Sunday, November 05, 2006

Yo! The Dragon flies away


Original link for the story

A beggar child with no name finds the dangerous streets more exciting than being housed at the Youth Center doing nothing. He grows up a thief and now boasts of his exploits.

This is a story of wasted lives. Dragonfly was just one of them. I used to visit these children whom I closely observed as having no love from their homes, but most especially with no sense of direction. I hated the idea of foreigners visiting them as specimens, although I was thankful that at least they came with some food and some blowing-bubbles toys. These do not last, however, just like the home atmosphere that the Youth Center was providing. Something was lacking definitely. What that was, I believe the social workers should find out - while there's still time.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

An Unsent Letter to Ms. X

To “Ms. Investigative Journalism” of the Philippines


Before it’s too late, this letter should be read. I would not wait for another incident to erupt.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Ms X,

I also belong to the field of journalism but I am not like you – big and well known. Even before, you are one of the reasons I am proud of my field because you rise above the rest - in terms of ken and most especially in terms of values. I have long been feeling you are the right person to approach regarding possible coverage of something that is quite rotten and needs to be exposed. I don’t know how long we shall be tolerating this problem that is quite eating up society and yet nothing is happening. Sometimes we try to find ways but we couldn’t get through – just because it’s religion that is involved, they say. Specially, a very influential religion at that.

I disagree, however, that this is just about religion. If religion, then why are people that despicable to get what they want to the detriment of others? If religion, then why do people try to get rid of other people just so they themselves can thrive – with false teachings still? And yet the whole thing is left alone because it’s religion against another religion, they say. Can't we talk about the pool of votes that is between this group and presidential candidates who thrive by scratching each other's back?

I'm wondering where we can find someone who can look deeper than just these clichés. So it’s religion against another religion – but is that really true? What about a fraternity of crooks hiding in the name of religion which is why the other religion is trying it’s best to expose it? It takes one with cogent eyes to peer through this maze of deceptions, and we can say we got lots of proofs to show.

For example, what religion has an NBI director for a member who sends over his legion of men with powerful arms to raid a convention center at 2:00 in the wee hours of the morning just for a libel case? We have videotapes of this event. What religion has a Secretary of Justice for a member who defended their ministers from their charge of killing 5 PUP students? There is a Supreme Court Reports Annotated (SCRA) for this. What religion has fiscals who issue temporary restraining orders (TROs) at lightning speeds for cases of their interest, and fiscals who impishly issue subpoenas on Friday afternoons? What religion is powerful with the Movies and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) that could ban a religious program while favoring the other, and the regional trial court of Quezon City with fiscals that treat people discriminately?

What religion can just call up congressmen to vote yes or no for this or that measure? What religion has a party-list group that has congressmen who can file cases against the president of the land as a strategy to save her neck? And so on.

Ms. X, I don’t know you personally. It’s just that your name seems to embody investigative journalism that I trusted that you will be able to do something. With your keen sense of smell, you may be able to find out more. I am not asking this for myself alone nor for my own group, but for all of us hoping for a new horizon in the Philippines. I know you won’t try to make money out of me before you could do any piece of writing. You have written about envelopmental journalism, right? I don’t care anymore if you are a member of this fraternity-cum-religion because this is what was stopping me before to ask you this. What I have in mind are the many questions for you to find out.

Why do we allow a very influential church to be running our lives? The better question is, why do we allow presidents of the land to honor the wishes of a so-called church that is wreaking havoc the institutions of the land, beginning with justice? All of them did, at least beginning with Marcos who so revered this group as capable of delivering their votes.

Ms. X, this is a sham. If we keep on believing this, our justice system will go the way of the dogs. It is not true, and we are being fooled that they could swing votes. They only have people in the many places, courtesy of their touted strength in numbers – who prepare the news, who influence media, who influence the judges, including the president of the land.

In a way, the modus operandi actually goes like this: Ig stands for church.

Ig surveys for winnable candidates→ Ig tells congregation to vote for Candidates X or else → Ig collects.

