Deaths in snowstorm

“The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?”

—J. B. Priestley

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

THE first warning I received when I started shoveling snow 14 years ago was, “don’t do it if you have a weak heart.”

Thus, I wasn’t surprised when authorities pointed to cardiac arrest to be the cause of the first two deaths reported related to the snowstorm that recently lashed Buffalo and other Western parts of New York.

Heart attacks have been known to occur while shoveling heavy amounts of snow. 

But, I learned later that even if we have no history of heart problem, anyone—male or female—can die of heart attack and chest pain by trying to remove heavy snow, a vigorous physical activity. 

Especially if we do it randomly and don’t throw caution to the wind. 

Shoveling the white stuff can not only hurt our back, but it can also be hard on our heart. 

This has been proven several times when I shoveled snow in Canada, here in the United States, and in other countries with large snow during winter season.

The storm in Buffalo was predicted days in advance with a precision that was stunning in both its timing and placement. It’s been in the news several days earlier.

It still left several towns stunned by its ferocity and overwhelmed by its relentlessness. 

And as with other lake-effect storms, others farther north wondered what all the fuss was about and whether their time would come. 

Despite days of warnings, snow-removal efforts were hampered by motorists who disregarded driving bans and travel advisories.

 

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According to 2019 research, exercising very hard (like we do when shoveling snow) can increase our heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen requirements of our body.

Health officials say blood vessels are tighter in the cold weather, making it harder for blood to pass through them. Combine that with the stress of physical activity, and it can mean disaster for some unsuspecting shovelers, warned The Weather Network.

According to MetroHealth, patients who have a known heart disease condition, have high blood pressure, high cholesterol and/or are smokers are at highest risk of a heart attack while shoveling snow.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation recommends that anyone who has ever had a heart attack, stroke, or heart surgery should have someone else do the shoveling or should speak to their doctor before taking on such a task.

While shoveling the snow, health officials want us to watch for the following warning signs: lightheadedness, dizziness, being short of breath, tightness or burning in chest, neck, arms or back.

If we experience any of these warnings signs while shoveling, we are advised to sit down and rest. If the feeling continues for more than a few minutes we may call 911.

We have been told to talk to our doctor before tackling the snow and that we should avoid shoveling immediately after waking up in the morning as most heart attacks occur early in the morning when blood is more prone to clotting. 

 

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Before doing it, we must wait for at least 30 minutes and warm up our muscles before starting by walking for a few minutes or marching in place.

We aren’t supposed to eat heavy meal before shoveling as our blood gets diverted form the heart to the stomach.

Also, we can’t drink coffee or smoke for at least one hour before or one hour after shoveling or during breaks.

These are stimulants and elevate your blood pressure and heart rate.

According to The Heart and Stroke Foundation, we must use a small shovel: shovel many small loads instead of heavy ones and begin slowly and take frequent, 15 minute breaks.

Before doing it, we must drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration and dress in layers, to avoid hypothermia (low body temperature) or overheating.

It’s important that we also cover our head and neck (50 percent body heat lost through head and neck) and cover our mouth (breathing cold air can cause angina or trigger breathing problems.

The Buffalo News has reported that Orchard Park, Elma and Blasdell were the hardest hit of the Southtowns, with all three reaching 4 feet of accumulation by 5 p.m. November 18. 

The lake-effect storm's path was expected to move northward overnight, with Buffalo and Kenmore taking a hit, and to a lesser extent in the Northtowns and Niagara County. While accumulations were expected to fall well short of the 4½ feet just south, WIVB meteorologist and Buffalo News contributor Don Paul said winds would pick up to 15-30 mph over the weekend, limiting visibility.

Between November 18 (Friday) afternoon to when the storm ends November 21 (Monday), southern Erie County could get one foot to 2½ feet more, added the paper.

The Buffalo area was expected get an additional one to two feet, while Niagara County could receive eight inches to 12 inches more, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Liz Jurkowski.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

Amazon, my ex future employer?

“Never get married in college; it's hard to get a start if a prospective employer finds you've already made one mistake.”

—Elbert Hubbard

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

UNTIL recently, I kept on receiving invitations through email and calls/text messages to work part time in Amazon; I have been asked “to report for interview” in Staten Island, NY and “earn up to $20.65/hour” as Amazon Warehouse Worker.

I have been offered “a $100 bonus with proof of Covid-19 vaccination” for a job as Warehouse Team Member in Chelsea, NY.

