Release Date Announced for Maria Ressa's New Book 'How to Stand Up to a Dictator'

In an update on her Facebook page, Maria Ressa - CEO and Executive Editor of Rappler - announced that her latest book will hit bookshelves next year: April 7, 2022. How to Stand Up to a Dictator: the Fight for Our Future will be published by Penguin. It will also contain a Foreword by Amal Clooney, a vocal ally of Ressa and an even more vocal critic of President Duterte. Whichever side of the fence you stand on with regards to Philippine politics, this book should be an interesting read. Here's to hoping that we'll get more spicy details on Duterte's War on Ressa (and Duterte's War on Press Freedom, for that matter).

For those who hasn't been following the Duterte-Ressa saga, there's a ton of articles about it online that you can access with a few keystrokes. If you aren't inclined to wade through the mess, I suggest you watch the Frontline documentary called A Thousand Cuts. I remember watching the documentary and thinking that it was a pretty accurate summation of the issue. Of course, it was made in collaboration with Ressa so bias in the storytelling process is definitely in there. Other than that, it's a good watch. And fair, I should add.

Here's the blurb for the book from the website of Penguin UK:

What will you sacrifice for the truth?

Maria Ressa has spent decades speaking truth to power. But her work tracking disinformation networks seeded by her own government, spreading lies to its own citizens laced with anger and hate, has landed her in trouble with the most powerful man in the country: President Duterte.

Now, hounded by the state, she has 10 arrest warrants against her name, and a potential 100+ years behind bars to prepare for - while she stands trial for speaking the truth.

How to Stand Up to a Dictator is the story of how democracy dies by a thousand cuts, and how an invisible atom bomb has exploded online that is killing our freedoms. It maps a network of disinformation - a heinous web of cause and effect - that has netted the globe: from Duterte's drug wars, to America's Capitol Hill, to Britain's Brexit, to Russian and Chinese cyber-warfare, to Facebook and Silicon Valley, to our own clicks and our own votes. Told from the frontline of the digital war, this is Maria Ressa's urgent cry for us to wake up and hold the line, before it is too late.

How to Stand Up to a Dictator by Maria Ressa

Steven Pinker's New Book - Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters

This coming September 28, Steven Pinker's brand new book (his 15th to date) will hit bookshelves. This time, the famous cognitive psychologist, linguist, and science evangelist dissects rationality inside and out. Just like his recent titles, the new book has a mile-long title - Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters. It's a fitting follow-up to the book that precedes it - Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. The book promises to "enlighten, inspire, and empower" the reader.

In an update on his Facebook page, Pinker announced that in the countdown to the publication of his new book, he will be posting quotes, videos, and other teases. Here's the first quote he posted:

"To understand what rationality is, why it seems scarce, and why it matters, we must begin with the ground truths of rationality itself: the ways an intelligent agent ought to reason, given its goals and the world in which it lives."

Quotes from the book:

"And a special place in Journalist Hell is reserved for the scribes who in 2021, during the rollout of Covid vaccines known to have a 95 percent efficacy rate, wrote stories on the vaccinated people who came down with the disease— by definition not news (since it was always certain there would be some) and guaranteed to scare thousands from this lifesaving treatment."

"Three quarters of Americans believe in at least one phenomenon that defies the laws of science, including psychic healing (55 percent), extrasensory perception (41 percent), haunted houses (37 percent), and ghosts (32 percent)— which also means that some people believe in houses haunted by ghosts without believing in ghosts."

"But for all the vulnerabilities of human reason, our picture of the future need not be a bot tweeting fake news forever. The arc of knowledge is a long one, and it bends toward rationality."  

"Rationality requires that we distinguish what is true from what we want to be true - that we not bury our heads in the sand, build castles in the air, or decide that the grapes just out of reach are sour."

