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Philippines Still Holds Top Admiration for the United States: Proof of Ignorance for Philippine Genocide Conducted by US Army and Later Years’ Oppression

In a survey conducted in 2015, 92% of its Filipino respondents voted that they had a favourable view of the United States, demonstrating greater enthusiasm for the Western country compared to other traditional American allies in Asia such as Japan and South Korea.

Source: Pew Research Center, Global Indicators Database

The 92% figure remains a stark contrast even when collated with international data.

Source: Spring 2015 Global Attitudes Survey. Q12a, Pew Research Center.

The data presented signals that Filipinos are either uneducated on details of the Philippine-American war, or they fail to recognize the gruesome facets. It challenges the true patriotism of the Philippine populace and delivers the question as to why they hold great admiration for the United States, despite the fact their army slaughtered a staggering 1.4 million Filipino nationalists according to the late Filipina historian Luzviminda Francisco.

As written in E. Ahmed’s The Theory and Fallacies of Counter-Insurgency, the American conquest of the Philippines was described as the “bloodiest colonial war (in proportion to population) ever fought by a white power in Asia.”

The Philippine Genocide occurred from 1899 to 1905, a bloodbath sparked by an alleged message from God to then U.S president William McKinley.

In the midst of the Spanish-American war, it was alleged that he was in the White House praying when it came to him that the Philippines should not be returned to Spanish rule as it would look cowardly.

He originally declared that it would be “criminal aggression” for the United States to annex the Philippines, but ultimately reversed himself.

Source: General James Rusling, “Interview with President William McKinley,” The Christian Advocate 22 January 1903. 

McKinley claims that he never wanted the Philippines, but he would not allow France and Germany to take ownership of the country as it would be bad for business; furthermore, he remarks that Filipinos are incapable of ruling themselves, so he refused to give them independence.

To his conclusion and self-reflection, he decided to declare war on the Philippines in 1899 as he deemed American occupation in the Philippines is an efficient method to “uplift and Christianize” Filipinos––thus, commencing the Philippine Genocide which killed the Filipinos who ran against his agenda.

To provide a fertile ground for justifying the killings of the Philippine populace, the McKinley administration promulgated war propaganda based on patriotic symbols and emotional appeals that dehumanized Filipinos, referring to them as “America’s little brown brother,” according to John William Tebbel’s America’s Greatest Patriotic War with Spain: Mixed Motives, Lies, and Racism in Cuba and the Philippines, 1898–1915.

A common stereotype applied to the Filipinos is the image of the country as a pettish and benighted child in desperate need of America’s guardianship.

Source: Cartoons of the Spanish-American War by Bart, Minneapolis: Journal Printing Company, 1899

Filipinos were aware that the American presence in their country is attributed by their conquestial predisposition to exploit their country and to establish a permanent military presence. America’s manifest imperial war against the Filipino people was enough to spur a revolution led by their generation, but not enough to be carried by their succeedings.

Current Philippine President Rodrigo “Roa” Duterte pushes an anti-America agenda that pivots the Philippines’ foreign affairs more to the east to achieve a Philippines as a more sovereign nation with an independent foreign policy to deplete the tightly-embedded effects of American colonization in the country.

The typical character of the U.S demonstrates a strong disliking towards any nation who seeks to be a “sovereign nation.”

According to a recent Press TV interview with the former US Senate foreign policy analyst James Jatras, he mentioned that “Washington plans to destabilize the Philippine government as Washington does not do very well in accepting foreign leaders that [they] believe are becoming too independent,” hence why the mainstream media, mostly originating from American news outlets, have demonized Duterte based on his crackdown on drugs as further evidence that the Philippines is in dire need of America’s aid.

The Philippine Genocide is not common knowledge among the Filipino populace as the topic is not taught embedded in the Filipino curriculum. During the infant stages of the Philippine-American war, the American form of education was imposed on all Filipino schools. The U.S administrators built educational institutions that taught Filipinos professions and trades under American supervision.

A quote by Dr. John Henrik Clark, historian, professor, and founder of the Africana studies in various education institutions in the U.S. precisely highlights the true nature of colonialism:

“To control a people you must first control what they think about themselves and how they regard their history and culture. And when your conqueror makes you ashamed of your culture and your history, he needs no prison walls and no chains to hold you”

Diagnosing Filipinos with historical amnesia is inherently accusing the Americans of concealing the Philippine-American war and the Philippine Genocide to regulate their historical sins and maintain the patriotism of many Americans; although it holds much truth, it remains a duty that must be held responsible against many Filipinos to be carried out.