How?

a) Ig collects by recommending their members to be installed in the courts, the NBI, law enforcement agencies, other strategic places of power.

b) Ig collects by calling on elected candidates to vote yes or no to certain measures.

c) Ig collects through TROs from the judges they helped to get installed

d) Ig collects… etcetera.


You’ll be able to find out more, Ms.X, if you get interested. I have given you enough information to start on. I hope to read of your write-up in the near future.

Sincerely,
Jane Abao

Postscript: I wrote this letter on November 20, 2005. It was waiting to be sent, but it was not – because of lack of trust in traditional media. So many things have happened since. More and more, the influence of this "church" group has become visible with a secure clutch at the justice system of the Land. I was thinking that the Internet may give this letter a fair chance. If not, fate may tell us where this may lead.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Sagada, engineered town of the rockies

Issue No. 2.2006

iReport, PCIJ
The Lost Boys of Sagada

by Danilova Molintas

The young men who grew up in the midst of Sagada’s tourist rush have fallen to the temptations of easy money, easy women, and what seemed for many years an easy life.

I have read Danilova Molintas’ “The Lost Boys of Sagada.” As Molintas relates about what had come to these lost boys, he also tells about those diverse personalities the town had attracted – those running away from something and those in search for something – both Filipinos and foreigners alike. I regret that it has come to this with this town.

I love that town – with its tall perennial trees winding the pathways, the rocks and underground rivers and caves, the cool temperature in a pine scented atmosphere, the quiet of the town far away from the hills that would either provide a lake or fall for swimming. Or shrubs after shrubs that provided periodic black berries in certain months or special beetles that could be baked for food.

A rainy day in Sagada is beautiful, just as a sunny day is. You can walk in the rain and enjoy the rain falling all over you. On a sunny day, you can spread your blanket, and with some umbrella over you, read a good book, sleep in the sun and wake up refreshed. I love everything about that place – including the hospitality of the people.

Did Molintas know this was an engineered town? It is. However, it is as though God had as well endowed the town with all its natural beauty everywhere.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Arctic Ice Thinning Provides Route

Original link for the story

>>>>> It also threatens animals such as polar bears and seals that depend on ice.

>>>>> There are geopolitical implications, too, as Canada, Russia and the United States jockey to claim rights over transpolar passages that open up within their newly ice-free waters.

As usual, I would expect greed to score much here.

I remember a Lanao lake in Northern Mindanao, south of the Philippines that dried up many feet away from its usual stretch. It sank lower and lower and lower, laying bare some tracks of soft ground all around the lake.

Soon, the people thought the water level would not come up again; they began claiming portions and piled up rock upon rock to demarcate their boundaries. In claiming these properties, they began quarreling, leading to an accounting of who owns what from the history of that place as their ancestors had settled then.

Then one night, the waters roared in anger and the lake claimed its usual level, inundating the piles of rocks and erasing whatever demarcations were in place.

In the morning, when the people returned to the lake, they found their newfound “properties” gone.

This impending fight for Arctic routes is not any different.

It would be interesting to see who would claim to own nature.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Funny World of Sleep

Original link for the story

Interesting research this!

And funny, too.

Sheet stealing?

This reminds me of our dormitory life in high school.

The place is freezing especially at night and often times one could be found shivering. We had to pile blanket after blanket over ourselves beyond thick sweaters, as one had to think of ways to keep warm. Eyeing those of others who would be sleeping so soundly while you can't, would make you think they might not be needing theirs more than you did.

And pronto! One could become a thieving Ms. Arrowhead ... in... the... deep... of... the... night. It was one of the games we played secretly amidst giggles in the girls' dorm.

Before the break of day, however, we would get rid of the weight of blankets and these were quietly laid over the owners - sans their knowledge of our games.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Tower of Babel with us

Why is the letter b in German specialized as in -
der Fuß (meaning, foot)
Why? Is this to emphasize intensity of sound and stress?

My friend, Amekico, replied and said -

It is no "b" but an own letter - compare B and ß.
ß, known as "Eszett" or "scharfes S", is pronounced like an unvoiced "s".

He sent me a link and I thought it was a broken record.
Funny, how people make language so difficult.


