We used to have 1/2″ and 3/4″ plywood sheets with pre-drilled holes that we’d slip onto bolts sticking out of our window frames when a hurricane came. The bolts weren’t the most aesthetically-pleasing thing, and the plywood took a lot of storage space and was a real pain to set up and tear down.
After the last hurricane came through town, we’d decided that we’d had enough of the plywood approach and started looking at other hurricane-proofing solutions for the windows and went with hurricane fabric: kevlar panels with mounting brackets held in place by screws going into holes embedded in the window frame or wall. During non-hurricane times, plastic plugs go into the screw holes.
We have a panel for every window in the house, and the whole set fits in a closet. It would take me a whole afternoon (and ideally, another person to assist) to cover the windows the old plywood way; I can now do the job solo in about an hour with the panels.
Here’s a demo of hurricane fabric in action:
Unpleasant as the replacement costs would be, you consider your windows expendable in hurricane country. What you really want is something that will prevent hurricane projectiles from entering your house (and more gravely, entering you.) We’re counting on the hurricane fabric’s combination of strength and “give” to deflect whatever the cat 3 or cat 4 winds decided to hurl chez nous.
Marcos being sworn in at his second inauguration in 1969. Public domain photo.
Last Monday, I stumbled across a social media post that led to a very rare and relevant (at least to me) find: a limited-run book published in 1971, written and autographed by Ferdinand E. Marcos.
On Monday, September 19th at about 3:30 p.m., my friend Tom Leber, a local realtor and manager of several properties, posted this message on Facebook:
Another “what tenants leave behind” story…. One of our commercial leaseholds, which used to be a book store, just moved out and emptied the store into the dumpster in the back. If anyone is interested in dumpster diving for a library of brand new books.
The address was pretty close to our house. A minute later, I was in my car, and ten minutes later, I was facing this beast:
The dumpster. Photo by Yours Truly.
I ended up taking dozens of books on all sorts of topics, but there’s one that’s of particular interest to me: Today’s Revolution: Democracy, written by the former head kleptocrat of the country of my birth (and father of the present head kleptocrat), Ferdinand E. Marcos.
Here’s a photo of the book’s cover, taken against my laptop cover for contrast:
The book’s cover. Photo by Yours Truly.
Here’s the first page:
The inside page. Photo by Yours Truly.
Malacañan Palace is the residence and office of the Philippine president — basically, it’s the Filipino equivalent of the White House in the U.S..
It’s hard to tell if the “With my compliments” autograph is a printed image or an actual by-hand signature, but the next page definitely has a real autograph that looks like it was made with a Sharpie:
The autograph. I’m trying to figure out the name after “To” — is it “Shoco Cada?” Your suggestions are welcome. Photo by Yours Truly.
300 crates of assorted jewelry with undetermined value
$4 million worth of unset precious gems contained in Pampers diaper boxes
65 Seiko and Cartier watches
A 12 by 4 ft box crammed full of real pearls
A 3 ft solid gold statue covered in diamonds and other precious stones
$200,000 in gold bullion
$1 million in Philippine pesos
$124 million in deposit slips to banks in the US, Switzerland, and the Cayman Islands
(And I thought I “travelled heavy” by flying with my accordion!)
I immediately pulled out my phone and Googled for images of Marcos’ signature, and the signatures in the book seem to match the ones online, right down to the big swoosh after the “s”:
Marcos signature, sample #1. Tap to view the source.Marcos signature, sample #2. Tap to view the source.Marcos signature, sample #3. Tap to view the source.
It appears that a limited run of these books were printed, if this inscription after the title page is to be believed:
Nobody really knows who was responsible. Marcos and his cronies blamed radical groups like the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army, but most historians and even the CIA believe that Marcos was the one behind it. It’s believed that the bombing was carried out to be the rationale for Marcos’ later declaration of martial law in September 1972 (which got a nod from Nixon, who was told that the Philippines was under communist terror attack), which in turn set in motion my parents’ decision to emigrate to Canada.
The book itself pays a lot of lip service to social and economic democracy, liberal society, “revolution” in a sense that’s pretty close to the American Revolution, and warnings against being blinded by ideology. But throughout the book is a strong subtext where Marcos tells you who he really is: a third-world strongman with the confidence that comes with the backing of the U.S. during the era of the Cold War (the U.S. Air Force had Clark Air Base and a Navy base in Subic Bay).