“Up to $3,000 sign on bonus” has been dangled for me to work as Amazon Warehouse Attendant. And so on and so forth.

We lost our jobs when New York locked down in March 2020, the start of pandemic’s harrowing incursion all over the globe.

New Yorkers, as well as other residents in other states, had to rely on unemployment benefits from the Department of Labor (from $600 to $1,200/week for more than a year, at least). 

How “sweet” it is to be in the United States during the pandemic, declared one undocumented Pinoy immigrant, who brought home a whooping one-time payment of $15,600 from the $2.1 billion state budget intended for all undocumented workers in New York affected by Covid-19.

In July 2021, when New York started to go back to the mainstream after a nearly two-year hiatus from economic and employment activities, my plan was originally to work at Amazon; I was attracted by its salary package—and there was plenty of openings. Amazon jobs are arguably among the best in the post-pandemic period.

 

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But after landing a post-pandemic job in Manhattan, I held the Amazon quest in abeyance. 

However, Jeff Bezos’ multinational technology company that focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence, didn’t stop wooing me, modesty aside. 

I stuck to my Manhattan employment but didn’t shut the door on the possibility of accepting the company’s offer for a part time job. 

Until I received the news November 17 that Amazon was planning to lay off thousands of employees and the job cuts and buy outs will extend in 2023.

With this development, Amazon now becomes my ex future employer.

Amazon CEO, Andy Jassy wrote in a post on November 17 that the job reductions were a part of the company's annual operating planning review. 

Jassy explained that this year's review was complicated by the "challenging spot" the economy is in, coupled with the fact that Amazon rapidly hired employees in recent years.

According to CNBC, the e-commerce giant offered "voluntary severance" packages on November 15 and 16 as it continued to enact substantial layoffs across the company, according to CNBC. 

Human resources and employee services were reportedly among the divisions that received the buyout offers. 

 

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While Amazon's third-quarter earnings saw improvement over earlier in 2022, overall profits were below expectations. As a result, Amazon had been cutting back in a number of areas even before this week's layoffs and buyouts, wrote Sara Lord and Nina Raemont of cnet.

In the past few months, Jassy halted testing on Amazon Scout, the company's robot home delivery initiative. He's also shuttered the Amazon Care tele-health and nursing service, as well as Fabric.com, a long-time online fabric retailer. 

The cuts, along with high attrition, reduced the headcount at the company by approximately 80,000 between April and September, according to the Times. Amazon imposed a hiring freeze for small teams in September, followed by a corporate-wide freeze earlier this month. 

The layoffs at Amazon reflect the turbulence facing the tech industry. Twitter, Microsoft, Meta and Google also have let go of workers in recent months. 

Amazon will provide employees who voluntarily leave the company with a severance payment equal to three months of pay, along with one week of salary for every six months of tenure, CNBC reported citing internal documents. 

The news of buyouts comes amid massive layoffs that the company confirmed in a blog post November 16, after days of rumors about job cuts.

"We notified impacted employees yesterday, and will continue to work closely with each individual to provide support, including assisting in finding new roles," Dave Limp, Amazon's senior vice president of devices and services, said in the post. 

"In cases where employees cannot find a new role within the company, we will support the transition with a package that includes a separation payment, transitional benefits, and external job placement support."

Amazon didn't say how many jobs have been cut, but The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal have reported that the cuts affect around 10,000 corporate employees—not warehouse workers—during its busiest time of the year. 

If that number is accurate, the Times noted that this would be the largest layoff in the company's history.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

 

 

 

 

Wrong investment

“Friend, there's no greater investment in life than in being a people builder. Relationships are more important than our accomplishments.”

—Joel Osteen

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

IN the financial world, a wrong investment will cost us a fortune. 

The money we want to double or grow and hope to help improve the quality of our life evaporates because of unwise outlay.

In human resources, hiring wrong or unqualified employees will compromise the good standing, efficiency and growth of the company.

In relationships, a wrong choice of friend will give us plenty of trouble and inconvenience; a wrong choice of partner in life will deprive us of true happiness and give us emotional and mental anguish.

A wrong choice of business partner will drain our assets and resources and give us tremendous stress and king-sized headache. 

An “investor” normally is a person or entity who outlays capital in order to produce an income or to make profits. 