Early reviews:

"He manages to be scrupulously rigorous yet steadily accessible and entertaining whether probing the rationality of Andrew Yang’s presidential platform, Dilbert cartoons, or Yiddish proverbs. The result is both a celebration of humans’ ability to make things better with careful thinking and a penetrating rebuke to muddleheadedness." - Publisher's Weekly

"Pinker serves up plenty of mental exercises that are intended to help us overcome the tricks our minds play on us—e.g., Prisoner’s Dilemma game-theoretic scenarios that help expose the reasons so many people are content to be “free riders” in using public goods; or stupid conspiracy theories advanced by people who believe they’re being suppressed, which, as Pinker notes, is “not the strategy you see from dissidents in undeniably repressive regimes like North Korea or Saudi Arabia.” The author can be heady and geeky, but seldom to the point that his discussions shade off into inaccessibility. A reader-friendly primer in better thinking through the cultivation of that rarest of rarities: a sound argument." - Kirkus Review

"Rationality is a terrific book, much-needed for our time. In addition to drawing together the tools for overcoming obstacles to rational thinking, Pinker breaks new ground with the evidence he provides linking rationality and moral progress." - Peter Singer

And hey, you might want to check this out. Pinker wrote a piece for Shepherd where he lists and briefly discusses the best books on rationality.

His list?

1. Rational Choice in an Uncertain World: The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making by Reid Hastie and Robyn M. Dawes
2. The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth by Jonathan Rauch
3. Rationality for Mortals: How People Cope with Uncertainty by Gerd Gigerenzer
4. A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume
5. The Bias That Divides Us: The Science and Politics of Myside Thinking by Keith E. Stanovich

Some Big Shots Have Been Using Me: a Poem by Cirilo F. Bautista (Critical Analysis)

This is a critical analysis of the poem Some Big Shots Have Been Using Me by Cirilo F. Bautista (National Artist for Literature). This poem appeared in The Likhaan Book of Poetry and Fiction, 2006 (University of the Philippines Press).  

Some bigshots have been using me
for target practice. They call it Preparing
for Progress. I ask that my taxes be reduced,
bang goes my left ear. I demonstrate
against police brutality, bang go
my fingers that hold the placard. Floods

and lahar carry my patrimony
to oblivion and bury my town:
I ask the mayor for an old pair of shoes,
wham go my feet flying into
the garbage can. I beg for cheaper rice
to energize my mouth, wham break my teeth

like ice-cubes falling against the floor.
Democracy is a tiresome habit —
I have to stand erect or it will fail.
There is no coffee break for the honest.
My stomach grumbles for lack of food,
ping goes the light bulb of my mind

and darkness devours the empty kitchen.
“Keep quiet, keep still,” they hiss at me
as they feed bullets into their anger’s
chambers. Some bigshots have been using me
for target practice. O if they would only
shoot straight and hit me in the heart for a change!

- This poem is an indictment of a corrupt and oppressive government. Bautista uses "big shots" to refer to the oppressive government and the forces it uses to enact its oppressive policies. The poem is in the first person and the speaker represents the ordinary Filipino who wants equality, justice, and good governance. This Filipino is an activist, a guardian of democracy.

For the Filipino activist and demonstrator, "democracy is a tiresome habit" because he puts himself in the fire every time he raises a fist. When he calls for reduced taxes, they shoot his ear. When he demonstrates against police brutality, the police simply confirms the allegation by shooting at his fingers. When he asks for material assistance, he's met with violence. When he begs for cheaper rice, his teeth are knocked off his gums. Indeed, fighting for democracy is a heart-breaking endeavor. 

Adding insult to injury, the "big shots" only use the ordinary Filipino as a "target practice". That is they keep on hurting him over and over again but never putting him away for good. The "big shots" are nothing if the ordinary Filipino is dead. "O if they would only shoot straight and hit me in the heart for a change!" Not going to happen. The "big shots" will be shooting themselves on the foot if they do.

Elmer B. Domingo; Wikimedia Commons

Man of Earth: a Poem by Amador T. Daguio (Critical Analysis)

This is a critical analysis of the poem Man of Earth by Amador T. Daguio (1912-1966). Daguio penned this poem in 1932 when he was only 20 years old. It's one of Daguio's most well-known poems. It's been anthologized a good number of times and is a mainstay in literature subjects and courses in the country. 

Man of Earth
by Amador T. Daguio

Pliant is the bamboo;
I am a man of earth;
They say that from the bamboo
We had our first birth.

- Daguio states a fact in the first line. The bamboo is pliant in the sense that it can bend without breaking. In the third and fourth lines, Daguio alludes to the Filipino creation myth of the first man and woman emerging from a split bamboo. The two lines offer an explanation as to why we are pliant - we are sons and daughters of the pliant bamboo tree.

