Rebuking a Friend
“Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” Proverbs 27:5-6
A true friend is one of the most precious wealth we can have in life. The verse above strikes me deeply because it reveals so much about the most recent happening in my life. A friend of mine is struggling with her relationship with a guy who is currently in a relationship with another woman. It cuts my heart whenever she shares with me how sincere he looks like and how excited she becomes when she thinks about this guy as her partner in marriage.
Through the years, I’ve witnessed her heart and we’ve been through a lot together in our walk with God. Hence, no matter how I try to feel happy for her, there’s still a pang of guilt in my heart because we both know what’s going on wrong here.
I thought that in our effort to keep the friendship, we tried to be nice and supportive to a friend as much as we can that we missed out what’s more important and right. Sometimes the most loving thing we can do is to tell a friend what she or he is doing wrong. Let’s always ask ourselves questions like these: “Am I loving a sister or brother if I do this?” and “Am I doing this for a friend’s betterment or for my own satisfaction?”
I think that strife tells something big about what kind of environment we are creating in a friendship. Is it healthy, loving and safe one? To feel safe and relieve with friends whom you can ask dangerous questions and deal with criticisms constructively while still loving one another say much about the effectiveness of a friendship. If you have this kind of circle, don’t ever give up on them because they are the people you know you can count on until the end.
It’s amazing that I still ended up with a bottom line of these all that is Jesus. In John 15, Jesus commands us to remain in the vine which is Him, because apart from the vine, no branch can bear fruit by itself. It is the same with our relationship with people, we value relationships as much as Jesus values His relationship with us and the Father; apart from Jesus we cannot know how to love one another genuinely for God is Love.
In the later passages, Jesus wonderfully tells us this:
“ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.”
In the end, it’s not just about our efforts or how matured we are in handling things well but it is the attitude of our hearts toward it that tells the difference. Loving others is an overflow of our love for God. By His grace we live and by Him we are able to love too. Hence, only through Jesus we can perfectly love our friends.
25fca811d5b394393284aac590e85d30
“We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.” 1st John 4:19-21
Bakit ba tayo na iinlove?
gusto ko talaga ishare tong nalaman ko na ito. it’s about love. bakit kaya tayo naiinlove? yikee. feeling ko lahat naman tayo interesado dito diba? single man o double, bitter man o better, normal lang sa bawat tao, meaning likas sa atin ang magnais magmahal at magnais mahalin. taas kamay yung gustong makaramdam ng pagmamahal wag ng mahiya. wag kang mag-alala, walang nakakakita, kung meron man, di naman nila alam kung bakit ka nagtataas ng kamay. haha. narealize ko, oo nga no! ALL OF US WANTS TO FEEL LOVE. kaya siguro nauso yung konsepto ng ideal man o woman, o kaya ng ideal proposal, pati yung paglipana ng mga pick-up lines, atsaka napansin niyo ba most if not all movies may mix of love, kahit anong genre! sa superheroes or fantasy, may leading lady na isesave, sa horror, may mga ex na nagmumulto o kaya sa drama, may third party or love triangle…. at sa marami pang iba!
bakit ba tayo naiinlove? kasi nakaukit na sa tin yung love. we are designed with it. love kasi yung nagkokonek satin sa Lumikha satin. yung paghahangad natin na magkaron ng bf/gf, yung paghahangad natin na mahalin ng walang kapalit, yung walang lokohan, yung walang komplikasyon, yung di magulo, yung di nakakatakot, yung tunay.. yan yung isang higanteng butas sa mga puso natin na kayang-kaya Niyang punan or in better words, na SIYA LANG ANG MAKAKAPUNO. Si Lord lang. kumbaga yung pantapal sa butas na yun ay nakahulma eksaktong-eksakto kay Lord. di ko sinasabing walang wenta yung love life mo ngayon, for sure, napupunan din niya yang butas na yan, pero at times, siguro may spaces pa din, air holes. bakit ba tayo nilikha? wala, power-tripping si God eh! bored kasi siya, eh kaya niyang gumawa ng tao, go! NO! we are created because of love. He wants us to experience HIS LOVE. bakit? kasi yung love na yon na, ang pinaka mind-blowing, life changing, hands down na bagay na mararansan mo sa buong buhay mo! pramis. at experiencing it firsthand, i can tell you, NOTHING COMPARES TO HIS LOVE.
oo, mahal ka ng love life mo, (bf/gf, MU… and stuff alike. hihi.) pero there will be times na, mapapagod siya, maiinis, matatakot, magagalit, mageexpect. normal yun. nakakatakot naman kung sa buong pagmamahalan niyo never siyang nagpakita niyan. 🙂 kaya nga may mga LQ, cool offs at break-ups diba? that special person is not perfect. at this point, di ko sinasabing hiwalayan niyo na sila, haha, dapat single tayong lahat! whooh! di ganon, honestly i”m a big fan of love stories. ang sakin lang walang perfect person for you, meron pa siguro, right person for you. pero si God kasi, perfect Siya eh, kung tutuusin, di na Niya tayo kailangan. He’s complete. kaya yung idea na loving without expecting something in return, kay God lang yun 100% totoo. ikaw, naexperience mo na bang mainlove? yikee.. ibibigay mo lahat diba? kahit walang kapalit? weh.. siyempre kahit 0.00000001% gusto mo mag-thank you man lang siya, o kaya mag smile. minsan nga pag nagtext ka ng 3 pages pinapanalangin mong magreply siya kahit “k” lang ang sagot niya. diba nga pag nanliligaw, naghihintay sagutin. kaya nga diba hindi healthy yung mga one-way relationships? kay God, once na sumagot ka sa pagkatok Niya sa puso mo, asahan mong di na Siya makikipagbreak. at mamahalin ka Niya ilang ulit, kahit na mahirap kang mahalin.
in love, nobody’s exempted. kahit yung pinakamasamang taong iniisip mo ngayon, sigurado ako, gusto niya ring mahalin siya. or, in another way, yang taong yan, may mahal din yan, jowa man o kaibigan, kapamilya. again, kasi nga, nakaukit na yan sa tin, that’s God’s way of reaching us. wala kang kawala boy! pero wag ka ng magworry.. sigurado din ako, may plano ang Diyos para abutin ka! once, twice, or kahit nth times pa! maniwala ka, inaabot ka Niya sa ilang libong paraan sa buhay mo, gusto mo ng climax? He went to earth. He suffered for you kahit wala Siyang kasalanan. He died for you. Sasabihin mo, “eh bakit di ko naman hininging mamatay Siya para sakin ah!” sagot ko, malamang, hindi mo na talaga hihingin kasi ginawa na Niya. kadalasan, di lang natin binibigyang pansin. so kung uhaw tayo sa pagmamahal, may pantawid uhaw si Lord, di ka forever mauuhaw. it’s your choice.
ok lang mainlove.di mo na maaalis yan sayo. siguro may tama lang paraan. sana habang ginugusto nating mahalin at magmahal, gustuhin din nating mahalin Niya at magmahal sa Kanya.