Investing is the act of putting forth capital with the expectation of income or profit. Personal investing is buying financial securities or property for the purpose of making a profit.

Donors and big financial backers of politicians also consider the campaign funds they spend as “investment.” 

They don’t give something out of nothing.

They invest to candidates who will “give back the favor” if the candidates win and, thus, have instant access to public funds and infrastructure or public works projects.

I’ll scratch your back, you scratch mine. A quid pro quo.

 

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When the late former Senator John Osmeña was campaigning for reelection many years back, he called billionaire Lucio Tan several times on the phone. 

The Philippine Airlines (PAL) bigwig ignored his calls.

“Naga ring lang tapos naga off gulpi (the phone suddenly turns off after ringing),” the Cebuano politician groaned in Hiligaynon. “Isa lang ang boot silingon sini. He doesn’t want anymore to invest with me.”

Osmeña, whose popularity had waned and was no longer in contention to win, must have realized he was not anymore “bankable”. 

He didn’t anymore press his luck and stopped calling Tan, an astute businessman.

Why do I know the story? Because I was with Osmeña inside the van in Iloilo when he called Tan during the campaign for his reelection in 2004.

Donors and former supporters of come-backing former US President Donald Trump have started distancing themselves after he announced his candidacy November 15 night in the 2024 presidential election.

The donors, including some Manhattan moguls who used to bankroll his campaign in the 2016 and 2020 elections, probably didn’t want anymore to “invest” with him.

 

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Political “investors” must be seriously reading the political landscape. They are aware that in the just concluded midterm elections, almost all—except for a few in the smaller states—of Trump’s handpicked candidates lost miserably.

These candidates for governor, senator, representative, and secretary of state were mostly forceful election deniers and unhinged characters who embraced Trump’s embarrassing lies about President Joseph Biden’s legitimate win in 2020. 

Because they lacked the substance and credibility, they have contributed heavily in the destruction of the Republican Party, according to the consensus of experts and analysts.

Even daughter Ivanka would no longer “invest” for her dad’s third stab at the presidency.

“While I will always love and support my father, going forward I will do so outside the political arena,” daughter Ivanka said in a statement that came the same evening that the former president announced his plans to run for president again.

“This time around, I am choosing to prioritize my young children and the private life we are creating as a family. I do not plan to be involved in politics.”

“We will continue to support my father—as his kids,” she said in the statement first reported by Fox News, adding that she was proud to have been a part of the Trump administration.

But didn’t they know that dad Trump loves to be underdog? He might be a “wrong investment” for some political donors, but some pundits think he can  still oust all other GOP aspirants in the primaries and end up running away with the official GOP nomination and challenge in a rematch President Biden in 2024. 

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

 

 

 

Rematch of two senior citizens

“The risk of a wrong decision is preferable to the terror of indecision.”

—Maimonides

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

LIKE many people in America today, we’re also excited to see the blockbuster rematch between two famous senior citizens in modern American politics.

It appears to be inevitable now that grandfather Donald Trump has officially launched his 2024 presidential bid. 

I also don’t agree when both Trump’s critics and the liberal commentators throw roadblocks on his comeback bid especially if there’s no law that prohibits his candidacy.  

Watching Trump speak on TV “live” on Tuesday (November 15) night, I had a hunch he would blitz his way in the GOP primaries and clinch the party nomination if two to four other contenders stood on his way.

So far, his biggest “obstacle” is Ron DeSantis, the wily 44-year-old Florida governor, who recently won a reelection with a wide margin.

The announcement at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida that he was running for president in November 2024, brought Trump, 76, closer to a rubber match versus fellow grandfather, President Joseph Biden, 80. 

He laid out an aggressively conservative agenda that includes executing people convicted of dealing drugs, something that is unheard of in the president administration. 

It will be Trump’s third run for president (1 win, 1 loss), but his first time trying to persuade voters since his refusal to accept the 2020 presidential election results and his frantic effort to stay in power led to the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Slamming President Biden’s record in his first two years in the White House in a speech at his Florida private club, Trump quipped: “We are a nation in decline. We are a failing nation for millions of Americans. I will ensure Joe Biden does not receive four more years.”

 

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The former president, now facing a myriad of criminal investigations, filed papers with the Federal Election Commission earlier Tuesday night in which he declared himself a candidate for the presidency and established a new campaign committee.

He declared: “This campaign will be about issues, vision and success, and we will not stop, we will not quit, until we’ve achieved the highest goals and made our country greater than it has ever been before.”