Substitute the word "Filipino" to the word "bamboo" in the first line and it would make things clearer. "Pliant is the Filipino; I am a man of earth."

Am I of the body,
Or of the green leaf?
Do I have to whisper
My every sin and grief?

- In this stanza, Daguio wrestles with a question. Is the Filipino comparable to the body of the bamboo tree or to its leaves? Is the Filipino like the body which is pliant? Or is he like the leaves who whisper and bicker among themselves? If you stand near a bamboo grove and there's a little bit of wind in the air, the rustle of the leaves sounds like whispers of "sin and grief".

If the wind passes by,
Must I stoop and try
To measure fully
My flexibility?

- Many readers would understand this stanza as referring to being resilient despite a challenge or challenges. I don't think this is Daguio's ultimate message. Again, he's wrestling with a question here. I think what he's saying is that if you are faced with a formidable challenge, are you going to stoop to the level of that challenge and follow it's lead? The way a bamboo tree tends to follow the lead of the incoming wind? Or would you rather defy the incursion of the wind?

I might have been the bamboo,
But I will be a man.
Bend me then, O Lord,
Bend me if you can.

- This stanza answers the question in the previous stanza. Daguio admits that the Filipino has been a bamboo in the past. But not anymore. From now on, the Filipino is going to be a man. He isn't going to follow the lead of the winds. He is going to defy them. This is why he is hurling a challenge at the Almighty - come and try to bend me...if you can. That's defiance. That's not the way of the bamboo. 

Closing Remarks

I think what Daguio is trying to say here is that being pliant like the bamboo is an obsolete way to describe the Filipino. Simply going with the motion of the winds isn't a good thing. It's time for the Filipino to be sturdy and brave. To stand against the wind. To not whisper his every sin and grief. Instead, he should shout these out against the wind.

One way of understanding a poem is to look at the time it was written. Man of Earth was written in 1932. There were a few important events occurring in the Philippines during this time. One such event was the convention between the United States of America and Great Britain delimiting the boundary between the Philippine archipelago and the State of North Borneo. It's possible that Daguio used "winds" in his poem as a substitute for the nations that took turns in colonizing the country.

Rudy Baldwin Exposed and Debunked: Is This Filipino Psychic Reader and Dream Translator Real?

I don't believe in psychics but I find them very interesting. Very interesting in the sense that they entertain me. They amuse me. But at the same time, it saddens me that in this day and age, a lot of people still buy into their woo-woo. More often than not, self-proclaimed psychics rip people off by claiming that they have supernatural abilities like being able to talk to the deceased or being able to see the future. 

But here's the problem - there is very little evidence that psychics are real. There is very little evidence that their claimed abilities are real. So it's disgusting to think that there are self-proclaimed psychics out there who are charging people money by claiming that they can connect them to their deceased loved ones. 

In 1964, the scientific skeptic James Randi offered a prize of $1000 to anyone who could demonstrate a paranormal or supernatural ability under agreed-upon scientific testing criteria. The prize was increased to $10,000 then $100,000 and then in 1996, the prize was increased to a whooping $1,000,000. That's a million bucks to be given, no strings attached, to anyone who can provide proof that he/she has a supernatural or paranormal ability. It became known as the One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge. Over a thousand people (many of whom are self-proclaimed psychics) confidently took on the challenge. Not one of them was successful. The prize was terminated in 2015. 

I wish the challenge is still active today so that Rudy Baldwin can be asked to give it a shot. I'm 100% confident that she'll miserably fail the challenge. Baldwin is a self-proclaimed Filipino psychic. A quick visit to her Facebook page will tell you several things about her:

1. She calls herself a "psychic reader" and a "dream translator".

2. Her page has more than 4 million followers.

3. Updates in her page usually consists of her predictions and supposedly proof of her predictions coming true.

Below is what she says about who is giving her the visions and the extent of such visions. It's in Tagalog so if you don't understand the language, find someone who can translate it for you. 

"Muli po, ang aking mga visions ay ipinagkaloob lamang sa akin ng poong maykapal at akin itong ipinopost upang magsilbing warning para makapag-ingat at dasal ang mga tao at baka sakaling hindi ito matuloy kung iaadya ng diyos na hindi matuloy.