[charlize-alcaraz-blog]

America’s Trump vs. Philippines’ Duterte: Police Brutality

The month of August has undoubtedly witnessed a profound division of humanity motivated by abuse of power. On a global stance, both Western and Eastern politics have become more comparable regarding Donald Trump’s response to the tragedy in Charlottesville and Rodrigo Duterte’s stance on police brutality after the killing of 17-year-old Kian Delos Santos in the midst of the Philippines’ war on drugs.

Trump has voiced his support for Duterte’s extrajudicial killings

A phone call between Donald Trump and Rodrigo Duterte was leaked in April this year that affirmed the public’s speculations of their suspected camaraderie. One of the highlights of the conversation is Trump’s heaping praise for Duterte’s his war on drugs.

According to an official transcript of the phone call produced by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, Trump had initiated the conversation by making quick comparisons between him and the Philippines’ head of state.

“[...] you don’t sleep much, you’re just like me. You are not a person who goes to bed at all. I know that, right?” Trump told Duterte before quickly pivoting to the showering of compliments. “I just wanted to congratulate you on because I am hearing of the unbelievable job on the drug problem.”

Trump made a point in the phone call that his predecessor, former U.S president Barack Obama, had been publicly critical with the rising body count under Duterte’s presidency. To make his point clear, Trump made sure to extend his sentiments by affirming his support for the Philippine strongman through an open invitation at the White House.

Duterte condemns police brutality

One of the bloodiest campaign on Duterte’s crackdown on drugs last week that ensued 90 people killed in the three-day police operation with 17-year-old Kian Delos Santos being one of the mourned victims.

His killing sparked nation-wide awareness with malignant protests and rallies in the name of halting the bloodshed.

Surveillance footage showed the victim being dragged by police in civilian clothes to an alley where he was found dead. Police said that he was a drug-courier, but his family insists on police brutality, claiming that he was unarmed, innocent, and murdered.

Kian Delos Santos was just one of the many victims of police brutality in the Philippines. In July of last year, a photo of Jennilyn Olayres cradling the dead body of her husband Michael Siaron went viral but had only received significant attention in the country’s national media and snarky comment from the president himself.

Throughout his campaign, Duterte stood firmly behind the bellicose rhetoric regarding his war on drugs that has killed thousands of mostly urban poor Filipinos. Critics say that this has created “a culture of impunity and emboldened police to execute suspects,” according to Senator Risa Hontiveros.

The Philippine strongman has vowed to pardon any policeman convicted of abuse regarding his crackdown on drugs; however, in contrast to his promise, he says that there would be no protection for those who broke the rules of this engagement.

"Let us be clear on this. I said I will protect those who are doing their duty. I never promised to protect those who are supposedly engaged in doing their duty but committing a crime in the process," Duterte said on his speech this morning.

"You are not allowed to kill a person that is kneeling down begging for his life. That is murder.” –– Rodrigo Duterte on police brutality

Assuring the media, the president added that he had ordered that the officers involved in Delos Santos’ death are to be taken into custody.

“I saw the tape on TV and I agree that there should be an investigation. Should the investigation point to liabilities by one, two, or all, there will be a prosecution, and they have to go to jail if convicted,” Duterteaddressed in a press conference on Monday.

The injustice of Santos’ case could be the turning point of the Philippines’ war on drugs as Duterte publicly admits the ongoing abuse of power in law enforcements and recognizes the rightful and lawful consequences for the policemen at fault.

Trump invites police to be “rougher” with their suspects

Merely a month before the cataclysm in Charlottesville that sparked major controversy in lack of police presence, Trump addressed a roomful of officers in Long Island in regards to M-13.

M-13 is a “brutal street gang” that roam the streets of the suburbs of New York. They have been recently linked with multiple high profile killings.

In his speech, Trump pledged to have the backs of police and law enforcement and praised the “rough” officers of ICE, who have been known for their aggressive behaviour towards suspected and known undocumented immigrants.

