone. Decades go by. Carving on stone. A century goes by. Carving on stone. A few millenniums goes by. CARVING ON STONE. CARVING ON STONE.

Birth of the Printing Press: Circa 1454 AD

Finally, after thousands of years of carving on stone and other slow processes to spread news, a man named Johannes Gutenberg invented something extremely awesome. It was the birth of a new invention which was called the printing press. If you look to your left, you will notice this large contraption which, in close detail, has small metal parts that move when you press certain things on the machine.This became the most effective way of producing and sharing news to others. Because of this machine, print became faster to write, easier to bring around, simpler to make multiple duplicates, less force exerted and, for me, fun to use. Also, because of this German man, the first book of Western Europe was printed. This book is known as the Gutenberg Bible. While 180 copies were printed of this book, only 49 seemed to have survived to this day.

Even though a lot of reports mention that the Gutenberg Bible was the first book ever printed, this is not true. Since the 800’s, China has been producing full – length books using the process of wooden block printing.

European Corantos: 1620 AD

Translation of Corantos:

Single – page Newsletters

This type of news wrote mainly about war and other interesting subjects which displeased the government. The European Corantos was immediately censored by the government as they didn’t want people to learn anything about the news that was being spread through this. With the government stopping the Corantos from doing anything interesting much, they were forced to just write about propaganda.

John Milton’s Speech: 1644 AD

People did notice and disliked the fact that the government was stopping most from

Areopagitica

hearing the news that they wanted to know. John Milton was a greatly known poet who stood up for his belief that people should have the right to information. Even though his speech didn’t work at the time, it has played a very important role in our time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Oxford Gazette: 1665 AD

The Oxfords Gazette is known as the first English newspaper that was printed and the oldest newspaper ever printed. This newspaper helped people to know about the Great Fire a year later it happened. You can still read this newspaper today!

Journalism is a very interesting subject. I enjoyed learning about the history and how it was shaped to be how it was today.

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H