Somehow, I think man is being punished – as in the Tower of Babel story.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Doesn't like writing but needs the money

Maria wrote >>>>> The topic was "discuss your future plans," and I would love to have some more ideas suggested to this essay. Trust me, I don't like scholarship essays, but I need money for school, and I have to do them.

Richard said >>>>> ... just tell them a pack of lies.

To the Marias out there, here’s a piece of advice you can use.

In this day and age, Maria, there's no such thing as free lunch. If you want something, you have to work hard for it. Know why? Because working hard - that people usually don't like - makes something out of you.

What you can get out of learning to write, yourself, you can use throughout your lifetime - and with immeasurable benefits. But getting money without going through the process of learning writing is just like catching vapor and putting it into a can.

Now and then, you'll have to be asking people to write things for you. What about when you apply for employment and are asked to write something? Just in the application process alone, writing skills are being measured. The ability to express oneself is one great factor being considered by most employers.

The earlier one learns how, the better.

Monday, September 04, 2006

Blog your way to confidence

I wish I had such confidence, someone wrote over the forum.

In any endeavor, the enemy is lack of confidence.

I used to be a blushing back-seat observer before. The situation is something really not likeable. When you are in this situation, you would wonder why some people could be so outspoken and could express their ideas so well. And oooh, how you wish you could be like them.

Well, there’s no secret there. As in other skills, being able to do things must develop to something, given some efforts and there are many avenues toward getting there.

The multi-cultural background of my family made it necessary for me to travel alone north and south of the country in my teenage years. Being a stranger in the expanse of other people’s world and being able to tackle other cultures had given me some dare to take in other challenges. Actually, when you’re done with one challenge, the next thing is easier.

Traveling alone in a very big ship at the age of 16 for the first time, I simply covered myself with my blankets and never spoke with anyone until the ship blew its horn after three days to announce it had finally arrived. I only walked around to take my meals or use the bathroom. I was that shy. Then I discovered one gets nothing out of being like that.

Exposure to other cultures even just in the country had widened my world and had given me the means to see for myself where I am and what I am capable of being. One tends to get a compass for oneself in situations like this. So being able to handle safely social relationships with “aliens” is one of those one has to learn.

Next is the ability to be able to express oneself. Ironic that with me, I had aimed to master the international language but not the many, many dialects in the country. With me, if you can handle just one language that is applicable to most situations anywhere in the world, then that would suffice. The language of the Cyberworld is English. If you know enough of that, you can get by.

Another way to build confidence is trying other careers. I used to admire people in uniform, so I became one myself. After that, it was like, “So that’s all there is to it?”

One tends to get some handles one can use after experiencing many things – instead of just guessing or imagining situations. One can understand people better too.

Another way is to make use of one's talents. Really, it’s not commonplace to be able to write; it’s not ordinary. So if one was discovered as having that talent, and somebody expressed such belief, it is best to believe it and then actualize it. There is nothing to lose but everything to gain. It is only that one has to support it by applying it anytime it is possible. Developing related skills like reading and speaking can also enhance it.

Making or writing a journal helps. It is good to write one's thoughts everyday as in blogging. Just posting one's reactions or comments to events happening in one's blog and expressing oneself in forums is already developing one's mind at the same time one's skills.

Friday, August 25, 2006

Lessons from Indian Journalism

Indian journalists display much of social consciousness, compared to other internationals. In their writings, one can clearly see that they have a fight - against poverty, ignorance, lawlessness, corruption, complacency and the like.

While most writers would focus on the more expected topics about day-to-day existence, Indian journalists seem to have a beyond-self orientation with an eye to their future as a people. They write about their society in a way enjoining the common tao to progress.

Indian journalists try to project the changes in their society and interpret them for the people. Acting as able guides, they write about their rise from poverty, their recent access to education and technology, the new roads going to places that make market and going to school feasible, the new role of the women, the citizens' role with police matters. As such, they invite readers from other cultures to understand them, but more especially encourage their people to make further steps forward.