Love gives. Lust gets. Love waits. Lust wants now. nagstrike talaga sakin yan! ayon sa worldweb dictionary sa laptop ko, ang lust, contrary to public belief is not only a sexual desire, it also means.. “craving for or great wanting or appetite” so to make it short, mahaba pa kasi yung discussion nyan, siguro we could take it na lust is a way of desiring something pero not in God’s way. para macheck natin kung love pa ba yung desire natin o lust na yan, we could remember that quote.
Lord, salamat sa pagmamahal mong walang kondisyon! salamat dahil kahit tao lang kami, kahit ang dami naming kasiraan, mahal mo pa din kami. sana buksan mo yung mga puso namin para maintindihan ito at patuluyin ka sa buhay namin. Amen.
yun lang. type lang ako ng type nung ginawa ko to. anyone’s free to share his/her thoughts, puwedeng may magulong line of thought ako o kaya sa tingin niyo mas may tamang way para irelay yung idea. magtulungan tayo. :)) God bless pips! God loves you soooooooooooo much!
#EWS_story
#reply_box_policy
I caught my boyfriend having affair with my sister!
"Oy Lei! Saan ka nanaman pupunta?!" tanong ni
Andrew, boy-bestfriend ko.
"Uuwi nako syempre! May dinner date pa kami ng
boyfriend ko noh." Napangiti ako ng maalala ko si jerald. 3 yrs kami magkasama. kaya ganun nalang ako kasaya. Syempre. Imagine. romantic candles
at kung ano pa na surprise niya. Tas malay mo! magproprose siya sa'kin ohmigosh! Sana nga!
but ofc. wag muna tayo pilingera. conclusion ko lang yun. HAHAHAHA.
"Eh? Pero di pa tapos yung celebration. I mean, look at you. You're promoted in higher rank. not just an ordinary accountant. Tas uuwi ka lang?
agad? Can you please stay just for a bit..."
Sagot ni andrew na para bang ngayon lang kami nagkasama.
Agad akong lumingon sa kanya.
"Hoy wag ka nga palungkot-lungkot jan! Atsaka
CEO ka din naman! Mas mataas ka panga sakin!
charotera." Tumawa ako sabay pabirong hinampas ang kanyang braso.
Ang ingay ingay ng paligid dahil nga sa party na nangyayari sa office namin. may mga pagkain at drinks. Tsaka kung ano-ano pa na aaminin ko ay di ko talaga gusto. Naiintindihan ko naman si andrew. Sabay naming pinangarap ang trabaho na to. Sabay kami naghighschool at college.
Halos parang kasama namin ang isat isa at kung minsan napagkamalan pa na magjowa. Pero syempre madaming mga charotera sa mundo na 'to kaya hinayaan ko nlng.
Ngumiti naman sakin si andrew. Sabay tingin sa baba na parang nahihiya magsalita.
"Drew, ikaw nalang bahala dito. Kailangan ko na talagang umalis ha?" I softly smile and reach toward him as I fix his tie and dust off his black tuxedo. In that moment, we both had eye contact
Pero syempre mas matangkad sakin si andrew and so I lift my chin up.
Natural nalang yun pero this time, iba yung naramdaman ko ng tumingon ako sa mga mata niya. Yung feeling na hindi ko naramdaman kay jerald. Tumitibok yung puso in a very irregular way. Sobrang close ko sakanya, and so I took few backwards steps sabay lagay ng mga daliri ko sa baywang. "Bye..." was all I said then grab my jacket and purse.
I adjusted my messy sock bun hair in atleast fine manner and quickly get out of the room.
Leche. Kaibigan ko si andrew. Bat ganto yung
nararamdaman ko? Lintik. Argggh! Meron ka ng jowa Lei! Ano ba? Forget it..
Nang makasay na ako sa kotse, Agad kong sinunod ang isip ko at pansamantala munang kinalimutan ang sinisigaw ng puso
Maybe im just being paranoid....
I wish...
*****
I step out of my car at dali daling binuksan ang pinto papuntang lobby. Ang dilim sa living room kaya binuksan ko ang ilaw.
Hayst. sana di niya nakalimutan yung dinner date namin.....
"Jerald?" sigaw ko nang may marining akong dalawang boses upstair. Giggles and grunts filled my eardrum and this time horror was paint on my face when I hear rough moans and skin clapping.
I slowly walk through his room with his door being ajar at agad sumilip kung ano ba ang nangyayari. At yun nga, napaiyak nalang ako.
I caught my boyfriend having affair with my sister.
Even the creak of their bed echo outside. Mga walang hiya...
Agad kong tinakpan ang bibig ko. Tears flowing
down my cheeks as I quietly rush downstairs.
Laking gulat ko nalang ng makita ko si andrew sa front porch. His car was parked outside and in my stupidity, iniwan kong bukas yung pinto kaya madali lang siya nakapasok.
"Lei? Anong nangyari?" He look at me with all sincerity and sympathy.
I wipe my tears with the back of my hand..
"A-ayaw ko munang p-pagusapan." ani ko na parang bang gumuho na ang mundo. I grab my purse and clutched on his wrist.
"Can I stay on your place for awhile?"
--------------
Next or nah?
comment lang!☺️
BOSES
Hello, I'm a silent reader this is my first time sharing my creepy experience here in socmed.
This story happened way back 2014.
Mayroon akong 5 babaeng kaibigan na lagi kong kasama. Si Seulgi, Joy, Irene at ang magkapatid na si ate Wendy and Yeri (Not their real name). Palagi kami sa comshop o di kaya sa bahay nina Joy, ate Wendy at Yeri nakatambay, na malapit din lang sa comshop kasi na sa iisang eskinita yung mga bahay nila. Bale yung bahay nila joy, yun na yung pinaka dulo ng eskinita; yung comshop, kahilera lang nung bahay nila ate Wendy at Yeri sa right side, pero gilid lang ng bahay nila ate Wendy at Yeri na may bintana yung nakatapat doon sa tulay na daanan papasok sa loob ng eskinita (sana ma-gets nyo).