Hindi po ako nagca-claim na malalaman ko ang lahat ng mangyayari. Kung ano lamang po ang ipakita sa akin ng itaas ay yun lamang po ang ipinagkakaloob na ma-vision ko sa mga dahilang tanging si god lamang ang may alam."

Let's revisit the statement. She claims that god is providing her these visions. She also claims that she is posting these visions on Facebook to warn people as well as to encourage them to pray and hope that her visions don't come true. These types of claims are very common among psychics. Basically, they are saying that god is using them as instruments to warn people of bad things (i.e. natural disasters) that are going to occur in the near future.

These claims raise many further questions. Why did god chose Rudy Baldwin as the instrument for the visions? How exactly do these visions occur? Do the visions occur when she's asleep or when she's wide awake? Why can't god provide more specific visions? Why are the visions always vague? If god wants to warn people of impending disasters, why doesn't he warn everyone by giving everyone visions? Why does he focus only on Rudy Baldwin? 

Let's try a little thought experiment. Let's say god is truly giving Baldwin a vision and that in the vision, an earthquake is going to happen in a place called Little Manila. People can potentially die. If god really cares about the safety of the people in Little Manila and that he wants to warn them of the impending tragedy, what is he going to do?

1. Send a vision to Rudy Baldwin who will in turn warn the people by posting his visions on Facebook.
2. Warn the people by sending them visions directly. It's more efficient, takes less time, and more importantly, more people will be reached and warned.

What is more likely?

If I'm god, I know what I'd do. I'd directly warn the people instead of wasting precious time on a self-proclaimed psychic. Keep in mind that Baldwin's presence is on social media. So if you are on social media, you can save yourself because her visionary warnings will reach you. How about the people who have very little or zero presence on social media? How about the people who don't have access to-- the internet? They will be unaware of Baldwin's visions and warnings. This means they will be in danger of being harmed in the upcoming earthquake. All because they weren't aware of Baldwin's warnings since they don't have access to the internet. Apparently, god favors those with internet connections.

Are Rudy Baldwin's predictions coming true?

The bread and butter of psychics is vagueness. Most of the time, their predictions are vague and utterly lacking of details. There are two good reasons why psychics don't go into details in their predictions. One, a vague prediction is much easier to twist and massage to make it look like it came true. For example, a psychic can say a natural disaster is going to occur or a well-known celebrity is going to die. Natural disasters occurring and celebrities dying are very common events. If psychics can truly see the future, why not name the disaster, where it's going to happen, and when. Or provide the name of the celebrity who is going to die. 

The second reason why psychics are always vague in their predictions is that it's much easier to backtrack when their predictions miss. It's easier for the psychic to wiggle his/her way out in the instance that he/she is called out on a missed prediction. 

Being vague is basically a defense mechanism by psychics. Some psychics will use real names of places and natural disasters in their predictions to make these look legit. However, upon closer inspection, the predictions are still vague and easy to manipulate.

I scanned through Rudy Baldwin's Facebook page and looked at her most recent predictions. These predictions include the following. Her prediction posts are often long and redundant so I shortened them to the meat of her predictions.

1. There will be fires in Valenzuela, Makati, Tutuban, Cavite, Bacoor, and Pasig.  - She made these predictions in a single Facebook post. She's basically throwing a ton of predictions to increase her chances of getting a hit. And there's a reason why she is predicting fires. Fires happen all the time. Just watch the evening news. These happen almost every week. And of course, the places where these fires will supposedly occur happen to be heavily-populated urban areas. 

In her predictions for these fires, Baldwin also added details such as the fire will supposedly happen near a barangay hall, or a hotel, or a pharmacy, or a public market. I bet you that every fire that occurs within an urban center especially in the Metro Manila area is near a barangay hall, a hotel, a pharmacy, or a market. 

Let's say a fire happens right now in Valenzuela. I'm pretty sure that if you take a walk around the fire's location, you are going to come across one or two of the following - a hotel, a barangay hall, pharmacy, a market. 