Indian journalists try to project the strength of their people that make their society secure. They capture pronouncements of their leaders and chart possible implications for the future. They make suggestions in their writings, thereby participate some way in development. They capture, too, the values of their people which they want to perpetuate
through their writings. For example, there was that mention about Indian women putting a price at caring for their young - close to them always, no matter what activity they do. If they have to use repetition to stress some value, they do so in many varied ways as in the use of photographs. Even the photographs and their captions show this concern-for-my-brother orientation.

Although a great majority of Indian journalists are not quite good at English which we can call the international language, in comparison with other internationals, they are the best any country can be proud of.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Monday, August 14, 2006

Learning German - Gratefully

In my busyness, I had to show my willing teacher that I appreciated his teaching me and that I must have some progress. It is not everyday that someone offers free service.

Deutsch or higher German is a language most people think is hard to learn. This was my first impression, too, but I have a very patient teacher.

I noticed three articles in Deutsch used before every noun: der, die and das. I thought for a while that der was for male; die for female, and das for neuter. Then I looked again and I noticed that what pattern I thought I had observed was not there anymore.

I wondered then if there were general rules for use of articles. Or if German was like English that it breaks its own rules.

In Chapter 6 on articles in the URL that Amikeco, my self-appointed teacher, provided me, I found the answers.

And yes, some nouns seem to turn feminine when they become plural!

Wow! What could be the logic behind that? But then English, too, is illogical sometimes.

Where Man's Limitation Lies

FOR Ed (iTalkNews)

You wonder about my new avatar.

The picture is that of Pocahontas, daughter of an Indian chief. By many counts, I am like her – beginning with her short upturned nose. She looks Asian, right? And she’s quite a thinking woman. I like her being native.

I had a grandfather, too, chief of a small old town. So couldn’t I have some claim of similarity here? He he! Here we come again.

Actually, in God’s little planet called Earth, we are all equal. It is only that people try to limit others by the color of their skin or by the location of their birth. Not so with me! They say man is only limited by the size of his hope – this, I believe.

And She did Some Growing Up . . .








Although her Grandfather was Tall

If There's a Will, Why Not?

Topic in OhmyNews Citizen Reporters

Intelligent Contribution

One quick way of contributing to news is in responding intelligently to those already published. See my blog and how I do it - [link]
by Koteet - 9:49am

Voices from the Margins

Topic in OhmyNews Citizen Reporters

Jane Abao

Hi from the Philippines! Thanks for the invitation. I do not believe that after one graduates from the university it is time to hang one's diploma. I see that we have to hew out a line towards placing communication on equal footing for everyone. Wayward media had its power for a loooooooong while that it has come to its decadent end - looking at manufactured news even for its fare. Let's not say we don't know of this. Congratulations to those who make sure voices from the margins are not muffled. Thanks, Todd for the thought.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

In Sync: My God is not a Stone nor Piece of Wood

For the last two days, we were in the area of Clark Air Base shooting for my life story. From there we went somewhere else but not after we were caught “for obstruction” on the road. One of us at the front thought he knew the directions and the driver had followed him. Alas! The traffic officer gave us a ticket and we had to turn back to claim the driver’s license. For ignorance, we failed to be in harmony with the flow of the traffic.

Just before this, we spent a long, long time waiting for something that didn’t come. Anyhow, all things work together - in sync with what is best.

As we went about our task, the director was telling me to mouth aloud some statements that I had given before. He told me to say this and that – but at a time I had to act. I said, "But that’s not reality! I don’t normally think aloud. I don’t talk by myself!" After some discussions, we left it at that.

In everything we do, we find that the natural is best; reality is best – because we don’t have to act. Back at the office, the editor asked me, in reviewing the footages taken, if I ever had taken theatre arts. I said, "No, why?" I looked into his monitor and there I saw myself. He was laughing, saying I was a very good actress.

The truth is, I am not. I don’t like to act. It is not my forte. I happen to be acting as good as he saw it because I was only hewing to what is natural. This is what happened.

In the many instances I had to give my share in the television shows where I am supposed to be President for the Productions, I was hedging - having made up my mind that I will not be where there are visuals. I was only contented in being with print. Then one time, shorty after I had to do a 2-minute interview for HUGE of UNTV37, I was asked about my life story - for www.truthcaster.com. And I was to act it out!