One time may usapan kami na doon tatambay sa bahay nila Joy. Syempre mapapadaan ako doon sa gilid ng bahay nila Yeri at ate Wendy. Nagulat ako kasi narinig ko yung boses ni Yeri at Joy na tinatawag ako mula doon sa loob. "C, nandito kami. Halika dito" pagtawag ni Yeri sa akin na sinundan naman ng boses ni Joy na tila nangungumbinsi. "Dali bilisan mo. Pumunta ka na dito, C" after nilang sabihin yan, naghagikhikan sila. Syempre nagtaka ako bakit sila nandoon eh yung usapan namin, doon kami kela Joy tatambay. Isinawalang bahala ko rin yung saktong pagtawag nila sa akin sa pagdaan ko sa gilid ng bahay nila dahil naisip kong baka inabangan talaga nila ako sa bintana. Medyo mataas nga pala yung bintana at maliit din lang ako kaya hindi ko rin masilip.
Naisip ko baka iniba na nila yung plano kaya naman dali-dali akong pumasok sa bahay nila ate Wendy at Yeri. Hindi naman ako basta-basta pumapasok sa isang bahay ng walang consent ng may-ari. Pero dahil tinawag nga ako ni Yeri at Joy eh dumiretso na ako sa pinto at hindi na kumatok pa. Pagbukas na pagbukas ko ng pinto, nagulat ako kasi may hangin galing sa loob na tumama sa balat ko. Tapos patay yung mga ilaw. Gawa sa bato yung baba ng bahay nila at dikit dikit din yung mga bahay sa lugar namin kaya medyo madilim talaga kapag nakapatay yung ilaw. Natatawa pa ako nang bahagya nang sabihing "Hoy! Ano to? Tagu-taguan?". Pumasok ako sa kwarto nila, sinilip yung ilalim ng higaan, wala akong nakita. Sinilip ko yung banyo, wala pa rin. "Ang galing nyong magtago ah" Sigaw ko para marinig nila kung nasaan man sila nagtatago. Feeling ko na sa taas sila kasi may narinig akong kalabog. Kaya naman umakyat agad ako para hulihin sila. Pero natingnan ko na lahat ng pwedeng pagtaguan, wala pa rin sila.
Tapos doon ko lang narealize na wala pala talagang tao sa loob. Doon na ako nakaramdam ng kaba. Pakiramdam ko rin may mga nakatingin sa akin nung mga sandaling yon.
Kumaripas ako ng takbo palabas ng bahay. Saktong pagsarado ko ng pinto, nakita ko si Joy at Yeri na may kasamang babae na pinsan pala ni Joy. Nagtanong si Yeri kung bakit daw ako galing sa loob ng bahay nila at bakit daw ako namumutla. Hindi ko sinagot yung mga tanong at ang mga salita lang na lumabas sa bibig ko ay "Saan kayo galing?". Sumagot si Joy na "Nagpasama ako kay Yeri na sunduin si Hazel sa kanto. Bakit?" Kung galing sila sa kanto, kanino galing yung mga boses na narinig ko? Yan lamang ang mga naglalaro sa aking isipan magpahanggang ngayon. After kong mahimasmasan that time, kinuwento ko yung nangyari sa lima kong kaibigan at sinabi ni ate Wendy na kahit ang mama raw nila ay may ganoon din daw na karanasan sa bahay nila.
Hanggang dito na lamang po. Kapag sinipag ulit akong mag-type, next ko namang isshare yung karanasan ko sa inupahang bahay namin dati. Happy reading, everyone!
Ms. C
- nasa mindset ko na talaga yung "iiwan den ako neto pag napagod to sa ugali ko".
- kahit nangako pa yan , kung nagsawa yan iiwan ka nyan
Global eradication of COVID-19 remains possible
Looking to the past eradication of diseases, a new paper argues that the global eradication of COVID-19 is possible.
The paper quantifies the factors affecting eradicability and scores a few diseases accordingly.
The authors of the paper hope and believe that the international disruption that COVID-19 has caused may drive the world’s governments toward a global solution.
All data and statistics are based on publicly available data at the time of publication. Some information may be out of date. Visit our coronavirus hub and follow our live updates page for the most recent information on the COVID-19 pandemic.
As wealthier nations struggle to get more people to undergo vaccination, lower income nations struggle to acquire sufficient vaccine doses, and new SARS-CoV-2 variants emerge, a newly published paper states that the global eradication of COVID-19 remains possible nonetheless.
Lead author of the paper, Dr. Nick Wilson of the University of Otago in Wellington, New Zealand, pointed out to Medical News Today that skepticism regarding the paper’s conclusion is not surprising:
“[The] reaction is completely understandable at the current point in time, [but] when the plans to eradicate smallpox were announced, and there were still millions of cases globally per year, many people were also very skeptical.”
The paper cites the globally felt disruption resulting from COVID-19 as presenting an opportunity for a concerted international effort. Critical to an eradication program’s success is establishing strong vaccine coverage and staying ahead of rapidly developing variants.
The paper — entitled, “We should not dismiss the possibility of eradicating COVID-19: Comparisons with smallpox and polio” — appears in BMJ Global Health.
The metrics of optimism
The authors of the paper define eradications as the “[p]ermanent reduction to zero of the worldwide incidence of infection caused by a specific agent as a result of deliberate efforts; intervention measures are no longer needed.”
The paper presents a preliminary assessment of the eradicability of COVID-19 by comparing it with other worldwide diseases, including smallpox, which has been eradicated, and polio, for which just one of three serotypes persists.
Based on an established scoring system and additional technical, sociopolitical, and economic factors that the authors included, the study compiled a total of 17 variables relating to vaccine-preventable diseases, with a three-point relative scale for each variable. Each of the diseases received a score according to these metrics, with higher values indicating a greater chance of eradication.
COVID-19 scored as being slightly more eradicable than polio.
Smallpox was most eradicable with a score of 2.7. In comparison, COVID-19 scored 1.6, and polio scored 1.5.
Medical challenges
Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, MPH, of the University of California, Los Angeles’s Fielding School of Public Health — who was not involved in writing the article — told MNT: “The single greatest obstacle to true eradication will be achieving and sustaining the very high vaccination coverage (using a vaccine with no or extremely low infection breakthrough) needed to achieve full herd immunity, whereby transmission of COVID-19 in a community ceases.”
Although he is not giving up on achieving higher vaccination coverage through more robust international public health and social measures, Dr. Wilson said that herd immunity is not a requirement for eradication.
