Friday, December 29, 2017

Green Ladies Take a Break from the Computer

Green ladies take a break from the computer
San Vicente Botanical Garden
San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

Dr Abe V Rotor 
Green ladies take a break from the computer.  Painting by the author. 
 
Green offers a truce of cyberspace 
and Mother Earth, 
 the bridge of reality and fantasy,
in our long search
for meaning, home, self and unity. 


Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Treaty of Nature and Man

 It is only through proper management and effective conservation, such as reforestation, pollution control, erosion control, limited logging, and proper land use, that we can insure the continuity of our race.  All we have to do is to keep ourselves faithful to the treaty between nature and man.

Dr Abe V Rotor 
Fishpens and fish cages crowd the shore of Tikob Lake, Tiaong Quezon 


      Frantic exploitation of natural resources through illegal logging operations, followed by slash-and-burn agriculture (kaingin), has brought havoc to the Philippines in the past century.  The detrimental results are measured not only by the denudation of once productive forests and hillsides, but also destruction through erosion, flood, drought and even death. 

      An example of this kind of ruination brought about by abuse of nature is the tragedy in Ormoc City where floodwaters cascading down the denuded watershed, killed hundreds of residents and countless animals. It took ten years for the city to fully recover.  Ironically, before the tragedy, Ormoc, from the air, looked like a little village similar to Shangrila, a perfect place for retirement.

      A land area designed by nature to sustain millions of people and countless other organisms, was touched by man and we are now paying the price for it.  Man removed the vegetation, cut down trees for his shelter and crafts, and planted cereals and short-growing crops to get immediate returns. He hunted for food and fun, and in many ways, changed the natural contour and topography of the land.

      Following years of plenty, however, nature reasserted itself. Water would run unchecked, carrying plant nutrients downhill.  On its path are formed rills and gullies that slice through slopes, peeling off the topsoil and making the land unprofitable for agriculture.  Since the plants cannot grow, animals gradually perish. Finally, the kaingero abandons the area, leaving it to the mercy of natural elements. It is possible that nature may rebuild itself, but will take years for affected areas to regain their productivity, and for the resident organisms once again attain their self-sustaining population levels.

      There are 13.5 million square miles of desert area on earth, representing a third of the total land surface. This large a proportion of land may be man-made as history and archeological findings reveal.

      Fifteen civilizations, once flourished in Western Sahara, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, the Sinai desert, Mesopotamia, and the deserts of Persia. All of these cultures perished when the people of the area through exploitation, forced nature to react. As a consequence, man was robbed of his only means of sustenance.
_____________________________________________________________

Man, being the superior organism, has not only won over his rivals -  all organisms that constitute the biosphere.  He has also assaulted Nature.
_____________________________________________________________

      History tells us of man’s early abuse of nature in the Fertile Crescent where agriculture began some 3000 years ago.  Man-made parallel canals joined the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers to irrigate the thirsty fertile valley. In the process, the balance of Nature was overturned when the natural drainage flow was disturbed. Because the treaty was violated, nature revenged. The canal civilization perished in the swamps that later formed. The sluggish water brought malaria and other diseases causing untold number of deaths and migration to the hinterlands. Among its victims was Alexander the Great.

      Carthage had another story. Three wars hit Carthage, known as the Punic Wars.  On the third one, the Romans ploughed through the city, ending reign of this erstwhile mercantile power, and removing the threat to the Roman economy. After the conquest, the Romans pumped salt-water inland and flooded the fertile farms. Today, Carthage exists only in history and in imagination of whoever stands atop a hill overlooking what is now a vast desert.

 Carthage aftermath of the Punic wars; Carthage today 


      Omar Khayyam, if alive today, cannot possibly compose verses as beautiful as the Rubaiat as written in his own time. His birthplace, Nishapur, which up to the time of Genghis Khan, supported a population of 1.5 million people, can only sustain 15,000 people today. Archeologists have just unearthed the Forest of Guir where Hannibal marched with war elephants. The great unconquerable jungle of India grew from waterlogged lowland formed by unwise irrigation management.

      It is hard to believe, but true that in the middle of the Sahara desert, 50 million acres of fossil soil are sleeping under layers of sand awaiting water. Surveyors found an underground stream called the Albienne Nappe that runs close to this deposit. Just as plans were laid to “revive” the dead soil by irrigation, the French tested their first atomic bomb. Due to contamination, it is no longer safe to continue on with the project.

