Believe ...

This just makes me believe in humanity again. A simple act of kindness. A reminder that there are a lot more people out there worse off than we are. My thanks to you NYPD L officer Larry DePrimo, hope we all learn something from him.

NYPD OFFICER'S KINDNESS SPARKS ONLINE SENSATION

NEW YORK (AP) -- A tourist's snapshot of a New York City police officer giving new boots to a barefoot homeless man in Times Square has created an online sensation.

Jennifer Foster, of Florence, Ariz., was visiting New York with her boyfriend on Nov. 14, when she came across the shoeless man asking for change in Times Square.

As she was about to approach him, she said the officer - identified as Larry DePrimo - came up to the man with a pair of all-weather boots and thermal socks on the frigid night. She recorded his generosity on her cellphone.

read more ...

AFP modernization

The Philippines is rapidly ramping up its military. 

A second Hamilton class cutter is being processed in the US and will soon join its sister BRP Gregorio Del Pilar.  Although the Hamilton class cutters were built in the 60's to serve the US Coast Guard they still are formidable ships and suited perfectly for coastline defense and offshore patrols.

There are also rumors floating in the netverse about a potential donation of a South Korean Pohang class corvette.  The Pohang class corvettes are lean mean fighting ships with a lot of weapons platforms fitted on a relatively small hull.  

F-16s are also being floated around to bolster our air defense.  Gunships would be better for COIN operations but we are utterly lacking in air defense capabilities.  The only fighter planes that we have are jet trainers and light prop planes.

About time PH thinks about external defense capabilities as we are currently the weakest military in South East Asia.  A far cry from the 60's where we were the envy of the region.