“Smallpox was eradicated without achieving herd immunity,” said Dr. Wilson, “but rather by targeted vaccination approaches. It is also notable that countries have also eliminated measles without (quite) achieving herd immunity, and, in fact, the whole of the Americas eliminated measles for a time.”
The paper notes that there is also a “risk of the persistence of the pandemic virus in non-human animal reservoirs,” a phenomenon that is occurring with COVID-19 in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Asked whether current animal reservoirs may doom an eradication effort, Dr. Wilson said we are not there yet.
“If we had the situation of influenza viruses (widespread in wild birds) then obviously eradication would not be feasible,” he noted.
He added that “it is possible to eradicate diseases in some wild animals — for example, eliminating rabies in wild foxes via aerial bait drops containing vaccine (as per Western Europe).”
Dr. Kim-Farley cited what he sees as the three most significant obstacles to eradication success.
Current vaccines, noted Dr. Kim-Farley, “although offering excellent protection against severe illness and death, still have some breakthrough infections that can infect others.”
Identifying cases of often-asymptomatic COVID-19 is also harder, said Dr. Kim-Farley, than it is with smallpox and measles, which “are usually always symptomatic and identifiable.”
Finally, there is “the lack of political will to apply (and the unwillingness of some persons to accept) the strict public health measures, such as required vaccination, required mask wearing, required quarantine and isolation, and required testing.”
You Are Living in the Golden Age of Stupidity
*Stupidity,” Jean Cocteau remarked, “is always amazing, no matter how used to it you become.”*
We live in a golden age of stupidity. It is everywhere. President Biden’s conduct of the withdrawal from Afghanistan will be remembered as a defining stupidity of our time—one of many. The refusal of tens of millions of people to be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus will be analyzed as a textbook case of stupidity en masse. Stupid is as stupid does, or, in the case of vaccination, as it doesn’t do. Stupidity and irresponsibility are evil twins.
The slow-motion zombies’ assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6 was a fittingly stupid finale to the Trump years, which offered dueling stupidities: Buy one, get one free. The political parties became locked in a four-year drama of hysteria and mutually demeaning abuse. Every buffoonery of the president and his people was answered by an idiocy from the other side, which in its own style was just as sinister and just as clownish.
Cable news provided the Greek chorus. American government and politics became cartoons. The Democrats, all unknowing, played Wile E. Coyote to Mr. Trump’s Road Runner. Twice, the Democrats’ Acme Impeachment Committee rigged up the big bomb (heh heh), lit the fuse and held its ears. Both times, the Road Runner sped away. Beep beep!
**“***Trump is crazy!” “Trump is Hitler!” “Trump is a Russian agent!” “ Bob Mueller has the goods!” Beep beep!*
Stupidity has been in the air for quite some time. And alas, Mr. Trump isn’t going away soon; neither are Jerrold Nadler, Adam Schiff or Mazie Hirono —each a paragon of the phenomenon.
Stupidity is one of life’s big mysteries, like evil, like love, an ineffable thing. You cannot exactly define it, but you know it when you see it, as Justice Potter Stewart said of pornography. It takes many forms. Stupidity is entitled to no moral standing whatever, and yet it sits in a place of honor at the tables of the mighty; it blows in their ears and whispers promises.
Stupidity reappears as a perennial theme of literature and history: King Lear breaking up his kingdom in the first act, or the entirety of World War I, from Sarajevo to Versailles. In her 1984 book, “The March of Folly,” Barbara Tuchman examined four grand stupidities: the Trojans’ decision to accept the Greeks’ big wooden horse and move it inside the walls of the city (an illustrative myth), the Renaissance popes’ failure to deal with the complaints of Martin Luther and others that led to the Reformation, England’s boneheaded policies under George III that lost it the American colonies, and the Americans’ mishandled intervention in Vietnam.
I have always thought that the 1960s, besides being the gaudiest and noisiest and most entertaining decade, was one of the stupidest, with its stupid war and stupid ideas (morons smoking banana peels about summed it up). The grown-ups had made a stupid mess in Vietnam; the young swarmed onstage, too numerous for their own good, and, being on the whole vastly inexperienced in the business of life, made stupid messes of their own. The counterculture became the culture. A lot of the music was great. Today many baby boomers are starry-eyed about the days of their youth. The ’60s set forth a paradox: It’s possible for a decade to be filled with tragedy and ideals, and at the same time to be essentially stupid.
In that thought, one approaches the core of the mystery. Most of the tragedies of that time, in fact, were stupid: the war, the murders of John and Robert Kennedy, to name three essentially meaningless phenomena that have, in time, passed over into what Thucydides called “the country of myth.” Is it possible that stupidity—far from being a shallow, comic thing—is at the heart of historic tragedy?
I’ve been working on a Unified Field Theory of Stupidity. My hypothesis: Stupidity dominates in our time because of the convergence of many seemingly unrelated elements that—mixed together at one moment, in one cultural beaker—have produced a fatal explosion of brainlessness. What are those ingredients? You will have your own list, of course.
My nominees will seem eccentric at first. The subversion of manners and authority (two great casualties of the 1960s) prepared the way for the death of privacy, which would eventually be ensured by the stupendously intrusive capabilities of Big Tech in the 21st century. Manners (and in a different way, authority) depend on respect for the privacy of others, as well as one’s own. Manners depend on reticence, even mystery. When those ingrained regulations, those protections of the individual mind, are gone, then you may open the floodgates to (among many other things) pornography, which is a massively lucrative assault on individual dignity and collective decorum—an assault on the manners of a society and, if you will forgive my saying so, on the divinity of the individual.
The death of manners and privacy, I argue, are profoundly political facts that, combined with other facts, lead, eventually, to an entire civilization of stupidity. It’s a short ride from stupidity to madness. Soon people aren’t quite people anymore; they are cartoons and categories. And “identities.” The media grow feral. Genitals became weirdly public issues; the sexes subdivide into 100 genders. Ideologues extract sunbeams from cucumbers. They engage in what amounts to an Oedipal rebellion against reality itself.
At the Tower of Babel, the Lord—whatever his reasons—confounded the languages of the peoples of the world. I suspect he has found he can achieve the same effect by making everyone stupid.
Mr. Morrow is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. His latest book is “God and Mammon: Chronicles of American Money,.”
Snopes Retracts 60 Articles Plagiarized by Co-Founder: ‘Our Staff Are Gutted’
The fact-checking site has banned David Mikkelson, who owns half the company, from writing articles after a BuzzFeed News investigation prompted an internal review.
Snopes, which has long presented itself as the internet’s premier fact-checking resource, has retracted 60 articles after a BuzzFeed News investigation found that the site’s co-founder plagiarized from news outlets as part of a strategy intended to scoop up web traffic.