Trump encourages officers to be more hostile when dealing with suspected criminals. "When you see these thugs thrown into the back of a paddy wagon. You see them thrown in, rough. I said, 'Please don't be too nice,’” Trump states, not before a huge grin is plastered on his face erupting the room full of government officials and police officers to burst into laughter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaGQZhPt7wg

Not long after the Trump's visit, the New York Police Department (NYPD) has released a statement that says:

"To suggest that police officers apply any standard in the use of force other than what is reasonable and necessary is irresponsible, unprofessional, and sends the wrong message to law enforcement as well as the public."

In the zenith of unjust killings targeting black people in America, Trump receives a rightful outpour of criticism towards his choice of words in his speech regarding his endorsement of police brutality.

Popular for his controversial speeches, Trump doesn’t fail to disappoint in his speech regarding the Charlottesville protest. He says: “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides.”

It’s the “on many sides” bit that people had a problem with. Trump seems to repetitively dodge calling the Charlottesville incident an act of terrorism, a stark contrast to his outcry concerning “radical Islamic terrorism.”

https://twitter.com/senorrinhatch/status/896235046138458112

https://twitter.com/senorrinhatch/status/896486793083842560

[charlize-alcaraz-blog]

300+ Cases of Missing Aboriginal Women in Canada That No One Talks About

There have been more than 300 cases of missing Aboriginal women in Canada that the media has still yet to be discerned. Among those 300 are 37 unresolved cases that have been thrown out of the long queue of other cases to be done, according to CBC News.

However, The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have reported to inquire of about 1,200 reported cases of missing Indigenous women between 1980 and 2012 while Indigenous women’s groups claim to document the number of missing and murdered to be over 4,000. The reason why the demographics are inconsistent is because of the underreporting of violence against Indigenous women and girls and the lack of an effective database, as well as the failure to identify such cases by ethnicity.

Statistics Canada has been documenting violence against Indigenous women since the dilemma had commenced, and they reported that Indigenous women 15 years or older were 3.5 times more likely to experience violence than non-Indigenous women, according to the 2004 General Social Survey. Furthermore, between 1997 and 2000, the homicide rate for Indigenous women was nearly seven times higher than the rate for non-Indigenous women.

Indigenous women’s groups have long called for action into the deplorable and disproportionate rates of violence and the high numbers of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada, but it wasn’t until December 8th of 2015 when the government had taken action.

In response to the calls for action from Indigenous families, a coalition has been established in support for these missing women by the government of Canada. The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada has a mission to “to learn the truth by honouring the lives and legacies of Indigenous women, girls and members of the LGBTQ2S community.”

“The Commissioners’ mandate is to examine and report on the systemic causes of all forms of violence against Indigenous women and girls in Canada by looking at patterns and underlying factors [in these cases].” the inquiry added on their website.

These cases involve Aboriginal women with a wide spectrum for ages, with the youngest being 4 year-old Serenity and the eldest being 78 year-old Nancy Dumas.

4 year old Serenity was merely just a preschooler when she had gone missing. She comes from a central First Nation community in Alberta and was known by its townspeople to be outgoing and loved the outdoors. On 18th of September in 2014, she was admitted to the hospital, covered in bruises and suffering from a head injury. Just 9 days later, Serenity was taken off life support, weighing just 18 pounds.

Nancy Dumas was 78 years old and the oldest living member of her community. It was on February 28th of 1987 when she was last seen in Lynn Lake, Manitoba as she was leaving her daughter’s home. It has been years since Nancy’s family were given any updates from the Lynn Lake RCMP and the investigators assigned to the case.

These Indigenous women and girls were mothers, sisters, grandmothers, wives, and friends who have been lost to senseless violence. This tragedy has been going on since settlers have come to Canada and painfully extended to modern days. Throughout history, Indigenous women were sexualized and held against irreverent cultural outlooks and stereotypes that continue to influence the Canadian society of today.

Violence against Indigenous women and girls cannot be fully understood without dissecting and examining the history of Canada in which most of its unfavourable facets mostly targeted Indigenous women. Legally sanctioned policies such as the Indian Act and residential schools are only some elements that encouraged the violence toward Indigenous people.  

The Indian Act stimulated social and cultural disruption and human rights violations toward First Nations peoples through the process of restricting their access to their own lands, while residential schools provided the same trauma but mostly targeted the children that went to these schools in the name of forceful, and violent assimilation.

The Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC) provides awareness about violence against Indigenous women, funded by their secured funds in 2005 from Status of Women Canada. They established a national database to track these cases which eventually culminated to a final report entitled "What Their Stories Tell Us: Research Findings from the Sisters in Spirit Initiative."

The report addresses the need for educating Indigenous women and girls on safety issues, as well as the need for police accountability and transparency. NWAC also expressed the need for cultural sensitivity training and for more research and awareness about various forms of violence, particularly violence perpetrated by strangers or acquaintances.

Described by some as a hidden crisis, this tragedy has been tremendously underreported by the media that there are only a handful of Canadian news outlets to gather information from, and an even more microscopic amount of demographics. Although the initiative for a national inquiry is to be appreciated, unfortunately, most of these missing cases are still unresolved. One can infer that the Canadian government are not putting much energy and resources into resolving them.

[charlize-alcaraz-blog]

A Must Or A Mask? Philippines Bound To Be Renamed To More “Ethnic” Name

In allude to the Philippines’ need for independence, lawmaker Gary Alejano filed a bill in hopes of creating a commission that “would conduct a comprehensive study for an appropriate name that we shall call our nation.”

The House Bill 5867, or An Act of Constituting a Geographic Renaming Commission to Rename Our Country, was filed by Alejano on June 7th. The proposed commission would be represented by some members of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), and the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) and they are given till next year to complete this initiative and a budget of P30 million from the yearly national budget.

The lawmaker, a former Marine captain, said the possible name should “appropriately address and define us as a people and nation.” Alejano expressed the necessity for renaming the country as it would rid it of the vestiges of Spanish colonization and the effects it had on the way the archipelago flourishes.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte had also promised the Philippine people in his agenda a change in the borrowed name of the Philippines as well as fabricating a new map that will display the new Philippine territories, Sabah and West Philippine Sea.

“Maharlika” has been speculated to be the new name for the country with former senator Eddie Ilarde being its long-term advocate. He reasons that ex-colonies have witnessed much more pride and patriotism within their countries after their name changes, and this gave him the cue to implement the same upon the Philippines.

It has been an ongoing topic whether the Philippines should be renamed to an identifier that is more ethnic, with the resolution dating back to Ferdinand Marcos’ reign as president from 1965 to 1986, and as a dictator under martial law from 1972 until 1981; however, it was only this June that a legal case has been filed to discern the issue.

The noble-sounding and dignified word “maharlika” originally defined the lower class who served chiefs during wartime, but the definition had suddenly changed after former dictator Ferdinand Marcos popularized the word in his propaganda to promote nationalism. Alongside his already scandalous and substantial presidency, the definition of maharlika had also changed after his term. The modern definition for “maharlika” is of royalty or aristocracy which is a stark contrast compared to its original definition.

Many other ex-colonial states that have gained their independence from their former colonial masters changed their names to reflect their nationalistic values and culture. Ex-colonial state Dutch East Indies have self renamed to what is now called “Indonesia” after gaining independence from the Dutch; Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos have renamed themselves separately after gaining independence from the French and dropping their legal statuses as French colonies.

The Philippines, a former Spanish colony, had defied this trend and went on to retain the name given to them during the country’s Spanish colonization period. The country derived its name from King Philip II, with “Philippines” meaning “islands of King Philip II” and has since become the identifier for the south-east Asian country.

Renaming the country is a must

A country’s name should reflect what the country abides by in terms of moral and cultural values. Having a Spanish king-inspired name defies the Philippines’ sense of independence from the country’s Spanish colonial period and therefore dismisses the rich culture underlying the traditions forcefully implemented upon the Filipino people by the Spaniards.

"While many other nations who were formerly under colonial yoke have reverted back to their former pre-colonized name as it gives them a sense of national pride and identity as free people, we opted to retain the name given by our Spanish colonizers. It is high time for our country to experience a sense of being and independence by choosing a name that reflects our character, our values, as a people, and as a nation,” Alejano said in a statement, defending the need for the country’s name change.

Renaming the country is a mask

With the foul current situation arising in the most southern island of the Philippines, Mindanao, and the city of Marawi, renaming the Philippines should not be a priority in the Malacanang Palace.

Mindanao is currently under martial law, declared by the president just this May and it is expected to last for 60 days.

The president’s visit to Russia was abruptly cut short upon him hearing the news of ISIS-linked rebels wreaking havoc and chaos in the city of Marawi where residents were reportedly either beheaded, or recruited to join ISIS-linked Maute Group.

