Lefthandedlayup – Gary Mercado's Personal Blog

Lessons from A Concentration Camp Survivor

Sharing what’s weighing on my mind.

may naponood ako ww2 documentary recently and they interviewed a lady survivor of the concentration camps. She told the story of regular Wehrmacht soldiers separating her from her siblings and parents when she was little and seeing their shoes and luggage beside a pile of burnt bodies later amongst a long list of indescribable atrocities.

When asked if she could share what she learned if any, it was that ‘the only thing cruelty needs is permission.’

It did not impact me at the time but what she was saying was this – the only thing murderers need is to be told it’s ok to kill. This explains why ordinary Germans at the time – Teachers, Farmers, Regular people off the street once enlisted were able to carry out murders on thousands of non militant civilians from babies to elderly with zero guilt. They don’t need to have had childhood trauma. They don’t need to ‘feel empty inside’ or some similar internal pain that would explain bloodlust. They don’t need to have experienced some religious or otherwise spiritual emergence.

All they needed was the top guy to tell them it’s ok. Hence:

Duterte: “Ako ang bahala sa inyo. I will take responsibility for you. Lahat na gawin ninyo sa utos ko, akin iyan, ako ang magpakulong.”

JD Vance: “(you are) protected by absolute immunity. (you) cannot be prosecuted for actions taken during federal duties.”

THIS is why we need laws. THIS is why laws need to be extra and almost excessively discussed and crafted over and over, and THIS is why extra care is needed when implementing them as well.

Because apparently it’s so easy to give people the agency to take another life. Sabihan mo lang na ‘ako bahala sa yo’ ok na yun. Sure there will be ones with the moral voice enough to say no, but I know people personally who will not hesiate to do exactly that if it would have no consequences.

And if you can take a life easily, everything else below that should be easy. Would it make sense if a person is willing to kill but not steal? Of course not. Once you are allowed the worst of crimes you are now open to a vast array of criminal activities that can keep you busy for the rest of your life.

I’ve finally ditched Windows 10 for Ubuntu 24.04. Some notes.

As much as I want to say it’s finally the year of the Ubuntu desktop, which has been foretold for decades, it’s definitely not true. I’ve had some problems that only a devotee can fix, and in fact my PC isn’t completely fixed yet (the $&*MF(@# second monitor won’t work). I mean sure I’ll fix it at some point, but can the ordinary person who finds Windows challenging enough fix them? Absolutely no way in ever the forever.
If this isn’t the year of Desktop Linux then, what year would it be? It’s absolutely, imo, the year of the MacOS. For the first time in my life, I am suggesting to my wife that she buy a new 14″ Mac Air for her next laptop. Not that I think Apple’s great – it is too cloaked by Mac fanatic devotee opinion to be judged properly, but it’s because I hate Windows and what it has become. I think I’m not the only one that thinks this.
Note that I used to love Windows, especially 10. The whole point of an Operating System is to get out of your way so that you can do your work and that is what 7 then 10 used to be. It was absolutely marvelous. I could install, set it up and get productive within the day. It used to be a no brainer.
Used to be being the operative words. Win10 started ads, which was a tolerable nuisance. But 11, now with CoPilot, is an absolute nightmare both to work with an as a privacy concern. Whereas once you can use it without making an account, or create an account offline, MS has made it impossible and you are now required to make an MS account whether you want or need one.
I was first made aware of Windows 11 ‘Recall’ feature mid last year, which takes snapshots of user activity every few seconds purportedly to train it’s AI to help you ‘do your job better’, notwithstanding the fact that taking pics of your desktop is an outrageous privacy nightmare. They later allowed disabling, but what value is that to a company that invested time and money to make these features in the first place? Clearly they want it on to record you, and they even set up AI Gaming CoPilot that records screenshots, voice and text during gameplay AFTER, in spite of resistance to CoPilot AI and the Recall feature.
At this point you’ve got to use your head. It isn’t the fact they allow disabling it or issue a series of Press Releases saying how much they value your privacy etc., it’s about why would they make that in the first place. Wouldn’t a company with any semblance of human dignity, autonomy and personal security even think twice about creating such things?
Most recently they’ve disabled enabling Windows over the phone, and insist it only be allowed online. I think that’s the final nail on the coffin which directly attacks pirated copies which take up imo the most number of users out there.
Thing is, I can rant and rave but MS couldn’t care less about individual home or small business users. I know several large companies and government offices that will and have already authorized purchasing Win11 updates already well entrenched in their budget a year before. Their IT staff neither has an opinion or if they do have no voice in any decision making as far as Windows is concerned because there is no alternative. Do you think IT will endorse people to start using Ubuntu? Or even Libreoffice as an alternative to MS Office? That just means extra customer support for them and why in the world would they want that.
If it sounds like I’m saying that most companies’ including public offices security is at risk because of Windows 11’s heinous privacy issues, you are right because that’s exactly what I’m saying. Most people just want to print their reports and go back to secretly surfing for gambling, showbiz, or nba sites during office hours. They have no idea nor would they care or know what to do if MS is siphoning their data to feed their useless AI.