“As you can imagine, our staff are gutted and appalled by this,” Vinny Green, the Snopes chief operating officer, said on Friday. He said the Snopes editorial team was conducting a review to understand just how many articles written by David Mikkelson, the site’s co-founder and chief executive, featured content plagiarized from other news sites.
As of Friday afternoon, the team had found 60, he said. By Friday morning, dozens of articles had been removed from the site, with pages that formerly featured those articles now showing the word “retracted” and an explanation that “some or all of its content was taken from other sources without proper attribution.” Ads have been removed from these articles, according to Mr. Green.
Mr. Mikkelson, who owns 50 percent of Snopes Media Group, will continue to be Snopes’s chief executive, but his ability to publish articles has been revoked, Mr. Green said.
In a statement, Mr. Mikkelson acknowledged he had engaged in “multiple serious copyright violations of content that Snopes didn’t have rights to use” and praised the work of the 20 or so “dedicated, professional journalists” employed by Snopes.
“There is no excuse for my serious lapses in judgment,” he wrote, adding, “I want to express how sorry I am to those whose copyright I violated, to our staff, and to our readers.”
Doreen Marchionni, the managing editor, has been given “full authority” to address these issues, he said.
In an apology to existing staff members posted on Snopes on Friday, Mr. Green and Ms. Marchionni, who has a Ph.D. in journalism from the University of Missouri, called the BuzzFeed News investigation, which accuses their chief executive of intentionally taking credit for other people’s work to drive up web traffic, as “an example of dogged, watchdog journalism we cherish.”
Eight additional members of the editorial staff issued their own statement. “We strongly condemn these poor journalistic practices,” they said.
The BuzzFeed investigation, which was published Friday, found that from 2015 to 2019 — under the Snopes byline, his own name and another pseudonym — Mr. Mikkelson published dozens of articles that included language that appeared to have been copied directly from The New York Times, CNN, NBC News, the BBC and other news sources. The investigation also identified cases in which entire paragraphs — and in at least one case, nearly an entire article — appeared to have been copied.Copying text from breaking news stories on other sites was a strategy intended to scoop up traffic, the former Snopes managing editor Brooke Binkowski told Dean Sterling Jones, the freelance journalist who broke the story for BuzzFeed News.
“That was his big SEO/speed secret,” Ms. Binkowski, who now manages Truth or Fiction, another fact-checking site, told BuzzFeed. “He would instruct us to copy text from other sites, post them verbatim so that it looked like we were fast and could scoop up traffic, and then change the story in real time.”
In a 2016 Slack message that was quoted in the BuzzFeed article, Mr. Mikkelson explicitly outlined this strategy. “Usually when a hot real news story breaks (such as a celebrity death), I just find a wire service or other news story about it and publish it on the site verbatim to quickly get a page up,” he wrote. “Once that’s done, then I quickly start editing the page to reword it and add material from other sources to make it not plagiarized.”
Even if he had rewritten the text a few minutes after publication, that would not be considered ethical under widely accepted journalistic standards. But as both the BuzzFeed investigation and Snopes’s internal investigation found, he frequently never got around to changing the sentences he had stolen.
Though some of the plagiarized articles were from 2019, most were from 2015 or 2016, predating the current managing editor and editorial team, Mr. Green said.
In an interview with BuzzFeed, Mr. Mikkelson blamed his behavior partly on his lack of formal journalism experience. Given that his site calls itself “the definitive internet reference source for researching urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors and misinformation” and has built its brand on properly sourcing information, this excuse may be hard for some to stomach.
One of the more bizarre aspects of Mr. Mikkelson’s plagiarizing tendencies is that he sometimes published the stolen articles under the pseudonym Jeff Zarronandia. His Snopes bio says that he is “an American author and journalist who won the Pulitzer Prize for numismatics” — the study of coins — “in 2006 and was one of four finalists for the prize in 2008.”
As to whether writing under the cover of a pseudonym and the Snopes staff’s byline fueled Mr. Mikkelson’s sense that he had license to use other people’s words, Mr. Green said he was not sure.
BANTAY: Dalawang Lalaki
Hello , kwento lang ito sa'kin ng pinsan ko na nagwo-work sa isang BPO company o callcenter. Lagi kasi siyang madaling araw o minsan umaga na nakakauwi dahil sa work niya. POV niya ang gagamitin mo para smooth ang daloy ng kwento:
Ako si Rima, isa akong employee sa isang company na aking pinapasukan. Halos araw-araw ay madaling araw na ako nakakauwi sa tinutuluyan kong apartment. Madalas kasing napupunta ako sa night shift kaya mga 7:00pm- 12:00am ang pasok ko everytime na night shift kaya no choice.
Pagkatapos ng trabaho at ng mga gawain ko sa office ay niligpit ko ang mga natitirang gamit at itinabi.
Kasabay ko ang mga katrabaho ko palabas ng company building pero iba ang daan nila pauwi kaya mag-isa lang akong sumakay ng jeep.
Halos lahat na kasakay ko sa jeep ay inaantok. Naidlip ako at nagising sakto sa bababaan ko rito sa kanto, papasok na sa barangay.
1:27pm nang tignan ko ang aking relo. Sanay na ako na gabi umuuwi.
Dumiretso ako sa pila ng tricycle pero wala nang mga pumapasada. Masyadong na-late ang pag-out ko kaya inabot ako ng ganitong oras na malimit na ang mga tricycle.
Dahil wala na akong masakyan, naisipan ko na lang maglakad papasok sa barangay kung saan nasa dulo ang apartment na inuupahan ko.
Malamig ang yapos ng hangin at medyo creepy dahil ako lang ang mag-isang naglalakad dito sa kahabaan ng street.
Dire-diretso lang ako sa paglalakad ng may makita akong dalawang lalaki na nakatayo sa poste.
Napatigil ako at napatitig kung saan sila nakatayo at tila may hinihintay.
Aninag ko ang pinaglalaruang kutsilyo ng isa sa mga ito.
Nanginig ang mga kamay ko sa takot at napanganga.
Patuloy ng isang ito na pinaglalaruan ang kaniyang kutsilyo at isinasaksak sa hangin. Ganon din ang ginagawa ng isa na isinasaksak-saksak sa posteng katabi nila.
Medyo madilim sa kinakatayuan nila kaya bigla akong kinabahan.
Hindi ko gusto kung ano man ang maaring mangyari.
Pumikit ako at taimtim na nagdasal saka ipinagpatuloy ko ang paglalakad.
