THiNK Journalism

Announcement: My new book out this September. It's free!  Why am I Giver and not Receiver of a birthday gift? Because it is more blessed to give than to receive. Don't forget karma! I am dedicating it to the Filipino people, especially advocates of farmers and fishers for their emancipation from poverty and on to leading sustainable lives! (The body is ready; I am writing the Introduction, then go!) The image above, which I took on my ViewSonic external monitor 28 April 2018, a Windows 10 collage, is a good metaphor for the book, a collection of my essays blogged from 07 April 2019 to 30 August 2019. The book is at least 257 pages 8.5" x 11" trim size. It contains 79 essays, to celebrate my age, thank God! (Clue: A whole town will celebrate that day this September.) Let me not forget to thank God for the years behind and years ahead – I pray to live to be 120 as He promises in Genesis 6:3 (KJV): "Yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years." In the mea

Here comes Ernesto M Ordoñez, who I had believed was more broadminded than other columnists, proving that I was wrong – about him. In today's column, he demands: "Defend our rice farmers now!" that interjection supplied (30 August 2019, Inquirer.Net , business.inquirer.net ). No defender of rice farmers, none yesterday, none today, none he can see. So he says: It’s a crisis when majority of our 2.4 million rice farmers are suffering from the low 35-percent tariff under the rice tariffication law. ¶ At that tariff level, Philippine Rice Research Institute vice president Flordelis Bordey says that 53 (or 65 percent) of our rice producing provinces will not survive. My, my, Mr Ordoñez! Be careful with information. It's Flordeliza , not Flordelis; and Deputy Executive Director of PhilRice, not Vice President. And Mr Ordoñez, are you trying to scare your readers quoting Miss Flordeliza saying that more than 50% of our rice provinces will not survive rice tariffication?!

I just saw UPLB ChemEng Professor Jovita Movillon's Facebook sharing on Thesis Writing from Research Methods and I could not help but react – because I have a much better idea, based on 44 years of editing both technical and popular manuscripts, many of them theses and dissertations.  Never mind your field or specialty. Realize this: Since you have written your thesis proposal that of course has been approved, you already have half the battle won . Here are the 8 steps given by Research Methods: (1)    Decide when to start. (2)    Decide when to stop. (3)    Set chapter deadlines. (4)    Easy targets each day. (5)    Created (sic) a relaxing environment (6)    Use your time wisely. (7)    2 hours then break. (8)    25 minutes at a time I say, too many rules to follow – 7 too many! Rule #4 should be your only rule: "Easy targets." Don't plan – just do it! Do first the easy things you can think of. Work on each part of the thesis separately – do not attempt to inte

On Facebook, someone shares the link to the column of Rene E Ofreneo in the BusinessMirror (29 August 2019, businessmirror.com.ph ). "The Desolation Of PHL Agriculture: Can Secretary Dar Reverse Its Continuing Stagnation?" Using the image of glass from International IDEA above, reading him I can plainly see Mr Ofreneo plainly sees the glass half-empty – and ignores the glass half-full!  Mr Ofreneo's very first sentence of 12 words summarizes what he has to say in all of his 900-word column: "Indicators of the collapse of Philippine agriculture are not difficult to find." Certainly, if you set your heart to it, you will find the missing who-what-where-when-why-how to prove that the glass is indeed half-empty! And so, Mr Ofreneo's glass is empty of "The New Thinking for Agriculture" that Secretary of Agriculture William Dar has been talking about even days before he assumed office on 05 August 2019 (see my essay, "William Dar – We Need New Thin

In today's column ("The 'New Thinking' And Dealing With Climate Change, 1st of 2 Parts" (29 August 2019, Manila Times , manilatimes.net ), William Dar, new Secretary of Agriculture, is waking us up to the need for the public and private sectors to help PH farmers not only survive but thrive amidst climate change. (Above, main image from North Carolina Biotechnology Center, ncbiotech.org ; William Dar image from Music Jinni, musicjinni.co ) So, Mr Dar is saying there is the need for the Department of Agriculture, DA, to change PH Agriculture for the better for the DA's clientele of farmers and fishers. Considering: (1)    Export opportunities Threats: Farm and food imports are coming into the country. Opportunities: Imports show counter-intuitively that "There are many export markets that could be supplied with agricultural-based products from the Philippines." (2)    Assistance to farmers Vietnam: Assisting rice farmers adjusting planting schedules

On the subject of sustainability , is the United Nations contradicting itself on a global scale? I ask that question seriously because Bruce Tolentino of the Central Bank, erstwhile Deputy Director of IRRI, has just shared on Facebook the above news on a coming UN conference: "Business Unusual: 2nd Global Sustainable Rice Conference And Exhibition" in Bangkok, Thailand 1-2 October 2019. I understand the conference theme is "Rice is key to food security and environmental protection." The website Sustainable Rice Platform is understandably excited, saying ( sustainablerice.org ): "The SRP Conference is back with new opportunities for participants to collaborate, influence and inspire!" Sorry, even granting I could afford to attend, it would take a lot more to get this crusading writer to be inspired! The researchers at UP Los Baños, of which I am an alumnus, would call that "a commodity-oriented approach." Not complimentary . Should be complement

Yes, I am your iVirtual Guru . I am your mentor in virtual learning – or your helper and co-producer of any manuscript, from article to a book, as writer, editor, layout artist up to and including the pdf copy for printing. I can teach, or produce for you. The image above, which I took of my 22-inch ViewSonic external monitor, suggests the richness of the materials and the media physical and mental that can be involved in virtual learning – and creating an intellectual product. I do not want to call it e-Learning because that's technical, and I'm not your technical teacher   – I am your creative companion . You will be creative , assisted by my creative hands, head, and heart. What can I teach? Production of any texts and images using the personal computer, PC, and the World Wide Web , also called the Web, also Internet . iVirtual Guru is the name of my school & workplace. We talk via bulletin boards: Internet, email, and Facebook. No transportation expenses, come and go a

I investigate intellectual ideas, not intellectuals; ideas, not individuals. That way, no hard feelings – only showing 2 hands trying to define each other and coming out with a new paradigm. The above image, says the source (bibliotecapleyades.net) signifies "Moving from 'Service To Self' to 'Service To Life'" and claims that it is a new paradigm. It is. Since I do not expect the PH investigative journalists to investigate the paradigms and paradigm shift/s of new Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie, I have to do it myself. Because that word is crucial to the understanding of Manong Willie's " 8 Paradigms For New Thinking For Agriculture" (see my essay, " Time To Investigate PH Journalism Not Investigating PH Agriculture!" 26 August 2019, Ani Kitá, ianikita.blogspot.com ). What's the matter with our investigative journalists – afraid of finding out the truth and having to make a paradigm shift? But first, what is a pa

They are very proud to say they are investigative journalists. (Above "investigative" image from pcij.org ) Nonetheless, they have not been investigating PH Agriculture since William Dar took over as the new Secretary of Agriculture 3 weeks ago. So, today, we investigate their definition of investigative. "Journalism is critical to farming innovation take-up," says SciDev.Net ( scidev.net ). Need I say more?! Yes, because PH journalists are largely ignoring the developments in agriculture, especially with the very active and wide-ranging role Secretary Dar has assumed since his first day in office. PH farmers have also been largely ignoring farming innovations both software and hardware. And the Big Question of Sustainability. Philippine agriculture has never been threatened such as these days of Climate Change and the adverse effects of RA 10203 or Rice Tariffication Law. To rescue PH Agriculture from internal weaknesses and not only protect it from external thre