      The great Pyramids of Egypt could not have been constructed in the middle of an endless desert. The tributaries of the Nile once surrounded these centers of civilization. Jerusalem appears today as a small city on a barren land.  It may have been a city with thick vegetation.  This was true of Negev and Baghdad.

      For the Philippines, it is high time we lay out a long-range conservation program to insure the future of the country.  This plan should protect the  fertility of the fields, wealth of the forests and marine resources, in order to bring prosperity to the people. As of now, the country is being ripped apart by erosion and floods due to unscrupulous exploitation by loggers and kaingeros.


      It is only through proper management and effective conservation, such as reforestation, pollution control, erosion control, limited logging, and proper land use, that we can insure the continuity of our race.  All we have to do is to keep ourselves faithful to the treaty between nature and man.

Priorities & Choices in Life (Lenten Season Reflection)

Priorities & Choices in Life
Dr Abe V Rotor 

Helen Keller, deaf-blind since infancy became a role model for millions of people. She wrote a moving essay that challenges us who have the power of vision on how we would value “Three Days to See” if we were blind like Helen Keller blind since infancy. (The Story of My Life)

Try this exercise. If you were given Three Days To See just as Helen Keller told in her essay, how would you prioritize these? (Please indicate the day after each item; or it is not applicable.) Please refer to the answers below

1. Lives of people everyday
2. Theater – concert, performing art
3. Transformation of night to day
4. Views from top of a high building
5. Loved ones and friends
6. Nature - landscape and garden
7. Museum of arts and natural history
8. Historical records of man & society
9. Things at home, favorite books, etc
10. Comedy, the lighter side of life.

After checking your work with the answers guide below, compare it with the priorities of Helen Keller.
1st Day - Loved ones, Favorite Things, Nature
2nd Day - Natural History, History, Humanities,
3rd Day - The Business of life. (NOTE: The lighter side of life closes the episode.)

Three Days to See challenges us to look into our priorities and choices in Life • City or countryside life
• Aesthetics or materialism
• Permanence and transience
• Love and Friendship
• Spirituality and faith
• Computer graphics or fine arts
• Perception or sensitivity
• Affection or companionship
• Vice or hobby
• Knowledge or Wisdom
________________________________________________________
Answer Guide Lives of people everyday - 3rd day
1. Theatre – concert, performing art –end of 2nd day
2. Transformation of night to day –opening of 2nd day
3. Views from top of a high building – 3rd day
4. Loved ones and friends – 1st day, immediately.
5. Nature - landscape & garden – 1st day pm to sunset
6. Museum of arts and natural history – 2nd day
7. Historical records of man & society – 2nd day
8. Things at home, favorite books, etc – 1st day
9. Comedy stage play - End of 3rd day
_________________________________________________________


From this exercise we can better appreciate Helen Keller’s philosophy of life.

Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn whatever state I am, therein to be content.”

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen and even touched. They must be felt within the heart.” ~

Sunday, December 17, 2017

The Mystery Child

The Mystery Child
Dr Abe V Rotor

In a workshop for adult leaders, the instructor asked the participants to draw on the blackboard a beautiful house, ones dream house ideal to live in and raise a family.

It was of course, an exercise, which in the minds of the participants was as easy as copying a model from experience and memory. Besides it is a universal dream to own such a house, and its concept allows free interplay of both reason and imagination. The participants formed a queue to allow everyone to contribute his own idea on the blackboard.

The first in the queue drew the posts of the house, on which the succeeding members made the roof and floor. The rest proceeded in making the walls and windows.

In the second round the participants added garage, porch, veranda, staircase, gate, fence, swimming pool, TV antennae, and other amenities.

Finally the drawing was completed and the participants returned to their seats. What make a dream house, an ideal house? A lively “sharing session” followed and everyone was happy with the outcome, and none could be happier than the teacher who learned this exercise in an international forum.

Just then a child was passing by and peeped through the open door. He saw the drawing of the house on the blackboard. He entered the classroom and stood for a long time looking at the drawing. The teacher approached him, the participants turned to see the unexpected visitor.

The child pointed at the drawing and exclaimed, “But there are no neighbors!”
In the same village there was a similar workshop exercise, but this time the participants were to draw a community. The participants made a queue on the blackboard and after an hour of working together, came up with a beautiful drawing of a community.

In the drawing there are houses and at the center are a church, a school, village hall, and plaza. A network of roads and bridges shows the sections of the village. People are busy doing their chores, especially in the market area. Indeed it is a typical village.

The participants discussed, “What constitute a community.” It was a lively discussion and everyone was so delighted with their “masterpiece” that the teacher even wrote at the corner of the blackboard “Save.”