Panginoon, panginoon ko, huwag niyo po akong pababayaan ngayon, kung anuman ang maaring mangyari sana'y huwag niyo pa rin akong pababayaan. Gabayan niyo po ako at tulungan sa maaaring mangyari sakin ngayon. Protektahan niyo po ako sa mga taong ngayon ay dahilan ng pagkatakot ko.
Nakaramdam ako ng paglamig ng simoy ng hangin dahilan para tumaas ang balahibo ko. Hindi ko alam pero bigla akong kinilabutan.
Tila ba mas lalong lumamig ang paligid.
Patuloy pa rin ako sa pagdadasal at nangangatog ang tuhod na naglalakad sa dilim.
Napapapikit ako at patuloy na nagdadasal.
Hanggang sa matapat ako sa dalawang lalaki na nakatitig sa akin ngayon. Hawak pa rin nila ang kutsilyo nila kaya sobrang bilis na ng kabog ng dibdib ko.
Alam kong naaaninag nila ang mukha dahil sa ilaw sa daanan na patuloy na nilalakaran ko.
Takot na takot man ay patuloy akong nagdasal at nagmadali sa paglalakad.
Hanggang sa nalampasan ko sila. Laking pasasalamat ko sa Diyos at hindi ako nasaktan.
Kinabukasan...
Lumabas ako ng bahay mga 9:00am upang bumili ng almusal, tinanghali na ako ng gising dahil din siguro sa takot.
Kumunot ang noo ko ng may makitang mga pulis at mga nagkukumpulang tao sa kabilang iskinita ng barangay.
Naalala ko na doon ako dumaan kagabi kung saan nakita ko ang dalawang lalaki na nag-aabang doon.
Dahil sa curiosity ay lumapit ako sa mga tao at pilit na nakisingit upang makita ang mga kaganapan.
Halos mapanganga ako dahil kitang kita ng dalawang mata ko ang isang babaeng nakabulagta, hubot-hubad at puno ng saksak. Nagkalat ang dugo nito sa buong katawan.
Nakita ko rin ang dalawang lalaki kagabi na kahit hindi ko aninag ang mukha ay alam kong sila iyon. Nagtanong ako sa babaeng katabi ko.
"Miss, ano pong nangyari?" Tanong ko sa katabi ko.
"Ginahasa at pinatay ang babaeng iyan kaninang madaling araw. Mga alas dos ata. Pagkatapos daw gahasain ay pinagsasaksak. Isinako raw at inilagay sa gilid ng poste" kwento niya at itinuro ang poste na may mga sako ng basura. "Pero nangamoy ito kaya nakita ng mga tao at ini-report nga sa mga pulis. Nakita sa loob ng sako ang duguang babae at kutsilyo na pagmamay-ari ng pumatay na nakatira sa iskinatang iyan." Dagdag pa niya.
Halos natulala at hindi ako makahinga sa nakita at narinig ko.
Bakit hindi ako ang ginahasa at pinatay nila kung mas nauna akong dumaan kaysa sa babaeng ito?
Pasado 1:30am ako dumaan at nadaanan ko sila bakit hindi nila ako sinaktan o binalak na patayin? Etong babaeng nasa harapan ko'y pasado 2:00am dumaan sa kanila at ito ang kanilang pinatay?
Naglakas-loob akong lumapit sa mga pulis at sasakyan kung nasaan ang dalawang lalaking nakaposas at nakayuko.
"Bakit hindi ako ang ginahasa at pinatay niyo?" Simulang tanong ko sa kanila. Napalingon silang dalawa sakin at mas lalong natakot at namutla. "Ako ang naunang dumaan bago pa ang babaeng iyon." Dagdag ko pa.
Nanginginig ang kamay at nagpailing-iling na sumagot ang isa sa kanila.
"M-miss, habang naglalakad ka, m-may kasama kang dalawang la-lalaki na malaking tao at matangkad, nakaputi silang pareho at p-pinaggigitnaan ka kaya n-natakot kaming lumapit at p-patayin ka." Utal utal na paliwanag ng lalaking nasa harapan ko.
Nagulat, nagtaka at natakot ako sa sinabi niya.
Nag-iisa lang akong naglalakad kagabi. Halos tumakbo na nga ako sa takot.
Paanong nagkaroon ako ng kasabay at dalawang lalaki?
Hindi kaya'y masyado silang nalulong sa droga kaya kung ano-anong pinagsasasabi nila?
Dalawang lalaki na kasabay ko? Kaya hindi ako ang pinuntirya nilang gahasain at patayin— hind kaya'y—
Hindi kaya'y yung naramdaman kong malamig na nagpatayo sa balahibo ko ay yung dalawang lalaki. Sila kaya ang dahilan kung bakit nanlamig ang paligid kagabi habang naglalakad ako?
At sila ang dahilan kung bakit ligtas ako. Kung bakit hindi lumapit ang dalawang lalaki kagabi. Kung bakit hindi ako ang babaeng nasa sako at wala ng buhay ngayon.
Nakatulala akong umuwi sa apartment na inuupahan ko at the sametime ay thankful.
Dahil sa pagdasal ko kagabing madaling araw ay naligtas ako. Niligtas ako ng dalawang lalaking sumabay sakin upang hindi mapahamak sa mga mamamatay tao.
roarzen
Sleepimg Quarters
Hi Tris po ulit from Bulacan. Ishare ko po yung experience way back 2018.
Nalipat ako nun ng account at office sa BGC, ang schedule ko that time is 3pm to 12am. Ako lagi huli nakakapaglunch at wala akong kasabay sa lunch. Madalas 10pm ko na nagagamit lunch ko kasi dun wala na halos docs, at ito din yung time na walang tao sa quarters.
Mahilig ako pumuwesto sa sulok kasi para less ingay. Nakatulog na ko kaya lang ilang minutes lang nagising ako kasi nauga yung double deck parang meron nag-akyat baba sa hagdan. Gigil na ko nun kasi ilan beses na, naisip ko baka yung mga trainee nagsama sama sa taas. Tumingin ako sa baba para tingnan ilan sapatos nandun para malaman ko kung ilan sila sa taas. Pagtingin ko walang ibang sapatos dun kundi yung akin lang. Kinabahan na ko nun kaya ginawa ko pumikit lang ako at naghintay na may pumasok sa quarters. Pagkarinig ko na may pumasok ng quarters bumangon agad ako sabay labas.