That’s it for now. I wanted to talk about my issues with Ubuntu but it became a Windows rant instead. I won’t mince words – I miss Windows. I miss the speed and ease of use, they keyboard shortcuts – albeit I’ve learned a bunch of new ones with Ubuntu now, and I miss Photoshop most of all. Yes the Linux faithful will tell me I can make it run on ubuntu but I haven’t been able to as of yet. Like I said I’m confident i can make it work, sure, but the fact I have to spend an hour or two to do so sucks.

Thoughts on Pre and Post Tariff Luxury Goods Prices from China

Now that Chinese manufacturers have gone ahead and exposed how luxury brands post a 90% markup on top of their products, and offer the public a chance to buy the same products directly from the factory at cost, I’ve been thinking a lot how about the repercussions and I’m listing here some of my thoughts:

High street locations – There are locations around cities where people hunt for these things. They are very posh, very nice areas like BGC or Makati, they attract high end restaurants, have lots of human traffic and charge rent by the millions of pesos. If the top brands are exposed to have less value, the market may think twice, sales may go down, shops will close and the glitter of high street get tarnished. Jobs will surely be affected and the local economy around these as well.

The rich and pretentious – Truly moneyed people will see a 150% markup as a better opportunity to flaunt their wealth. Nothing says you’re rich more than buying a bag everyone knows is now thousands of times more expensive after the tariffs. It’s important though that the brands make a POST TARIFF version of their products to distinguish it from the PRE TARIFF models, which would be cheaper. Brand vloggers and their kind who know these things will make content to make sure everyone knows, making the people who lust after these things even more envious, achieving their goal.

The poor and pretentious – The ones who have had to take out mortgages to buy these will truly suffer. Now, none of their friends and relatives at Sunday church are going to be impressed with their pre tariff bags because they’re considered a scam. You will look like a sucker, and worse they can’t afford the post tariff models. They’re going to have to find new ways to gain the respect they’re trying to buy. It truly sucks to be poor.

The quality conscious – These people will gain the most. The video I reference in this image is of the Chinese manufacturer explaining where they source the leather (Germany, France, Italy), the stainless steel (will never tarnish or rust), the glue, the lining, the stitching, the workmanship is all world class, all top notch. You will be hard put to find a better bag, and it is possibly the best most well made, most high quality bag you may ever own, now available to you at less than a tenth of the cost after its branded.

The timing – Obviously the Chinese government instructed these manufacturers to make these videos, which is the only explanation why so many of them, the makers of Nike, Adidas, Ugg, etc. were published almost at the same time. I’m still wondering about the pros and cons of this to their economy, the manufacturers themselves and the global market as a whole.

May be an image of 1 person, money, phone and text that says 'Findrelatedcontent Find related content senbag/TT sen SEISMIK 14 APRIL 2025 38,00 38,000USD USD Situasi US Dan China Makin Tegang, Pembekal Mula Exposed Harga Barangan Mewah US Diperbuat Dari China will cost you'

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Is There Really Hope? My Thoughts on the increasing number of schools joining #Edsa39

I have 2 reasons I feel invigorated about all the schools joining #EDSA39 one by one. First because I was there, and I absolutely feel it was one of the most thrilling, most REAL moments I had ever felt in my life. I was 17 when and I remember walking along Ortigas to VV Soliven and not feeling tired. The elation in the February air was infectuous. News of Generals and whole military divisions breaking ranks and joining the opposition made everybody giddy and excited.

The 2nd reason is just as important. Weaponized social media has done tremendous damage to governments and societies all over the world, one of the most damaging indications of which here is the rise of apologists. Time does enough damage on its own, but fake news and malevolent disinformation has helped it a million times over.

So the fact that schools big and small have decided to take a stand is incredibly refreshing. One of the schools I never thought would join announced they would this morning and I am beyond surprised. I thought they had turned or were at least apathetic. I know for a fact they have something to lose but here they are burning bridges. They have taken a stand and I am shaking my head in amazement.

This to me indicates that weaponizing social media, as evil and effective as it is, is possibly not as powerful as it was especially during the very dark mid 2010 period. I dare not hope, I’ve been burned far too many times. But please, let this be true. And please let the younger people ask why classes were canceled, and hopefully they will look up the reason and learn for themselves why this is important.

2 Thoughts On This Incredible Dramatic Video

This incredibly dramatic almost movie like scene where army soldiers were rescuing pinned down comrades along a narrow street in Marawi was described in great detail in ‘Marawi Siege: Stories from the Front Lines‘, the book i read last January.