Just then a child was passing by. When he saw the drawing on the backboard through the open door, he entered the classroom. He went close to the drawing and looked at it for a long time. The teacher and participants fell silent looking at their very young guest.

The child exclaimed, “But there are no trees, no birds; there are no mountains, no fields, no river!”

Some days had passed since the two workshops. Virtually no one ever bothered to find out who the child was or where he lived.

Then the whole village began to search for the child, but they never found him – not in the village, not in the neighboring village, not in the capital, and not in any known place.

Who was the child? Everyone who saw him never forgot his kindly beautiful and innocent face, and they pondered on his words which became the two greatest lessons in ecology.

But there are no neighbors!
But there are no trees, no birds; there are no mountains, no fields, no river! ~

Saturday, December 16, 2017

Remembering World War I Christmas Day Truce 1914

The Christmas Truce 1914: During WWI soldiers from opposing sides laid down their guns and celebrated Christmas together for brief moment. It is the last example of the outdated notion of chivalry between enemies in warfare. It was never repeated.

Dr Abe V Rotor 
Living with Nature School on Blog 
Acknowledgement: Photos and Synopsis from Internet   

Truce - how elusive, how evasive,
     rarest in the midst of strife,
when nobody wins, nobody loses,
     mankind in mock and gripe.

yet honor the whole world gains; 
     her greatest hour remembered
but not for long, and soon forgotten,
     peace once more endangered.

Truce in the verge of defeat is pity;
     demeaning where the drone -
not man - is pitted in the battlefield;
     how can truce be drawn?

Chivalry and truce long lost brothers,
     orphans in war torn Syria;
long estranged in Russia and America,
     so with divided Korea.

Wonder the two infamous world wars;
     conflicts that tested mankind;
had truce healed them at the onset,
     would the world in a closer bind? 

                                                                           - AV Rotor


 

On December 7, 1914, Pope Benedict XV suggested a temporary hiatus of the war for the celebration of Christmas. The warring countries refused to create any official cease-fire, but on Christmas the soldiers in the trenches declared their own unofficial truce.
 
Starting on Christmas Eve, many German and British troops sang Christmas carols to each other across the lines, and at certain points the Allied soldiers even heard brass bands joining the Germans in their joyous singing.

At the first light of dawn on Christmas Day, some German soldiers emerged from their trenches and approached the Allied lines across no-man’s-land, calling out “Merry Christmas” in their enemies’ native tongues.

At first, the Allied soldiers feared it was a trick, but seeing the Germans unarmed they climbed out of their trenches and shook hands with the enemy soldiers. 
 
The men exchanged presents of cigarettes and plum puddings and sang carols and songs. There was even a documented case of soldiers from opposing sides playing a good-natured game of soccer.

Some soldiers used this short-lived ceasefire for a more somber task: the retrieval of the bodies of fellow combatants who had fallen within the no-man’s land between the lines.

The so-called Christmas Truce of 1914 came only five months after the outbreak of war in Europe and was one of the last examples of the outdated notion of chivalry between enemies in warfare. It was never repeated—future attempts at holiday ceasefires were quashed by officers’ threats of disciplinary action—but it served as heartening proof, however brief, that beneath the brutal clash of weapons, the soldiers’ essential humanity endured.

During World War I, the soldiers on the Western Front did not expect to celebrate on the battlefield, but even a world war could not destroy the Christmas spirit.

  The men exchanged presents of cigarettes and plum puddings and sang carols and songs. (They offered toast for peace and unity on both sides.  A makeshift miniature Christmas Tree became not only a symbol of such an occasion but for the world and humanity.  It is the most important Christmas Tree ever for the whole world to remember thus singular great event - the World War 1 Christmas Day Truce of 1914. 

  
 During World War I, on and around Christmas Day 1914, the sounds of rifles firing and shells exploding faded in a number of places along the Western Front in favor of holiday celebrations in the trenches and gestures of goodwill between enemies. Books, cinemas, stage plays, have been written to immortalize the event and to keep alive the spirit of the truce.
 
There was a documented case of soldiers from opposing sides playing a good-natured game of soccer.  Soccer balls are laid among the wreath and other offerings at the foot of the marker.

  
Christmas Truce 1914 Memorial - a triumph of the human spirit for love and peace for all mankind.

Friday, December 8, 2017

Don’t Fall into the Modus Operandi of Opportunists and Rogues


Don’t Fall into the Modus Operandi  of Opportunists and Rogues
A friendly reminder for the Holiday Season 
Dr Abe V Rotor 

Beware. Don’t fall victim to impostors, opportunists and rogues. These are ten tips to protect yourself and other people.