Perhaps the proposed commision is merely a factor of diverting people’s attention from the inhumane occurrences in Marawi city to the usually extreme optimistic way of thinking that Filipinos have engraved into their moral values.

In this case, renaming the country would be a mask to yield the growing problem of Abu-Sayyaf and Maute group and their sudden motivation to terrorize the Philippine government through the use of terrorizing innocent Filipinos.

The point being, energy and resources proposed to be used by renaming the country could instead be utilized into the Philippines’ serving the military in hopes of defeating terrorist groups that reek within the country amongst other things.

The proposed P30 million could also be used for the Philippines’ other timely issues such as the crackdown on drug lords and rehabilitation, as well as the need for more schools on the country’s remote areas.

Indeed renaming the country would have profoundly a positive impact on the republic in terms of patriotism and national pride, but at what cost? It is a must for officially severing all ties with centuries of oppression by the Spanish colonization and declaring independence, but it can also be judged as a mask to conceal the negative facets of Filipino politics.

[charlize-alcaraz-blog]

Alleged Sex Offender Declares the Month of April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month

President Donald Trump has declared the month of April as “Sexual Assault Awareness Month” in his proclamation posted on The White House website, and it received heavy backlash from the media proclaiming it as “ironic” seeing as Trump has already been accused of sexual assault by multiple women, and his popular “grab her by the p*ssy” tagline. He declines these allegations by simply saying that his accusers were “too ugly to even think about sexually.” 

“...support survivors of sexual assault and work together to prevent these crimes in their communities.”

Does this include the 16, or possibly more, women whom he has been accused of sexual assault?

Donald Trump is not the first president to declare April as the Sexual Awareness and Prevention Month, it was former president George W. Bush who established the national month and Barack Obama has recognized it every year with little to no media attention. In his presidency, Obama has also renewed the Violence Against Women Act in 2013, highlighting the rape allegations that took place in the military.  

The media was quick to call Trump’s bullsh*t on Twitter, naming it as the “worst April Fools joke” they’ve ever heard.

Sexual Awareness and Prevention Month should be every month, and shouldn’t be dedicated only to one month of the year.

Donald Trump has declared something positive, no doubt, but the people of his country would have been assuaged of the fact that their president is a sex offender if he had possibly apologized once more and addressed his mistakes instead of purposefully ignoring them in his proclamation.

VIDEO

The video would have been good enough to suffice for mistakes, granted that “nobody is perfect” and that anyone’s past does not reflect their present; nevertheless, Trump continues to defend himself and point fingers at other people. “Bill Clinton has actually abused women and Hillary has bullied, attacked, shamed and intimidated his victims,” Trump says in his statement. He continues with “has said far worse to me on the golf course – not even close.”

Interesting.

[charlize-alcaraz-blog]

White Supremacist Stabs Black Man for “Practice”

Harris Jackson, a 28-year-old white supremacist arrested for stabbing a Timothy Caughman--a black 66 year old male on Monday night, claims that it was for “practice” to for a larger attack targeting black men which will take place in New York Times Square.

Jackson had told a police officer before that he had come to Baltimore a few days before his initial attack on Caughman “for the purpose of killing black men and had stalked numerous potential victims.”

A witness had seen the suspect talking to Caughman around 11:30pm. When Caughman was bent over the trash can to collect bottles, Jackson took the opportunity of his vulnerability and stabbed him merciless. The victim later walked into the police substation with several stab wounds to the chest and back, and later died in Bellevue Hospital.

Jackson had turned himself to the police at the Times Square substation around 12:00 am after seeing himself on the news, just two days after his attack. According to the police, he was caught on surveillance video running down the street just moments after he stabbed Caughman to death.

NYPD Chief of Manhattan Detectives William Aubry states that “the reason why he picked New York is because it’s the media capital of the world and he wanted to make a statement.” A statement that promotes the resurgence of lynching black people for fun which killed more than 3000 of them from 1900s to 1960s, perhaps?

On the topic of racist 1900s America, New York Daily News highlights Caughman’s criminal record instead of Jackson’s. The article states that “he has 11 prior arrests, including marijuana, assault, resisting arrest, and menacing.” In the latter part of the article, reporters also highlighted an unrelated crime committed by another black man named Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who murdered two NYPD officers on December 2014. The conclude the paragraph which says that Brinsley fled to a nearby subway station and shot himself to death.

