Philippines

Last week, somewhat lost in the hoopla over how many women Donald Trump had groped, the current President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, signed a trade deal with China. This comes after he withdrew the (militarily insignificant) Philippine Navy from joint patrols with the US in the South China Sea to protest Chinese territorial ambitions there. A version of Duterte's remarks while signing the treaty called for a "separation" between the US and the Philippines. His adminstration has made some efforts to walk that back, in part due to the people's greater trust in the US.

Wily E. Coyote, SuperGenius, is having a case of the vapors over this. I find myself of several minds on the problem. First, in looking at history, we acquired our interest in the Philippines by accident, while picking up some more strategically important real estate during the Spanish-American War. Simply put, our interest there is historical, not geopolitical. Second, although some research suggests the Philippine economy is growing quite rapidly, it's rising from a very low base. I'm not sure that we've been as good to the Philippine development as say, Korea's. Third, now and for the foreseeable future, militarily the Philippines will not be much of a help to us.

In short, I for one would not be sad to see the Philippines go their own way. Having said that, it appears that President Duterte is trying to have his cake and eat it too by aligning with both the USA and China. Come to think of it, so are we.

RIP, Sheri S. Tepper

John Scalzi, quoting Locus Online, are reporting that Sheri S. Tepper died on Saturday.

John is disappointed that Tepper isn't generally considered among the top ranks of SF writers. Personally, I did find her a bit uneven as a writer (The Waters Rising) but when she was hot (Grass, Gate to Womens’ Country) she was hot.

I have to say, when Grass came out it was regarded as “feminist fiction” but now, 30 years later, it reads (to me, at least) as solidly mainstream.

Somebody upthread said she could be a bit preachy. Her work The Fresco was clearly written by somebody who’d spent a lot of time dealing with battered women, but it made some good points and had a unique plot.

Lastly, I have to say I still get a chuckle out of a side-joke from Raising the Stones. A survivor of the events of Grass founds a religion, and she tells her followers “don’t let people mess with your head.” This gets interpreted to be “don’t get a haircut.”