1. Have presence of mind always.
2. Don’t be too confident and trusting.
3. Avoid unlikely places and hour of the day.
4. It is good to be with somebody or group you know.
5. Distance yourself from suspecting characters.
6. Dress simply and leave your valuables at home.
7. Screen and limit access of personal information about you.
8. Be prepared for contingencies. Be security-conscious always.
9. Keep emergency phone numbers and addresses ready at fingertips.
10. Attend seminars and workshops on safety and security.

I am writing this article from fresh memory of an incident in which I am a victim. I must admit I violated Rules 1, 2, 3 and 7 in the above list.

First I was too trusting and confident in welcoming a “new found relative” – one Mario B. Rotor, incoming president of “The Leagues of Young Educators of Regions I and II.” (See hand written note of the impostor.) Through phone call, my wife endorsed this person to see me at UST where I was holding classes. (He had introduced himself on the phone, first to my daughter, then to my wife, picking up information in the process.)

Second, with this added information beefing up his readings and researches about me, he was ready to meet me finally – “his successful ‘uncle’ whom he had been longing to meet personally.” When I met him he practically knew me from head to foot, giving me a genuine impression about him as a new found nephew. I remember Mark Twain’s “Tom Sawyer” and “Huckleberry Finn”. Quite similar to the story of the swindlers in these novels, he started greeting me “uncle”, with music in his voice and familiarity in ambiance.

The third rule I broke is that I was totally unsuspecting. And this is when opportunists strike. He came on a Saturday, just after noon time, met me at the entrance of the graduate school, greeted the security guard and everyone else, with profuse courtesy. I led him to my classroom where I was going to give final examination. He waited until I finished giving the instruction and questionnaire. I entertained him at the corridor.

“Thank you for accepting our invitation to be our inducting officer and guest of honor,” he said, handing me the invitation, which has yet to be printed. “I’ll come back to give you the final copy, with your permission to print your name.” He told me how happy our relatives in the province are about me, that he is thankful to auntie (my wife) for arranging for this meeting.

“Why it’s an honor!” I answered. Who would not like to meet friends from both the Ilocos and Cagayan Valley where I was assigned for many years when I was regional director of then National Grains Authority. “I am sorry for the short notice,” he said. It will be at the National Defense College Auditorium, Camp Aguinaldo, at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, which means the following day.

Now here is the climax of the modus operandi. I offered him even only the cost of my food in the affair. He refused. “You are my guest,” he insisted. “Just donate a trophy,” he said. “Or the cost of it,” which I gave. He told me he had to rush to Manila Bulletin. “I’ll see you there, uncle,” he said and left.

There was no induction ceremony, and the phone number he left is the operator’s at Camp Aguinaldo. I came to know it only after he had left. When I reached home my wife and daughter exclaimed, “We thought he is the son of Vicente, your cousin. His name is Mario B. Rotor, a teacher.”

Except for his extreme feminine nature – bodily and by his voice – he could pass for a polished conversationalist, quick in wit and in scribbling notes. He spoke Ilocano perfectly with proper intonation. We talked in pure Ilocano throughout. He is around 5’ 4”, slim, kayumanggi, stoops a little, shoulders are rather high, and has rather sharp eyes, bony checks and prominent jaw, nose and ears (typical features of Rotors and Valdezes, so I thought). I was looking at my uncle Manuel and Ismael in their younger days, except that he could be mistaken for a woman by his voice, even on the phone. (He called up UST twice, I received the second.)

I am relating this story to warn potential victims of this impostor. What if the victim is not in his home ground? Or a neophyte in the city? His original plan according to my wife was to invite me outside. He suggested a fast food store near Dapitan, or anywhere outside UST.

Reading the Person through Handwriting Analysis

As I went over the notes this impostor wrote, I wondered if handwriting analysis or graphology can really tell the true character of a person, and thus tell us whether to avoid or welcome him, more so to be properly warned. I know that graphology is among the tools used in the recruitment process administered by certain companies in the US and Europe, but is it sufficient to give us a keyhole view of hidden motives, other general personality characteristics?

It is interesting to note the following features I observed on the impostor’s handwriting which are as follows: (See reproduction)

1. His writing lies perfectly in between lines, the words rarely touching the lower or upper bars. (Sign of independence, cleverness, non-conformist)

2. Heavy writing. You can feel the back of the paper like Braille (serious, intense, violent tendency, risk taker).

3. Loops of letters f, g, p, y vary. A large loop is a sign of openness; while tight and sharp pointed loops show the opposite character. Lack of “tail” after each word means an inward, silent character, but the sharp and deep downward strokes (f, p, t, l, I) show emotional intensity.