So, two thoughts:

RIP Sec. Del Rosario – A True Filipino Hero

Madalas ko marinig yung word na LODI or idol in slang, ginagamit to refer to someone na gusto mong tularan o gayahin. Sa sobrang Dalas nawawalan na to ng bisa kasi kung ano ano na lang ang paggamit. May nabili lang mamahaling gamit o ano man lodi na siya.

I remember thinking paano naman yung mga totoong lodi, yung those truly deserving of being an idol not to just one but to many.
Well today brings that thought to mind again because today nawalan tayo ng totoong LODI. Today Albert del Rosario died, and we have lost someone great. A true hero to the nation, a man that should be an example to all Filipinos. A TRUE ACTUAL LODI if there ever was one.

Here’s an excerpt from a 2013 Businessworld article from when he was DFA secretary in 2012:

‘Mr. del Rosario also showed an incredible bravery in protecting the lives of Filipinos abroad. Barely two days of being sworn into office, Mr. del Rosario traveled to Libya to extricate some 400 overseas Filipinos out of the war-torn city and bring them into the Libyan-Tunisian border. He risked his personal life several times thereafter, leading more repatriations of over 24,000 Filipinos in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and Egypt. From 2011 to 2015, the DFA had the chance to extend assistance to over 80,000 overseas Filipinos and members of their families.’

Full article here: https://www.bworldonline.com/features/2018/11/14/198989/the-selfless-servant/

Utang na loob, tiyak di lang hindi maibabalita ang kagalingan at pagka Bayani niya bagamat sisiraan pa siya, kasi aligned siya kay Noynoy, and we all know laganap ang fake news lalo na palapit na naman eleksyon.
Wala nang Mas pang pelikula ang buhay kesa sa kanya. Yung security guard na bumaril sa magnanakaw nagawan ng pelikula siya pa. He literally saved 24,000 lives.

Kung may kahit katiting na natitira ka pang tiwala sa galing ng Pilipino, at umaasa ka pa na kahit papano may matularan at matutunan pa ang mga kabataan, lalo na kung ano talaga ang ibig sabihin ng LODI, well here’s one right here.

YOU CANNOT GET ANY MORE HEROIC THAN SEC del ROSARIO. Please remember him and tell people about him. In this world of 24/7 Fake and Bad news he is truly the only Real and Good news around.

Surely this man rests in peace! No one has done more to deserve it!

S90 Now Full Wave – Can This Finally Be It?

So the fact I had not been writing about the S90 is a give away of how I had been feeling. To be precise, it has been one disaster after another. I won’t mince words when I say the previous guy that tried to do it was a complete waste of time and money. His lone mechanic was working on several projects at the same time. Sure he may had been competent but the fact he could not devote his time to mine just resulted in a half baked effort.

Here’s a video I received this morning. It’s running now, with a ‘full wave’ 12v electrical system. When I asked the mechanic if it was normal now, he said it was ‘perfect’.

But before that, let’s go back with a thorough history.

Tanim Bala Was A Successful Ruse to Paint PNoy Admin As Inept

I just wanted to get this off my chest.

I remember tanim bala years ago. The press and socmed would be literally screaming everyday on how incompetent PNoy’s admin was over NAIA staff placing bullets into luggage to extort tourists. I also remember the incredible traffic and how complaints would be amplified by the thousandfold, almost like shouting into a microphone so they could share how incompetent they thought PNoy was.

As much as I could empathize I could see however that the problems were clearly local. Tanim Bala was a NAIA problem, and as such should be resolved by NAIA authorities. Edsa traffic was an Edsa problem, not even a nationwide problem, and was therefore up to whoever was managing Edsa or the city as a whole. In fact it was clearly because people were buying so many cars as they had more money.

Marawi Siege – Stories From The Front Lines

I read this book over the holidays, and its hard to limit my thoughts about it to a few words. It is an important book every Filipino should read or at least know about some of the stories in it. Such as the highly respected Muslim leader who refused to leave Marawi even as both sides pleaded with him because he was hiding Christians in his house, who would have been beheaded had they been found. The similarities to powerful German families hiding Jews in other books I’ve read are too familiar.

Pages: 12

Random Unedited Thoughts Weeks After Elections

The fam is fresh from a 3 wk vacation from Biliran. ‘Much needed’ is an understatement because the stress from the recent elections was affecting my health. What I thought was a toothache of massive proportions turned out to be teeth grinding, which I googled to be a subconscious stress related ‘coping strategy’. The pain was severe but waned two days in after I completely disconnected from social media and literally just hung around and did nothing.

I had been neglecting my business previous to that and was on auto – mode and had been putting projects in the back burner. I couldn’t concentrate on anything anyway so it wouldn’t have worked had I tried.