His toned down speech echoed his 2016 campaign speeches in many ways, painting a dystopian picture of America as a failing nation ravaged by violent crime during “a time of pain, hardship, anxiety and despair.”

Calling for a “top-to-bottom overhaul and clean out of the festering rot and corruption of Washington, D.C., Trump said the “gravest threat to our civilization” was what he called the weaponization of the Justice Department and the FBI, which are currently investigating his handling of classified documents, as well as his role in a massive effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election results and prevent Congress from certifying President Biden’s victory.

He has rejected the counsel of current and former advisers who had warned him against declaring himself a candidate for president anew so soon after a dismal result in the midterm elections where most of his handpicked candidates, election deniers like him, lost miserably.

 

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CNBC reported that Trump’s filing with the F.E.C. created the Donald J. Trump for President 2024, and officially launched the 2024 Republican presidential primary, a contest where the dynamics have shifted dramatically in the past week.

Trump was the undisputed frontrunner in his party’s nominating contest, with polls showing the former president’s support among Republican voters averaging more than 20 percentage points over his closest rival, Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, CNBC reported.

But that was before DeSantis won reelection by an extraordinary 19-point margin, electrifying Republicans nationwide and offering the party a bright spot on a day when Democrats won most of the major Senate and governors’ races.

Trump is still the undisputed leader of the Republican party, however. This week, the Washington Post reported that Trump plans to build a campaign team that looks and feels more like the skeleton crew of loyal aides who ran his successful 2016 run, and less like the massive operation that his failed 2020 reelection bid grew into.

Trump enters the race reportedly with more than $60 million in cash held by his leadership PAC, Save America, and a prodigious fundraising operation that vacuums up small-dollar donations at an unprecedented rate.

Federal Election Commission rules prohibit Trump from using the leadership PAC money to directly finance his presidential campaign.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

 

 

Hooray, Arizona!

“In the end, that's what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope?”

—Barack Obama

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

I DON’T live in Arizona but I share the euphoria people there felt when it was projected November 14 (Monday) night that one of the most dangerous merchants of conspiracy theory and prominent promoter of former President Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 presidential election has been ousted in the gubernatorial race.

What a feeling.

Republican Kari Lake, who has been acting like a lady version of Adolf Hitler, was soundly defeated by Democrat Katie Hobbs, according to the projection of several US networks.

I have been observing Lake’s demeanor since during the campaign and noticed she appeared to be emotionally if not mentally problematic. In most of her pre and post election statements, she sounded bizarre and unhinged.

Observers thought it was a big risk on the part of the Arizona voters to have such quality of candidate for governor.  

Lake’s fall came after another rabid election denier, fellow Arizona Republican Blake Masters, was defeated by reelectionist Democrat Mark Kelly for senator.

Again, what a feeling.

Lake and Hobbs were two of the many purveyors of election lies handpicked and financed by Mr. Trump rejected by the American voters all over the country.

The others were (for governor): Doug Mastriano (Pennsylvania), Lee Zeldin (New York), Tudo Dixon (Michigan), Geoff Diehl (Massachusetts), Derek Schmidt (Kansas), Scott Jensen (Minnesota), Paul LePage (Maine), Heidi Ganahl (Colorado), Tim Michels (Wisconsin), Dan Cox (Maryland), Darren Bailey (Illinois), Brian Dahle (California).

Also (for senator): Adam Laxalt (Nevada), Memet Oz (Pennsylvania), Jo Rae Perkins (Oregon), Tiffany Smiley (Washington), Don Bolduc (New Hampshire), and Masters (Arizona).

Lies and extremism didn’t reach the first base.

 

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The Americans have spoken: they didn’t want leaders who continued to falsely advocate the monotonous and counterproductive lies about the legitimate victory of Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential race; they wanted leaders who cared and willing to prioritize the issues on inflation, women’s reproductive rights, immigration, crime, climate change, democracy.

Lake, a former news anchor at Fox 10 in Phoenix, ascended quickly to become one of the most prominent Republicans in the 2022 cycle as she and Hobbs vied to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Doug Ducey. The outgoing governor had endorsed Lake’s primary opponent, but then backed Lake in the general election, reported Maeve Reston of CNN.

Hobbs, a former social worker who worked with victims of domestic violence before becoming a state lawmaker, ran a far more low-key and understated campaign, limiting her access to reporters and holding small, intimate events with supporters, added Reston. 