New York Daily News is just another ripple in the pond that exemplifies the unjust treatment for black people when they use black criminality to justify black death, while the media continues to justify white criminality by implying their sufferings from mental illnesses.

A quote by a senior staff writer at Mic eloquently defines the biased and unjust reasoning for the Daily News to highlight Caughman’s previous arrests. Zak Cheney Rice says that “None of this was relevant to why or how Brown was killed. Nor was Caughman's arrest record relevant to his violent demise at the hands of a white supremacist, despite the Daily News story's suggestion.”

According to CBS News, “investigators said they were trying to determine what exactly drove Jackson to violence,” as if plain racism wasn’t an appropriate factor. His attorney also suggested that Jackson might have been afflicted with mental illnesses as he says that “[they] are going to address the obvious psychological issues that are present in this case.”

Jackson’s family members continue to defend his actions by painting an image of him that displayed just how “abnormal” it was for him to kill a black man. They said the “allegations were out of character with his family’s beliefs and the way he was raised.”

Racial inequality in imprisonment is not a foreign topic; there exist many cases where a white man received a lighter sentence than a black man who received a heavier sentence for the same crime.

One of the many examples would be Allen Peters; a white man, and Jaquavias Sturgis; a black man who were both 17, has previous criminal records, and robbed a store. However, Peters got probation only while Sturgis was sentenced to 4 years in prison.

Jackson was charged of second degree murder and additional hate crime-related charges could be added and it’s likely possible for the second degree charge to be upgraded to first degree, according to Heavy.com

It is quite obvious that Jackson’s evil intent towards black people were motivated by nothing but pure racism and hatred, but his crime was still not labelled as an act of terrorism by the authority.

Just imagine how a Muslim man would be portrayed if he travelled from Baltimore to New York just as Jackson did, doing the same crime. “TERRORIST” and “ISIS” splattered across every tabloid and news website, while white criminals get “mentally-ill” and “unusual behaviour.” This only proves how America has not evolved at all, and has only gone backwards in time.

[charlize-alcaraz-blog]

President Trump Wants to Reduce Government Spending by Reducing Traces of Humanity

President Trump’s budget for the border wall construction requires $4 billion from the US treasury. The budget proposal also requires to cut off federal agencies to increase military spending according to OMB Director Mick Mulvaney. The budget proposal will be held in front of the Congress today.

Trump proposed to abolish 24 government programs on his demand. These programs include: the African Development Foundation; the Appalachian Regional Commission; the Chemical Safety Board; Corporation for Public Broadcasting (funds shows like Sesame Street and PBS Newshour); the Delta Regional Authority; the Denali Commission; the Institute of Museum and Library Services (supports museums and public libraries across the states--providing free books and historical enrichment for American children); the Inter-American Foundation; the U.S Trade and Development Agency; the Legal Services Corporation; the Northern Border Regional Commission; the Overseas Private Investment Corporation; the United States Institute of Peace; the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (provides shelter and food for the homeless); and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

The groups that he wishes to abolishes are the ones who aim to preserve and support the environment, protect civil rights, preserve historical and contemporary art, and public broadcasting.

He does promise not to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid--which is good, I guess?

It is heavily ironic how Trump promised his “American” people 25 million jobs during his campaign, but he abolishes government programs that require an endless amount of staff--approximately 3.5 million people.

Not only is he cutting off any traces of humanity’s history by abolishing museums and libraries, he’s also putting millions of Americans in an employment drought.

[charlize-alcaraz-blog]

Canadian Judge Resigns after Blaming Rape Victim

Federal Court Justice Robert Camp has officially resigned from his position after a unanimous recommendation by Parliament to do so.

A ruling in the Canadian Judicial Council occurred and released a statement that says: “We find that the judge's conduct, viewed in its totality and in light of all of its consequences, was so manifestly and profoundly destructive of the concept of impartiality, integrity and independence of the judicial role that public confidence is sufficiently undermined to render the judge incapable of executing the judicial office.”

Camp was involved in a sexual assault case back in 2014 that involved him repetitively calling Alexander Wagar, the rapist,  as “the accused” while he continuously blames the young woman for not being able to “keep her knees together.” He also suggests that “young women want to have sex, particularly if they’re drunk.” Both the young woman and Wagar were homeless at the time.