4. Ambivalence is also shown by the inconsistent writing pattern, and inconsistent type and size of letters. There are letters, which cannot be immediately deciphered, or are missing. (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde syndrome)

5. The dot of letter i, lies too far towards the right. No dot is exactly above the letter i. The letter t lacks the usual cross line at the top; instead it is cut at the middle either by a short dash or line that connects the nearby letter. Note wide spaces between words, large margins, and empty lines. (procrastination, loafer, tamad)

6. Writing has a feminist touch, which explain his personality.

I have always been fascinated by graphology since college days and through books in the library and bookstores I have learned a number of basic signs associated with talents, tendencies, etc. I must admit that as a field in psychology, graphology faces many views and controversies (like Freudian and Jungian approaches in psychology), but with computers today, this new science can be developed into a potent tool in personality analysis. I remember our teachers in elementary and high school who used to remind us in class that handwriting is the mirror of ourselves.

A Plea for Help as Modus Operandi

I lived at Don Antonio Height 2 at our family residence way back in the seventies when the area was still sparsely populated. One late evening I was awakened by a pleading sound, and when I looked from the veranda I saw a man apparently bleeding from wounds, leaning under a street lamp across our house. He was groaning and repeatedly pleading, “Dalhin ninyo ako sa ospital,” (Take me to the hospital.)

Our neighbor was also alerted. As we had coded security communication, we cautiously observed the “victim”. We sensed something wrong. Apparently he was only acting. When he saw that we were armed and did not open our gates, he started walking away. There at the nearest curb he joined his companions, a jeepload of tough guys, apparently hold uppers.

After the incident the whole neighborhood arrived at a theory that the “wounded” person acted as a decoy. In the process of being helped, his companions rush in, and declare a hold up. This “pasok bahay” modus operandi is not new and has been modified into other varieties, such as “akyat bahay”. In this case the gang takes advantage of houses when the residents are on vacation.

This mutual defense strategy proved to be an effective deterrent of a would-be crime. You can modify this according to your situation. One is by having coded night light or alarm. The rule is that, “Do not lift the drawbridge or open the fort gate,” so to speak, if you are living in a pioneer territory.

Be Sure Your Car Doors are Locked

My cousin had a co-teacher at Ramon Magsaysay High School Manila who fought a hold upper. She showed me both her hands bearing the scars of multiple wounds from knife. “My husband was also hurt,” she said. “Thanks God we are still alive.”

This is her story. Every morning the husband drives Remy, my cousin’s co-teacher, to Ramon Magsaysay before proceeding to his office. He would pick her up in the afternoon. For years this became a routine.

One morning while waiting for the green light at an intersection along Quezon Avenue, an unsuspecting man passing as a pedestrian suddenly opened the car’s rear door and occupied the backseat. With a fan knife he declared a holdup. Resisting the threat, the husband fought. The wife tried to help the husband. The struggle attracted passersby and pedestrians. The hold upper escaped, leaving the wounded couple that was immediately brought to the hospital.

Lesson: Be sure to lock all doors of your car. Roll up the windows to a level no one from outside can unlock and open the doors. When parking, leave the car immediately after locking the doors. Be sure to put on the wheel or engine lock. Don’t linger around, more so stay inside and sleep while the aircon is on. You are an easy target of hold uppers.

When opening your garage when going out specially in the early morning, and upon arriving in the evening, look around first for any suspicious people around. My friend, director Ruel Montenegro, lost his GSR Lancer this way. His driver did not resist the hold upper who simply took the car from the garage. It was never found.

What rules did the couple violate? First, they were not security-conscious. And second, they lacked the presence of mind at that time. This is often the case when we are preoccupied with routine activities. Again, as in my case they were too trusting and confident no one would harm them. In this civilized world we are still living in a jungle – a jungle made by man himself. ~

A LOVELY PAIR IN A BOWER

A LOVELY PAIR IN A BOWER
Dr Abe V Rotor

Painting in acrylic (11.5" X 16")

Let the world go by in their bower,
lovers blind to the busy world,
away from the maddening crowd;
fleeting moment is forever,
to this pair in their lair.


Wonder in our midst who we are,
blind to each other, but the world,
strange this crowd we are in;
where's this lovely pair,
where's their bower?