She made democracy and abortion rights her central focus, Reston reported further, portraying Lake as an “extreme” and “dangerous” figure who could jeopardize the sanctity of the 2024 presidential election by refusing to certify the results.

Reston reported that Lake hewed closely to the Trump playbook on more than just the 2020 election. She promised to declare an “invasion” at the border–in what she described as an effort to amass greater power for the governor’s office to address the migrant crisis–and she called for the arrest of both of Dr. Anthony Fauci and her Democratic opponent.

 

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Before announcing her bid, Lake left her anchor job in 2021–stating that she didn’t like the direction that journalism was going–after becoming a household name in Phoenix. In one of her campaign videos, she said she was taking a sledgehammer to “leftist lies and propaganda,” as she destroyed television sets with the tool in stiletto boots.

She dispatched her primary opponents with her forceful denunciations of Democratic leaders’ handling of the Covid-19 pandemic–blasting restrictions like masking as unnecessary and harmful to children. She welcomed comparisons to Trump all the way through the end of the campaign–professing at one event that she was delighted when one admirer called her “Trump in a dress.”

Lake had painted Hobbs as a coward after Hobbs refused to debate her opponent this fall. Hobbs’ campaign argued that a debate with Lake “would only lead to constant interruptions, pointless distractions, and childish name-calling.”

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

 

 

 

Democrats’ Senate win ‘good’ for Filipinos

“The big divide in this country is not between Democrats and Republicans, or women and men, but between talkers and doers.”

—Thomas Sowell

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

WE’VE noticed that US Senate Majority Floor Leader Charles “Chuck” Schumer never missed the Philippine Independence Day parades in New York in the past years before the pandemic.

The 71-year-old senator (D-New York) would be in the front line walking together with leaders of the Filipino community on Madison Avenue until the parade reached the final destination at Madison Square Park.

He is, perhaps, one of the only few senators who really makes his presence felt with the Pinoys during important occasions, especially during the critical campaign to “Stop the Asian Hate” where the good senator openly condemned the attacks against Asians, including the Filipinos

For this, the Pinoy community is grateful and very supportive to the hardworking senator. The feeling is mutual.

Other than former Governor Andrew Cuomo, Schumer is the most familiar political face among the Filipinos living in New York. This explains why majority of the Filipinos in the Big Apple are Democrats, as well as in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Washington, Virginia, Maryland, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. 

Schumer is aware the mighty “small but terrible” Filipino-Americans account for the bulk of Asian voters who go all out for the Democratic Party during the elections. 

 

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The Filipino community in these Democratic strongholds were equally ecstatic when news broke out Saturday night (November 12) that the party of President Joe Biden clinched control of the Senate with the projection that Nevada reelectionist Senator Catherine Cortez Masto brought down Republican challenger Adam Laxalt, one of the other guy’s few remaining fanatics and a forceful election denier.

Masto’s victory virtually dashed to pieces the hopes of the Republicans to grab control of the Senate with 50 elected senators in the 2022 Midterm Elections. 

Senator Raphael Warnock hopes to give his party its 51^st seat when he faces Republican challenger Herchel Walker in a runoff on December 6.

The Democrats have been maintaining close ties with the Filipino community since time immemorial—since the United States established diplomatic relations with the Philippines in 1946.

U.S.-Philippine relations are based on strong historical and cultural linkages and a shared commitment to democracy and human rights, according to the US Department of Justice.

The 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty provides a strong foundation for our robust post-World War II security partnership.  Strong people-to-people ties, and economic cooperation provide additional avenues to engage on a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues.  

 

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The U.S.-Philippine Bilateral Strategic Dialogue (BSD) is the annual forum for forward planning across the spectrum of our relationship. The latest BSD in November 2021 resulted in the Joint Vision for a 21st Century United States-Philippines Partnership.

More than four million Filipino-Americans live in the United States, and almost 300,000 U.S. citizens reside in the Philippines, including a large number of U.S. military veterans.  

Additionally, Manila is home to the only Veterans Administration regional office outside the United States, and the American Cemetery in Manila is the largest American military cemetery outside the United States.  

Pre-COVID, more than one million U.S. citizens visited the Philippines each year. People-to-people exchange programs between the United States and the Philippines include the longest continuously running Fulbright program in the world, the International Visitor Leadership Program, and the Kenney-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study program.