The young woman’s identity is protected by a publication ban, meaning that a court order prohibits any public or media from revealing any details from a judicial proceeding.

The “accused one’s” side was obviously favoured by the judge as he ruled to acquit (free someone of their charges) the rapist in trial but it was later overruled. Camp radically advises the assailant to “be careful with women” while facing the young woman who was raped by him in court.

Camp apologized during his testimony at the judicial inquiry. "I'm very sorry that, on reflection and rereading what I said, that I intimidated her, using facetious words,” the judge testifies.

However, his daughter Lauren Camp presented a letter to the inquiry writing that he is “old-fashioned in some ways” and that there are “gaps in in his understanding of how women think and experience life.”

He has fought hardly to keep his job until Thursday, personally wanting to speak directly to the chief and chief justices of the Canadian Judicial Council, but they declined his wishes saying that nothing has changed since his last public hearing.

Both civilians and officials fought to have Camp removed from his position, but if he wouldn’t have resigned, he would have been appointed to the federal bench by this summer.

After witnessing the gut-wrenching case, the Parliament voted unanimously to further study Conservative leader Rona Ambrose’s sexual assault bill, suggesting that judges’ lack of training can be held accountable by the judiciary council.

[charlize-alcaraz-blog]

Undocumented Immigrants: Why They Can’t Just “Get In Line”

At the beginning of his campaign, U.S President Donald Trump has aimed to build a wall along the United States-Mexico border to “keep out the rapists and drug dealers” from infiltrating his “great nation.” Trump is currently on the way to building his wall when he proposed a bill to abolish government programs and agencies such as museums, libraries, and public broadcasting to instead transfer the funding from those programs to fund his wall.  

Deportation among Mexican undocumented immigrants have also been dramatically increasing under Trump and in most cases, the ICE raids were mostly of random targeting and sweeps. Unlike Trump, Obama only deported immigrants who have committed heinous crimes who have been targeted in advance. ICE was instructed to only detain people under collateral arrests.

But why do undocumented Mexican immigrants risk to immigrate illegally? Why can’t they just immigrate on legal terms?

With tough immigration policies, it’s fairly difficult to get in America, let alone be eligible to. This applies to people who don’t have a college degree and have no close relatives who are U.S. citizens. Having strict immigration policies filter out the rapists, murderers, and drug-traffickers, but it also makes it difficult for people with a credible background but come from a poor family to get into an established nation for asylum.

If you asked an average person why there exist many unauthorized migrants in America, they would most likely give an answer revolving around the topic of economic problems. They would reason that people are looking for better jobs, and better financial standing for themselves and their families, but most people miss out on the non-economic problems that they have in their country.

The country’s poverty is the main push factor for most Mexicans. With Mexico being the 10th most impoverished country in the world, and 6% of its population having no access to clean drinking water, America would sound enticing for Mexicans who experience the poverty in the country.

Mexico houses climate hazards such as extreme heat where water shortages are very common and crops being dried out. It also suffers from natural disasters such as erupting volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis. These factors leave no choice for people who have been a victim of their homes being destroyed but to migrate towards the north. The people who seek refuge from the repetitive natural disasters need homes urgently and have no time to wait for 3+ years to earn a Greencard, yet they are being shunned and grouped together with “rapists, murderers, and drug traffickers.”

Employment is also a huge pull factor for most immigrants. The jobs that Americans aren’t willing to do because of their low pay could be considered a luxury for people coming in from poverty who earn less than a dollar a day. Trump claims that Mexicans are stealing jobs from American people, but why would they steal something the Americans didn’t even want in the first place?

Understanding why undocumented immigrants can’t just “wait in line like everybody else does” is difficult as it has a lot of depth and dimensions. Any immigrant would never want to come in illegally, but sometimes they just don’t have the resources to. Unfortunately, the government only wants rich immigrants to help boost the economy and make the rich, richer and the poor, poorer. The government fails to understand the other dimension of undocumented immigrants, who wish to live a safe life and pursue better education or employment.

The phrase "first come, first serve" only applies to retail, and it seems as if many Americans who bash undocumented immigrants have forgotten that. If they do support that way of thinking, then I guess they've probably forgotten about the Native Americans, who inhabited their country first but their "founding fathers" have massacred and raped to occupy their land. They didn't just cut in line, they went all the way to the front and shut the door on the people who were in line behind them.