A Cup O' Kapeng Barako: Collections of My Best and Most-Hated Writings

By Jesse Jose

While in the Navy, he won three Chief of Information (CHINFO) Merit Awards for writing and the Thomas Jefferson Award from the Department of Defense (DOD) for a photo feature. He was also the recipient of the 2002 Pluma Award in Journalism from the Gintong Pamana Awards Foundation, Inc. of Chicago, Illinois. He lives in Seattle, Washington, where he writes his weekly column, A Cup o' Kapeng Barako.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 23, 2019
• ISBN: 9781503539877

Jesse Jose

Jesse Jose is a retired US Navy chief journalist and a former deputy sheriff for the Martin County Sheriff’s Office in Florida. He has written for several military and civilian publications, including the Stars and Stripes, Navy Times, All Hands, and other AP/UPI-oriented civilian newspapers all over the country. He has also written and edited the Dolphin, the Submarine Base newspaper in Groton, Connecticut, and the Camp John Hay Newsletter in Baguio City, Philippines

Book preview

A Cup O’ Kapeng

Barako

Collections of My Best and

Most-Hated Writings

Jesse Jose

Copyright © 2018 by Jesse Jose.

Library of Congress Control Number:    2015901829

ISBN:                        Hardcover                      978-1-5035-3986-0

                                  Softcover                       978-1-5035-3988-4

                                   eBook                            978-1-5035-3987-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Rev. date: 08/23/2019

Xlibris

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CONTENTS

Foreword

Author’s Note

Preface

PART ONE

My Take on the Shooting of an Unarmed kid in Ferguson, MO

An Open Letter to Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of the Archdiocese of Seattle, Washington

Read and Weep: Why Many Filipinos Are So Corrupt

Coin Ceremony Honors Student-veterans

Several Veterans, Patients at VA Hospitals Waited, Suffered and Died

Typhoon Haiyan Victims Remain: Hayan, Mga Victims Pa

Laugh and the Whole World Laughs With You … and the Bucket List

Two Laughable Racial Comments: From an American Cowboy and Another from a Rich American Jew

The Ukraine Crisis; the Missing Malaysian Plane; and a Sex Scandal in the Military: My Take

Rest In Peace, Rose; I’ll Miss You

Seattle Seahawks Set to Establish a Dynasty and Dominate the Superbowl

Is Metro Manila the Gates of Hell?

Three Stories of Christmas

A TSA Harassment at San Diego Airport, a Letter of Complaint, a Response and my Reply

Haiyan (AKA Yolanda), the Typhoon That’s Making the Motherland Well-known and World Famous …

A Little Story About My Town and a Little Conversation with Newly-elected Mayor Nancy Backus

Joint War Memorial with South Vietnamese: A Divisive Idea among Vietnam-War Veterans

Only in the Philippines, and a Congress Full of Kawatans (Thieves)

The Talk of My Town of Auburn, WA: A Joint War Memorial for the Americans and Vietnamese

PART TWO

My Journey: Strengthening a Resolve to Expose Evil

My Take on What Journalism is: To be a journalist is to be a Swordsman

A Taglish Conversation with my Brother, Soc, who Lives in the Philippines, about the Philippines

A Conversation with LOLO Bobby Reyes

Coffee Break ’n Old Liberty Call; Reminiscing the good old days; A Barako Conversation with Nestor

A Letter to the Editor of the Auburn Reporter re: Nancy Backus

My Gift to Pope Francis on his 78th Birthday

Pope Francis’ two Christmas Messages Focus on Spiritual Alzheimer’s of the Curia and on the Abuse of Children all over the world

My Barako Comment on F. Sionil Jose’s piece: A Letter from San Francisco, from the Diaspora: To be a Filipino is a Burden

Conclusion

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"The man who fears no truth

has nothing to fear from lies."

Thomas Jefferson

Foreword

This book leaves out the likelihood that many readers of Jesse Jose also like the way he writes. My Best and Most-Hated are both extremes. Where best lies is where many of his admirers are; those who smile at every wry comment he makes whenever he finds reason to do so, which is hardly rare.

Most-hated would be a welcome avenue for those seeking to vent their dislike and contempt for this man who commands a big following in online media for all his irreverent commentaries. Bounding the most-hated into a volume with the best provides a balance, an insight.

And it is in that balance where we see the man behind the bottomless cups of Kapeng Barako. The stuff he writes about are fairly everyday occurrence. It is in how he writes about them that generates the loudest whispers and the hateful screams. His commentaries aside, Mr. Kapeng Barako is a pleasant guy who is wedged between the best and the hated, easily likeable.

The book should be a good way to while the time, especially when one can’t make up who to like and who to hate; what to like and what to scorn. The book should provide the answer to that dilemma.

Romy Marquez,

Toronto, Canada-based

Journalist, Poet and Book Author

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Author’s Note

I wish to say my most humble and sincerest thank you to:

As always, first and foremost, to my good friend Ray Burdeos, an author of several books, for planting the idea in my head that I should also put together my own book, since I already have the tools to write mine, and for telling me that the words, most-hated writings within the title of my book, would surely attract the attention of readers.

And, may I say that he was absolutely right. When my first book came out, the haters of my Kapeng Barako writings suddenly all came out of the woodwork.

On cyberspace they posted their screams and obscene curses at me for all to see and I was told that a bonfire was built to burn the copies of my book that they were able to get a hold of. I laughed my heart out.

Then I remember these words from Dan Brown’s book, Inferno: "O, willful ignorants! Do you not see the future? Do you not grasp the splendor of my creation? The necessity?" Bwahahahaha!

My heartfelt thanks also goes to my dear friend and colleague, Romy Marquez, who is himself a FEARLESS JOURNALIST and truly an awesome one, for all his positive comments on many of my Kapeng Barako stories I have written, no matter how hateful they were.

Last, but not least, to Mary Flores of Xlibris, the publisher of my books, for her diligence in downloading selected stories from a web site I used to write for, and for patiently siding with me whenever there would be contrasting ideas with the designing/production staff assigned in putting together my books.

I also wish to mention Annie, who is originally from China, whose Chinese name is Jiajin Song, for sketching the steaming cup of coffee that adorns the front cover of my three "A Cup O’ Kapeng Barako" books. Annie was an international student in Arts and Film Making at Green River Community College of Auburn, Washington, and a friend of my son, Jonathan, when I met her.

If you will notice, there are three big spills of coffee surrounding the coffee saucer. Perhaps, those are symbols of Annie’s prediction that her sketch will adorn the front cover of three Kapeng Barako books I’ll be putting together. Her prediction certainly came true.

Yes, Dear Readers, this is my third and last "A Cup O’ Kapeng Barako Collections of my Best and Most-Hated Writings" book. All good things must come to an end. When my dear friend, Pareng Romy, learned that this will be the last Kapeng Barako book I’ll be putting together, he said: Congratulations, Pareng Jesse! I hope your books would become classics themselves over time.

I believe that’s another prediction that will surely come true.

But I am not done writing yet. I like to write. My next book project I am hoping to tackle is an autobiography novel of my life in the U.S. Navy. As Robert Benchley, an American humorist known for his work as a newspaper columnist in the early1920’s and 30’s, said, "It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give it