The U.S. government’s goals in the Philippines, according to the US Department of Justice, are to strengthen democratic governance and support Philippine government efforts to promote inclusive development and contribute to security and development cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.  

U.S. assistance to the Philippines helps expand inclusive, market-driven growth; foster strong democratic systems and good economic, health, and education governance; promote responsible natural resource management; and enhance resilience for communities and the environment.

The Philippines and the United States belong to many of the same international organizations, including the United Nations, ASEAN Regional Forum, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and World Trade Organization.  

The Philippines is also an observer to the Organization of American States.  

The Philippines served as chair and host of ASEAN for 2017. The United States strongly supports Philippine government efforts to fully implement the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, an important multilateral tool to protect Filipino and U.S. children and families.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

What we learned from recent midterm elections

“One of the reasons people hate politics is that truth is rarely a politician's objective. Election and power are.”

—Cal Thomas

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

IT’S interesting to cover the elections in the United States especially the just concluded 2022 Midterm Elections. 

I have noted some striking similarities in the way candidates behave when they lose and win.

Like in the Philippines, there were also sore losers in American elections.

Even in imminent defeat, bad losers continued to throw baseless accusations of fraud against their rivals. 

To add insult, they also cast aspersions on the integrity of election officials who were doing patriotic tasks in securing and preserving democracy.  

The behavior of the Republican senatorial candidate who lost in Arizona was a classic example. 

He went to Fox News, a conservative network, and threw tantrums without a shred of evidence at election officials who were Republicans like him after a projection showed he lost to the reelectionist Democrat Mark Kelly. 

I thought he was decent, responsible and straightforward; I had high hopes for this Republican bet during the campaign; all my good impressions about him vanished when I heard him badmouth and falsely accuse election officials of favoring his Democratic rival.

But he can’t fight reality. Blake Masters lost miserably and it wasn’t even close. 

 

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Another suspected mentally deranged candidate for governor in the same state was already running amuck like a child denied of biscuits even before any projection of her possible defeat was announced (she was still in contention as of this writing as there was no final projection yet).

Aside from being a forceful election denier, this misbehaving gubernatorial candidate is also a rabid conspiracy theorist and fanatic of the former guy. 

When asked by CNN a week ago if she would accept the election result even if she loses, Kari Lake refused saying her victory was in the cards.  

But there were also those who gamely accepted defeat right away from both the Democrats and Republicans when projections showed obvious results; they immediately conceded, called their rivals, and moved on with their lives. No fanfare. No bellyaching. No sour graping.

The Republican candidate, Dr. Mehmet Oz, for senator who lost in Pennsylvania and the reelectionist Democrat, Tim Ryan, who lost in Ohio were some of them. 

Even if the leads of their respective rivals were not insurmountable, they acted like true gentlemen and sportsmen worthy of emulation. 

I salute these truly professional and dignified candidates.

 

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Like in the Philippines, there is such thing as baluarte or home-base territory where candidates are expected to route their rivals; we can’t make any projection for candidates lagging behind unless results have been tabulated in their baluarte.

This became apparent after results in the gubernatorial contest in Arizona and senatorial contest in Nevada remained unknown or undecided four to five days after the November 8 elections.

Another “one-of-a-kind” system being implemented in American election is the runoff. We don’t have this kind of photo-finish decision if the two rivals are neck-and-neck and there is no clear winner. 

There is no required threshold to win in this race.

The Senate race in Georgia, for instance, is heading to a runoff election, where Democrat Raphael Warnock will face Republican Herschel Walker for a second time.

On top of this race being exceptionally close, Georgia is also one of only two U.S. states with a runoff for both primary and general elections.

This means that under Georgia election law, if no candidate obtains over 50 percent of the vote, a runoff is triggered, and the top two candidates will face off again in a new election held four weeks after Election Day or on December 6.

The predecessor of Georgia's runoff election was adopted after the Emancipation Proclamation freed enslaved people in Southern states. Runoffs were seen as additional roadblocks for Black people to vote, according to the U.S. Vote Foundation, which characterizes the practice as having "Jim Crow roots."

Also, if the Democrats will win 50 seats in the Senate, they will control the Upper Chamber even if the Republicans will also secure 50 seats. In a 50-50 vote, Vice President Kamala Harris breaks the tie.

The party that gets 218 seats in the House of Representatives wins control of the Lower House. 

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)