At dahil di pa din ako nadala after ilang araw natulog pa din ako. Pero this time antok na antok ako kaya wapakels sa mananakot saken, feeling ko di niya ko magagambala kasi pagod ako. Bago ako matulog may mga kasama ako sa room pero alam ko paalis na mga yun kasi US account mga yun pa-start na shift nila.
Bago ako matulog sabi ko pa "bahala kayo jan antok ako kaya di niyo ko magigising". Yun ang pagkakamali ko nachallenge ko yata sila dun sa sinabi ko, kasi after 30mins nagising ako. Kasi parang yung tao sa taas parang naglalaro at humahakbang papunta sa kabilang double deck kaya nauga yung kama. Sa may paanan ko yung hagdan, naramdaman ko may tao huminto dun at mukang aakyat. Tiningnan ko, naririnig kong may umaakyat at umuuga yung hagdan pero wala akong nakikitang tao na umaakyat. Tumalikod na ko at humarap sa pader, bigla ako may narinig na tumatawang babae. Maya maya yung tao sa taas parang batang tumatakbo paikot sa tabi tabing mga double deck, so lahat ng kama nag uugaan na. This time nakaramdam na ko ng takot at inis kasi sakit ng ulo ko sa sobrang antok. Bumangon ako ng mabilisan sabay kuha ng sapatos. Dun na lang ako nagsapatos sa may pintuan. Binuksan ko ng todo yung pinto para pumasok yung liwanag at makita yung tao sa loob. Tiningnan ko yung mga bed baka may kasama ako sa room, kaya lang sa kasamaang palad ako lang mag isa. Ginawa ko binuksan ko lahat ng ilaw sa room at tiningnan ko lahat ng kama, niisang tao wala akong nakita. Pinatay ko na agad yung ilaw tas biglang labas. Dun na lang ako sa station ko natulog.
Hanggang dito na lang po. Lesson wag maghamon, natritrigger ko talaga yata sila minsan dahil short tempered ako nakakapagbitaw ako ng salita. Tulad sa naishare ko na pusang kalye.
Matagal pa ko
•My Mysterious Life•
DUWENDE.
Hi I'm Luna (not my real name, mahilig kasi ako sa buwan), bata palang po ako nakakakita na ako. So lumaki talaga akong mahilig sa mga paranormal, myths, lahat ng bagay na di pangkaraniwan. Parang karugtong na rin to ng buhay ko eh. May kwento sakin yung mama ko dati, bata palang ako palagi nya na tong kinukwento hanggang sa nagdalaga na ako.
I was 9 months old back then nung nagkasakit daw ako bigla, ubo lang naman daw yung sakit ko that time kaya akala nila lilipas lang. After ilang days ata or weeks lumubha raw yung ubo ko kaya pina check up nila ako. Ang sabi ng doctor may pneumonia raw ako, sobrang nag alala sila mama nun pati na rin grandparents ko. Kaya makalipas ng ilang araw napag desisyonan nila mama at lola na ipatingin ako sa manggagamot (faith healer).
Kinausap ng tita ni mama yung manggagamot, since pumupunta sa kanika yun tsaka para friends sila.
"Manang Lita (not her real name) gusto ka raw makausap ni Anne (mama ko, but not her real name din)" Tita ni mama
"Ah. Patungkol ba sa anak nya?" Manang Lita
"Pano nyo po nalaman?" Tanong ng tita ni mama
"Kasi nung minsang napadaan ako dun nakita ko sya karga² ang anak nya habang may duwende na umaaliw sa bata" Sabi ni manang Lita na ikinagulat nila
Nung nakausap ni mama si manang Lita pinapakuha raw sya ni manang Lita ng damit na pinaghubaran ko (yung damit na nasuot na), planggana at papel. May ginawang orasyon raw si manang Lita tapos may mga kandila at kung ano ano (di ko alam yung iba since na kwento lng naman sakin to mama tsaka baby pa ako nun) tapos nilagay nya yung papel sa planggana na may tubig ng biglang may nag litawan na letra.
"Kukunin namin si Luna dahil sya ang aming prinsesa" yan daw yung nakasulat, napaluha daw si mama nun. Tapos may ginawa na naman si Manang Lita na orasyon at nung natapos yun ay binigyan nya ako ng kwintas na may something na sa loob. Sabi nya pagkatapos ng tatlong araw ilalabas (e tatae daw ganun) ko daw yung pagkain na pinakain ng mga duwende sakin. So ayun nga pagkalipas ng tatlong araw nagulat sila ng may nakita silang itim sa dumi ko, eh breastfeed naman ako nung bata ako tsaka cerelac lang din pinapakain sakin nun.
Akala nila dun na nagtatapos lahat pero hindi pa pala.
-Luna 🌙
Hi spookifiers I hope this time mappost nato I will do mybest para maintindihan yung story ko actually marami na akong nashare pero hindi nappost eh
MADRE
Hi my name is Jane nakatira kame sa Davao city
Actually matagal na kami dito kaso nangungupahan lang kami. Bale palipat lipat kame ng bahay na inuupahan dahil narin sa demolisasyun, kaya lumipat kami dun sa inuupahan ng katrabaho ng papa ko.
Actually malaki naman sya my second floor tapos sa baba yung kusina. may dalawang kwarto din sa may ibaba dun nakatira yung katrabaho ng papa ko tapos sa baba mo rin makikita yung cr kaharap ng cr is yung kusina. At may tatlong rebulto ng santo Niño sa totoo lang natatakot talaga ako sa mga rebulto ewan pero feel ko may buhay sila ni ayoko ngang titigan yun.
Sa paninirahan namin duon maayos naman wala kaming nararamdaman not untill nung nag lalaro kame ng mga kapatid kung babae sobrang ingay narin kasi namin that time. Pero natahimik kame nung nahulog yung tatlong lotion na nasa aparador namin, Yung parang sinadya syang tinapon nag katinginan kaming apat nun tas yung bunso kung kapatid natakot na kaya tumigil nalang kame sa pag lalaro at bumaba nalang para kumain narin ng tanghalian sa baba kasi kami kumakain.
Kinagabihan kinukwento namin sa papa namin nangyare tapos ang sabi nya wag daw kaming uulet kasi baka naingayan na samin yung mga ibang nakatira dun which is mga hindi katulad natin alam ni papa na minumultuhan talaga yung bahay nayun. Isang gabi habang natutulog ako binangungot ako na may isang madreng galit na galit na nakatitig sakin tas biglang sinakal nya ako gusto kung gisingin yung pangalawang kapatid ko kaso hindi ako makagalawa kaya ang ginawa ko nag dasal nalang ako ng taimtim tas binibigkas ko yung pangalan ni Papa Jesus hanggang sa tuluyan na akong nakagising, pawis na pawis tas hinahabol ko ang hininga ko tas sobrang init ng katawan ko nun.