2. She also has predictions for countries outside the Philippines. Here are her predictions for Indonesia. There will be three earthquakes. One place in the country will nearly sink. There will be two accidents in the air. There will be disastrous flooding. She made these predictions four days ago to the day I'm writing this. So far, none of her predictions had come true. Of all the countries she can choose from for earthquake predictions, she went with Indonesia. Indonesia is rocked by thousands of earthquakes every year. In 2018 alone, the country was rocked by at least 11,000 earthquakes. Yes, you heard that right. Predicting that 3 earthquakes are going to occur in Indonesia is like predicting that it's going to rain several times in the months of June and July.

She has literally dozens of predictions on her Facebook page. The ones I mentioned here are just a drop in the bucket. This brings me to something very obvious. Majority of her predictions are misses. But of course, because she makes a lot of predictions, some will eventually look like a hit. A fire will happen. An earthquake will happen. A celebrity will die. And like clockwork, Baldwin will happily take the opportunity to make it look like her predictions came true.

This is what psychics do. They make tons of predictions. If one has a semblance of being a hit, they'll claim it as proof for their ability to see the future. As to the other predictions they made that did not come true, they simply brush them off, forget about them, then rinse and repeat. 

How Accurate Is Nas Daily's Apo Whang-od Academy?

This is my take on the Nas Daily and Whang-od controversy. I'm not going to comment on the allegations being thrown between the parties involved because to be honest, they have conflicting statements. At this time, I'm not sure who to believe. That said, until things become clearer, I'm going to reserve my judgement on whatever is going on between them.

My comments will be on the course itself. The masterclass that Whang-od was supposed to teach on Nas Academy was called "Learn the Ancient Art of Tattooing" and it had a price tag of 750 pesos. I browsed the contents of the overview page for the course before it was eventually deleted from the Nas Academy website.

The page had inaccuracies that needed to be addressed.

1. They referred to Whang-od as the "last Kalinga tattoo artist in the world". That's not true. The reality is that there are several young tattoo artists in her village who have learned the art. They use the same tools, methods, and designs. These young artists are learning the art from Whang-od in the same way that Whang-od learned the art from her elders when she was young.

To say that Whang-od is the last Kalinga tattoo artist is to say that these young artists under her are not Kalinga tattoo artists. They are Kalinga tattoo artists as much as Whang-od is a Kalinga tattoo artist.

2. In a video about Whang-od, Nas Daily said that Whang-od practices her art in a village in "the jungles of the Philippines". I've been to Buscalan a number of times and I don't think the place constitutes a jungle. A jungle is supposed to be a land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation. I don't think this applies to Buscalan. This is an example of sensationalism.

3. The course makes the claim that Whang-od was the "first female tattoo artist in her tribe". This is an often repeated piece of information that really needs some fact-checking. Culture-wise, it's a significant piece of information that begs qualification.

It would have been a good idea for the Nas Academy team to consult with people knowledgeable on Kalinga tattooing.

I'm not sure if they consulted with Analyn Salvador Amores, a scholar and academic who first comes to mind when it comes to research on Kalinga tattoos. Anyone creating any form of media content on Kalinga tattoos should probably consult with her to avoid presenting unverified information about the art form and its practitioners. She studied the art form and its history. She even wrote a book about it. [Tapping Ink, Tattooing Identities; University of the Philippines Press]

In any case, let's hope all the parties involved resolve their issues and come out of this controversy with better-informed perspectives. It seems like the NCIP is now also aware of the issue so it will be interesting to see how they are going to wrestle with it.

On the issues of cultural appropriation, ethics, and baiting, these need separate posts. We'll try to address them in other times.

TrashCash: It's A Commendable Cause But I Don't See It Getting Any Traction

What is TrashCash? From their official website's About Us page: "We are a startup who are building an AI based waste segregation app where a community can participate and earn rewards. TrashCash is a mobile application that will orient, educate, and incentivize Filipinos to know the value and impact of their trash. By simply scanning their trash, it will analyze and display the value of it."

Before I get to my contention that this app is not going anywhere, allow me to give props to the developers for a noble and commendable idea. Their hearts are in the right place. The app was created through the initiative of Benjoe Vidal, a software developer. His mission is to assist communities deal with plastic waste problems. Again, he came up with an idea to help with the terrible plastic waste problem in the Philippines. That deserves respect and admiration.

