Life in Autumn

Yesterday, I was chatting up with a buddy who works freelance for PCIJ. She said she had a talk with Ma’am Yvonne Chua, our copyediting guru, who actually remembers us to this day. Well, I said, she probably remembers us because of the dreadful copies she had to endure. I was quite taken aback when my friend told me that she remembered us because we were (drum roll please) the last batch of journalism students she handled who could actually make good copies. She says most of her students now even have problems with their grammar. That’s just too bad. But you see, how can we expect our kids today to be good when education has become the least of our country’s priorities?
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You say there is a big difference between freedom and conflict of interest, between half truths and propaganda, between self censorship and outright bowdlerization of our judgment. What else could we expect from a giant that not only feeds on public opinion, but more so, on the clout of the powers that be?

Even in decent times, poor writers have nothing else but the richness of words and the brimming angst in this world. And yet you insist to besmirch these only wealth we could ever have.

The stakes may be high but we will never cower. Even if you leave us to wage our war in silent dissent.

1. Sana magresign na si Gloria para makapagbakasyon na ako.
2. Sana magresign na si Gloria para gumaan na ang buhay newsrum.
3. Sana magresign na si Gloria para tumigil na ang sakit ng ulo ko. Mahal na ang Ponstan 500.
4. Sana magresign na si Gloria para matigil na ang mga corny jokes sa text.
5. Sana magresign na si Gloria para sa ikabubuti ng puso ko at ni Jem.
6. Sana magresign na si Gloria para makapagpahinga na rin ang tropang newsdesk.
7. Sana magresign na si Gloria para bumalik na sa normal ang buhay nating lahat.
8. Sana mapatalsik na si Gloria.
9. Sana isama na niya si Noli, Raul Gonzales (that chauvinist), Bunye (that pathological liar!) at Mike Defensor.
10. Sana magresign na si Gloria para makapag-blog na ‘ko nang matino.

I wrote this for my online class. Just wanted to share with you my thoughts on music downloading and file sharing. Yes to piracy!

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For music buffs, gone were the days when they had to lug boom boxes, walkmans and even portable cd players. Thanks to digital music in the MP3 format, music has become handier, and for download junkies, practically free of charge.

When you talk about music downloading, it is almost impossible not to think of Napster and how it revolutionized peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing. Napster today functions as a site where members who pay a certain fee are able to search and download windows media audio files directly from its server. As copyrighted materials, the user basically pays royalties to the artists once you purchase these MP3s, much like when you buy CDs. But Napster once fueled a great debate because of its file sharing service.
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Sabi ni Prof. Benito Lim na suki naming political analyst, mas katanggap-tanggap pa raw si Madam Imelda kaysa kay FG Mike Arroyo. At least daw si Meldita nakapagpatayo ng mga useful structures like the Heart Center, Kidney Center, Film Center, Cultural Center of the Philippines. Ang sagot ko, bakit si FG naman namigay ng mga pustiso ah. Useful din naman yun.

Pero sa dami ng kontrobersyang nakadikit sa pangalan ni FG, siguro nagwiwish na si PGMA ngayon na sana may diborsyo sa bansa.

Wish mo lang, Gloria. Bistado ka na.