Simula nung napanaginip ko yung madre hindi na ako matahimik dahil nga nagpapakita na sya sakin hindi lang sa panaginip pati narin sa personal. Minsan nga sa may hagdanan nakikita ko yung damit pang madre nakatalikod paakyat pero naka lutang yung mga paa nya, minsan naman sa may pintuan mismo ng kwarto namin pero pag nakikita ko sya nagdadasal nalang ako nilalakasan ko yung loob ko. Kaya sinabi ko yun kay papa tapos sabi ni papa samin dati daw na kombento yung lugar nayun kaso nilisan na kaya nerenovate nalang at ginawang paupahan ng may ari ng lupa. yung nagpapakitang Madre sakin sya yung madre na nagpakamatay dun sa isang kwarto sabi ni papa kaya pala walang tao yung kwarto nayun puro sira sirang gamit nalang, actually apat na kwarto ang sa secong floor kaya alam ng papa ko about dun sa bahay nayun dahil naikwento narin ng kasamahan nya yung about dun sa past story ng bahay nayun.
Simula nung nagpapakita sakin yung madre nilalagnat na ako gabi2 kaya minabuti nalang ng papa ko na umalis kami dun at lumipat ng ibang mauupahan dahil pati mga kapatid ko binabangungot narin at yung bunsong kapatid namin minsan umiiyak dahil nakikita nya rin yung madre pero nakabitin daw sa kisame.
Hanggang dito na muna I hope naintindigan nyo ng mabuti mag kukwento ulit ako pag napost to
-Drah17
Fourty Roses Birthday 🌹🎉
Fourty roses
Bloom at different times
Red, yellow, purple, orange
Each one has recorded a year's fragrance
Each one tells a story for a year
Each one contains a year's emotions
Some are gentle and some are passionate
Some are lovely
Some are meaningful
Fourty years of life
Short or long
From ignorant children
An adult who can stand up
From the beautiful West Lake
To the west bank where the sky is high and the clouds are light
Journey of half the earth
Completed in these forty years
From the petals of forty roses
I saw your shyness on the first date
When I heard my heartbeat the first time I approached you
The world that I felt when I hugged for the first time
And the frenzy of the first kiss
I used to look desperately
You used to call a thousand times
I used to be longing for love
You used to wait year after year
Are condensed in the petals of roses
Then it sublimates and exudes a strong fragrance
Fourty roses
Help me keep every passing day
Like dreaming
Yiren
Like dreaming
I take off lightly in my dream
Across the colorful streets
Over the unopened doors and windows
On the vast expanse of grass
In the clear blue sky
No fetters do whatever you want
Glide freely and fly
Like dreaming
Reunion with old friends in a dream
Still a smooth young face
Still happy with a pure smile
Relive the joy of wearing skirts together in summer
Knee-talking on the benches of the broken bridge at dusk
And the intoxication of playing guitar together
And the piety when singing "Let the world be filled with love"
Like dreaming
Experience various complex and subtle emotions in dreams
At a loss for the unknown
Anticipation of love
The breath of an old house in childhood
Classroom at Junior Middle School
Fable without ending
And the sound of Zen under the ancient clock keeps on
Like dreaming
Return to the beautiful Hangzhou in the dream
Take a walk around the Qingyou of nine streams and eighteen streams
Climb the rocks on Baoshu Mountain
Every corner of the university campus
All contain the restlessness of our youth
Every bamboo leaf in Huanglong Cave
Have recorded our unrepentant vows
Like dreaming
Dream is a place to escape from reality.
Online bullying remains prevalent in the Philippines, other countries
—One in three young people in 30 countries said they have been a victim of online bullying, with one in five saying they skipped school due to cyberbullying and violence, according to a new poll released today by UNICEF, the United Nations organization working for children’s rights.
In the Philippines, latestnational data show that cyberviolence affects almost half of children aged 13-171. The prevalence of cyberviolence for males (44 per cent) is almost the same for females (43 per cent).
One-third of cyberviolence experienced by Filipino children are in the form of verbal abuse over the internet or cellphone, while a fourth are through sexual messages. More females received messages of sexual nature or content than males. However,twice as many males than females reported having their nude body or sexual activities, whether real or falsified, shown on the internet or cellphone.
Violence against children, in all forms including online bullying or cyberbullying, has devastating effects on the physical and emotional wellbeing of young people. This can create lasting emotional and psychological scars, even physical harm. It is particularly challenging to address since children are vulnerable and have easy access to the internet, making them easy targets of online violence.
In the UNICEF U-Report poll conducted in June 2019, almost three-quarters of young people from 30 countries said that social networks including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter are the most common platforms for online bullying. Being connected online means that school no longer ends once a student leaves class, and neither does bullying.
The U-Report further revealed that 32 per cent believe that the government is mainly responsible in addressing online bullying, 31 per cent said that young people are responsible, while 29 per cent said internet companies. These show that opinions are equally divided on who should be responsible for ending online bullying – highlighting the need to involve children and young people in the shared responsibility.
UNICEF is calling for urgent action to implement policies that will protect children and young people from bullying – both online and offline. Addressing the problem requires action from all of us.
Establishing and equipping national helplines to support children and young people in reporting violence is a concrete step. Training teachers and parents to respond to and prevent bullying will ensure the safety of children and young people, particularly the most vulnerable ones. Gathering better data about the online behavior of children and young people, and how criminals are using the internet, will guide policies and action plans.
UNICEF is also urging social media and social networking service companies to improve ethical standards and practices in collecting and managing information of children.
Gathering better data about the online behavior of children and young people, and how criminals are using the internet, will guide policies and action plans.
UNICEF is also urging social media and social networking service companies to improve ethical standards and practices in collecting and managing information of children.
As a group of frogs was traveling through the woods, two of them fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs crowded around the pit and saw how deep it was, they told the two frogs that there was no hope left for them.
However, the two frogs decided to ignore what the others were saying and they proceeded to try and jump out of the pit.
Despite their efforts, the group of frogs at the top of the pit were still saying that they should just give up. That they would never make it out.
Eventually, one of the frogs took heed to what the others were saying and he gave up, falling down to his death. The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die.
He jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, “Did you not hear us?”
The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time
Moral of the story:
People’s words can have a big effect on other’s lives. Think about what you say before it comes out of your mouth. It might just be the difference between life and death.
https://wealthygorilla.com/10-most-inspirational-short-stories/
@Nicay05