What was my life? Well, I’ve lived a colorful one – in activism, the military, the university. I ran after the intellectuals. I followed the philosophers. I had my dreams in the lofty pedestal of the universities where thinkers are supposed to thrive. All in all, I was very busy as a career woman.

I had no time to check on my religious beliefs. I left them to those who made a profession out of preaching. At least my God was neither a stone nor a piece of wood that one had to dress up or brush the dust off - not a god that had to be carried around and cannot speak for itself. I was to reach out to most professionals - educated in the best universities of this world - who arguably bow down to this kind of god!

It was a heavy task – just thinking about acting. Finally, it dawned on me that everything was not about me anymore. It was for something bigger than life. Something where others too, caught in the net, could come up and find freedom. This one I was to do was a testimony.

I took the step and gave my all.

In keeping with reality, there is really no need to act. Most of all, when you consider that you are doing something for someone great, there’s no need to act, but to be in sync with what is true. You then lose your personal self in the whole thing and you can do your best.

But come to think about it, was that just you – that’s why you could do it so naturally?

Friday, August 04, 2006

Train of Thoughts

Last night I was interviewed for a program in the Internet. Upon entering the room, I already was feeling something was amiss but could not place what it was. I noticed that the camera operator was different from the previous.

The lights! Yes, I hated lights directed at me. They make me very conscious. Worse, they hurt my eyes. They were soon transferred over there and back. They later were directed upwards the ceiling, and I felt better.

We soon started and I could see that my camera operator was an artist all right – a perfectionist at heart. He checked and measured everything from intensity and direction of lights to sound and position of everything. He would test and test again – let me sound out, let me face that way and that. I would start talking, stop, and talk again, while he did his measurements.

Then came my time to deliver. I stammered my way, managed to pick up, and then stammered the rest of my talk, all the while putting no punch in what I was saying. I didn’t like my performance.

Some three days before this, I was also interviewed for the Huge Event of UNTV37. There were no lights to speak of. The camera was simple – a handcarried one. The interview went smooth, as I was able to talk spontaneously. I did say sensible things and I was my natural self. No stammering.

In a project where there are components that have to work together, it always best to think wider and beyond one’s own objective. We cannot do things just by ourselves. There are always others who have to have an input and their existence have to be acknowledged by looking also into their needs. Each part must have a tenable output.

In my second interview, the camera operator was clearly thinking only of his own presentation as though it was all that mattered – how good his work would appear on the tube. But come to think of it, which was the more important: my appearance or my message? Suppose I had the one and only chance to be covered and it cannot be repeated for lack of time, which should be given priority? Should I be allowed my concentration in what I was going to say? Or should it be treated as just plain material that had to be tested and tested for an artist?

Technical people should give some importance and care to the message or content to be delivered. In this regard, the interviewee should be allowed to keep her train of thoughts. After all, what is a channel or medium without a good message?

Oh, blimey! Will 38,000 be emailing me?

OhmyNews International said we were 38,000 citizen reporters all over the globe. Todd Thacker had opened a Google group for us to introduce ourselves together and be able to discuss issues. This was a group where membership was by invitation. I felt grateful, as I was one of the first ones invited. Suddenly my gmail kept burning blue all the time. I was receiving emails after emails and I could not concentrate on my writing.

I went then to my profile in OMNI and shifted my email address to that of my Yahoo. I use this address for matters that I could attend to later. Gmail is reserved for urgent matters. In Yahoo, I was told to apply for gmail as our group was that of Google. I then began having second thoughts. Will I unsubscribe from this group? If not, what if the 38,000 email me? There was not much option as this was a getting-to-know-you affair. I left it at that: no return to my gmail account.

As it is, it was about Chile we were talking about. One had introduced herself saying she was from Chile and did not know English. I thought we were with the international version and had expected that everyone did. The subsequent emails from the citizen reporters revolved around that language challenge. I was writing something that had a deadline and I was beginning to hate those Chile conversations.

Then the nagging thought came back: for a formally trained journalist like me, will I be able to stand mixing with unschooled journalists which citizen journalism espouses? Right now, I am piqued even by the slow and groping stance of others who talk of things I think are non-essential.