Plastic waste in the Philippines is a major problem. The country is the world's third biggest plastic polluter. It's estimated that nearly 3 million metric tons of plastic waste are generated in the country each year. The top two polluters are China and Indonesia. Making matters worse is the fact that the Philippines is an archipelago which means a lot of these wastes get dumped into the surrounding oceans.

Vidal is an environmentalist and an outdoors person. I'm sure he is fully aware of these facts. And these facts are the reasons why he is on a mission to help lessen the country's plastic waste.

I wouldn't call myself an environmentalist since I am not pro-active in environmental movements within the country. But I can say that I'm concerned about the immense amount of plastic waste that Filipinos produce. As a lover of nature and the outdoors, I want this to be lessened and I want to help in ways that I can. 

So I was much more than interested when I first heard about TrashCash. I immediately downloaded the app and started tinkering with it. I also visited their website to learn more. 

And unfortunate to say, I came to the conclusion that the app is impractical and I don't see it gaining traction to the point that its impact will be significant.

I have a few reasons why I think this way:

1. For the app to work, it has to partner with local government units. They have to coordinate with barangays to set aside drop-off points. I think this is the biggest hurdle preventing the app from gaining ground. I checked for drop-off centers through the app and there are currently just two drop-off centers. One in Manila and one in Calamba, Laguna. The app is in its infancy so it's not right to judge it this early. Still, this is not a good scenario at all.

Barangays already have garbage collection points. Will they be willing to set aside space as a drop-off center specifically for TrashCash users? If they do, this means additional responsibilities for the barangay. Somebody has to man the TrashCash booth right? 

TrashCash incentivizes barangays who use the app. According to Vidal, 60% of the gross sales from the collected plastic will go to the LGUs. The remaining 40% will go to TrashCash. Will the income from these sales be significant enough to convince barangays?

Barangays follow a simple waste disposal system. A garbage collection point is established, residents bring their wastes there, and a dump truck picks them up. To introduce another garbage collection booth to the system adds more responsibilities on their plate. I don't think LGUs would like that. 

2. TrashCash collects from booths twice a month. They do it every first and last Saturday of the month. This raises a lot of questions. The biggest question is do they have their own trucks to collect the plastic? This seems very impractical if they are to take their operations nationwide. And if they collect only twice a month, this means the collected plastic will languish at the booths for weeks at a time?

3. In relation to number 2, non-collection of trash for weeks at a time means storage space needs to be set aside by participating barangays. But here's the reality. Majority of barangays in the country don't have storage space even for their own garbage. This is why collection points in sidewalks and street corners are established where people can dump their trash on scheduled garbage collection dates.

TrashCash is basically asking barangays to set up storage space for them. I don't see many of them being interested with such a proposal.

4. Do people really have the time to use the TrashCash app? The app makes garbage disposal seem more complicated and time-consuming than it already is. For an app to be successful, it has to make it easier for a person to accomplish certain tasks. TrashCash achieves the opposite. It makes it harder for a person to dispose plastic waste. 

Usually, you just collect and segregate your trash, bring them to the designated barangay collection point, and that's the end of it. With the TrashCash app, you have to document the trash, create several separate containers for each plastic category, deposit the containers at the TrashCash booth, then show your QR code to barangay staff in order to get your points. 

Too many steps if you ask me. If all Filipinos are bleeding-heart environmentalists, I can see them following these steps day-in and day-out. But that's not the case. At the end of the day, garbage disposal decisions always come down to simplicity and convenience. People are looking for the easiest way to dispose of their garbage. TrashCash is not offering them this solution.

5. TrashCash has a rewards system but again is it enough to entice people to use the app. Are they willing to go through the extra steps to get the corresponding rewards? I don't think so. If one wants to earn money or rewards from his collected water bottles, he can always take them to the neighborhood junk shop. 

6. I can see the TrashCash app being effective and successful in a developed nation. I don't see it working in a third-world country where most people have "lessening plastic waste" at the bottom of their priorities list. 

7. Most cash-for-trash movements aren't sustainable. Some are successful at the start but they usually just flicker out. TrashCash isn't the first app to follow this business model. There are others out there. Most of them aren't making any significant impacts.

I can be wrong though. And I would love nothing more than for TrashCash to prove me wrong on every point I made in this article. I downloaded their app and I'll be more than willing to do my part should it be viable in my location.