How did this book find its way from Malacañang Palace to the Marcos’ high life-in-exile (in a waterfront house worth $1.5 million in 1986) in Hawaii to a dumpster in Tampa? There’s probably an interesting story there.
DeSantis may have been inspired by a segment on Tucker Carlson’s show
He should just ’fess up and call the show The Tucker Carlson White Power Hour.
A couple of days ago, Media Matters’ Matthew Gertz astutely tweeted that “when GOPers do depraved stuff it’s worth looking for the Fox host who suggested it.”
To no one’s surprise, the Fox host who suggested it was the host of Fox’s own White Power Hour: Swanson frozen foods heir Tucker Carlson, host of an old-timeywhite–fear-and-rage–stoking evening show.
Anyway when GOPers do depraved stuff it’s worth looking for the Fox host who suggested it. Tucker Carlson, July 26: “[Martha’s Vineyard residents] are begging for more diversity. Why not send migrants there, in huge numbers?” pic.twitter.com/R7Gvj9PsBE
Designed (poorly) to look like an official brochure, it says that migrants who arrive in Massachusetts would be eligible for a lot of benefits, including:
8 months’ cash assistance
Housing assistance
Food
Clothing
Transportation to job interviews
Job training
Job placement
Registering children for school
Assistance applying for Social Security cards
Popular Information got the brochure from Lawyers for Civil Rights, a Boston-based law firm representing 30 of the migrants.
The brochure was not produced by the State of Massachusetts, nor is it official. It’s a “homemade” document pieced together from cut-and-pasted text from various Massachusetts government sites.
While the benefits listed exist, the migrants to whom they were given are not eligible for them. While refugees are eligible for such benefits, these migrants are seeking asylum, and refugee benefits don’t apply.
The devil is in the details. In trying to provide DeSantis with a loophole, Fenske insisted “the brochure does not say migrants immediately have access to the benefits.” But it worked — the idea was to convince them that those benefits were forthcoming, and all they had to do was board the plane.
“DeSantis clearly does not know the legal difference between refugees (who are eligible for resettlement benefits) and asylum applicants (who are not).
It’s legally no different than promising someone who you know to have had no military service that they will be eligible for veterans benefits.”
Cameron also said the brochures “are either evidence of criminal intent or criminal stupidity.” My feeling:
FDOT (Florida Department of Transportation) paid a secretive Oregon-based company to fly the migrants, and now that company’s website is offline
I’m not sure if anyone sees my tweets but the State has a new payment of $950,000 pending for Vertol Systems! Listed as project #2-3.
A total of $1,565,000 to Vertol for “relocating” immigrants. pic.twitter.com/TJjUA04JKo
Typically, you’d be able to go to Vertol Systems’ site and see that they’re based in Oregon’s Hillsboro rather than Florida’s Hillsborough County and that they’re in the business of “specialized aircraft solutions specific to unique requirements.”
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar confirmed the investigation during a press conference Monday “to clear the air for everyone,” alleging that 48 migrants were “lured under false pretenses” to stay at a hotel for a couple of days, shuttled to a plane, flown to Florida, and eventually transported to Martha’s Vineyard, where they had been promised work and solutions to other problems.
From Sheriff Salazar’s Twitter account:
I have officially opened a criminal investigation against the individual(s) who lured and transported 48 migrants from the Migrant Resource Center in San Antonio, TX to Martha’s Vineyard. If you or someone you know has been impacted, please email bcsotips@bexar.org
And garbage human that she is, Christina Pushaw, Rapid Response Director for DeSantis’ reelection campaign tweeted this:
Martha’s Vineyard residents should be thrilled about this. They vote for sanctuary cities — they get a sanctuary city of their own. And illegal aliens will increase the town’s diversity, which is strength. Right?
This is a good set of checks to perform before attempting a forced landing of your airplane, but the mnemonic that the book came up for it is terrible.
In the middle of a crisis situation, you’ll probably forget how many “S’s” there are, or that one of the “S” checks is for “S(c)ivilization.”
Hurricane Ian is bearing down on Accordion Bay! In response, we’ve deployed the latest of our anti-hurricane measures: kevlar.
![Page after the title page, which reads “This is a private edition of 1,000 copies, of which this is no. [blank]. Copyright 1971 by Ferdinand E. Marcos / All rights reserved”](https://www.joeydevilla.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/private-edition.jpg)