Jay Rosen of Poynter, maybe now I’ll begin to read what you were saying about audience - all your ideas about repackaging media today. Maybe I will not throw those principles we were taught in journalism school, after all. Maybe I will join your fight.

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Surprising the Child of New Age

He called himself, The Thinker. I would review his work and he would thank me for it. If the corrections required appeared massive, he would say he‘d delete it. I would say, don’t as what were only needed are some deletion, some addition, some elaboration, and knitting the paragraphs well together to project what he had wanted to say. Some of his writings needed little corrections but they are really draining, one has to be patient in reading them. We then thought we belonged to the same pigeonhole: as thinkers.

You've been a big help. Where can I find your blog?

We're both interested in responsible communication, you with a formal PhD, mine in the school of hard knocks for 80 years. There is a difference in the way we think. I'm free of any establishment stigma, free to explore other plains. My state of consciousness is boundless.

I was thinking The Thinker was an American but nationality was out of the question; he worked borderless. He said being a writer was never his goal, but writing has come about from his bigger-than-life cause years back. He writes on recondite subjects pertaining to the law, to religion, to science.” He believes he is writing to brainwashed masses, but admits he “assumes too much on subjects in which few are familiar [with].” He says, “It is very hard to break the habit.”

He had followed me to my blog by googling my name. He was surprised.

I went to your “blog” and read your profile, and was surprised to learn that you live in the PhilippinesI thought you were probably living in some affluent American community populated by mostly intellectuals.

He liked the fact that I was giving a detailed review on his works, but he would respond to each with a long, long mail – including his thoughts for the day – and I would reel from having to follow what he means.

He described himself as a child of the New Age. There was his “life lesson number” learned from Faith Javane’s and Dusty Bunker’s Numerology and the Divine Triangle. In the long winding way he would express himself , he asked -

Would you be surprised to know that Francis Sakoian and Louis S. Acker, in The Astrologer’s Handbook, because at my time and place of birth Saturn was Trine Pluto, I was given the ability to understand the laws by which subtle forces are organized, enabling me to use these laws consciously or unconsciously to work slowly to make fundamental and irrevocable changes in my own and others’ lives?

Then he goes on to discuss quantum mechanics, Heisenberg being Hitler’s atomic bomb builder, two atomic bombs dropped on Japan ending World War II and how they related to his birth. Then he says, “I have my work cut out for me.”

He continues on –

My challenge is to articulate my story in a way that self-limiting masses will want to climb on the bandwagon of the futureEvery day I have a new thought, most of which are way out of the mainstream. I’m definitely a child of the New Age. I can’t explain my thinking in a few paragraphs, as you point out. I question if the connections I make, no matter how many I made, would not simply leave my readers in a maze.

For example, let me share with you my thought for the day. It’s on “perturbation theory,” the act of perturbing. It’s a scientific term, and I find basic to life, but I’m more than a number cruncher. I have a mind that thinks, and it doesn’t confine itself to one or another, the law, religion, or science, all of which are parts of the same mold.

The Thinker is thinking all right. At the same time, he is not thinking. He allows himself to be manipulated by his kind of sources. First, he does not question the materials he reads, but readily takes them in as authorities. Just by the title alone, one can grasp the sphere the topic is delving into. “Numerology and the Divine Triangle,” for one. Occult, for one. Then, by taking things hook, line, and sinker, he places himself readily into their hands in as small as his birth date to as large as his role on earth.

The Thinker wrote about how we differed. Of my blog, he said –

I didn’t find your thoughts. I found a lot of other people’s thoughts.

Well, to The Thinker, this is what I can say as my contribution in the bid for thinking -

I am a journalist, a communications specialist, and – in my coined words – a communications activist. (I have added this category in my profile at Poynter Institute but I have yet to hear of such).

I have to contribute to my science by protecting it. I believe every communication has a social responsibility - and that is taking care of its message that nobody is unrightfully dis-empowered by it. In sum, no one should ride the lines of communication to hit another without cause. Part of my fight is in reviewing works, resources, and websites.

That is my share in the bullwork for thinking.

Surprising the Child of New Age