Kobe Bryant: The 'Fro, The Scowl and His Greatness

"Mama, there goes that man"

-Mark Jackson, Commentator and former NBA Player

With its pair of beady eyes focused squarely on its prey, the Black Mamba lies in wait. 


It slowly raises a portion of its body off the ground, and then strikes with the precision of a Swiss timepiece. And when its fangs have dug deegp into the skin of its hapless victim, he follows it up with several more strikes, doing so with blinding speed. 


A few minutes later and their prey would be paralyzed, with life slowly but steadily departing from them.  

Kobe Bryant is indeed well-named, for, like a Black Mamba, he has slithered past phalanxes of defenders on his way to the basket with relative ease. And that doesn't only mean in the hard court. Because despite the slew of issues and controversies which he had faced, he has not let any of them affect his game, instead using these otherwise negative things as an impetus to raise his game to an even greater plane.

Polarizing

Upon hearing the name Kobe Bryant, "polarizing" is the word that is most commonly attached to the Lakers shooting guard. Most have recognized him as one of the greatest players to ever grace a basketball court, while others have difficulty gravitating towards the man they call "The Black Mamba."

Bryant is definitely no Magic Johnson. He doesn't have the smile that Magic has, that smile that would rake in millions had it been turned into a toothpaste advertisement. What he has instead is that stoic gameface which is perpetually glued to his face, especially during the playoffs. And when he scowls and grits his teeth while in that Laker uniform, you know he means business.

And then there are the endless comparisons with Michael Jordan and him being the G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time). Jordan had six rings and he only has five. His Airness even managed to pick up a Defensive Player of the Year Award on his way to six titles.

Finally, there are his infamous feuds with Coach Phil Jackson and former teammate Shaquille O' Neal. The trio had nested at the NBA's mountaintop for three straight years and would have stayed even longer, but ultimately the harmony of their relationships snapped under the tremendous weight of their success, and O' Neal was shipped to the Miami Heat and Jackson forced into a short-lived retirement.

It was here, when he finally became the cornerstone of the Purple-and-Gold franchise, that the naysayers started babbling among themselves: He can't win without Shaq. It was also at this point in his career that his personal life, his marriage, was rocked with controversy.

People love to hate Bryant because of these things and more. But the thing you can't take away from is that he'll always find a way to win.

Long Journey

It took him six years to do so--a journey beginning from the 2004 Finals loss against the Detroit Pistons and the subsequent dissolution of the Shaq-Kobe Lakers, and culminating at the end of the 2009 Finals, when he finally hoisted the Larry O' Brien Trophy once more.

Fans found it hard rooting for the Lakers during the years after Shaq's departure, and why not? Kwame Brown was in a Laker uniform, Chris Mihm was the man in the middle and (gasp!) Smush Parker manned the point for the team, but Bryant, basically being a one-man crew, was still able to propel the Lakers to the playoffs for a number of years.

And even when Pau Gasol came on board for the Lakers, a few roadblocks still lay ahead for Kobe and his path to greatness. The number of years which he had played took a toll on his body, but again, he would merely shrug them off.

Not even a sprained left ankle, a bad wrist, a bruised knee, a sore back, and a nagging injury to his right pinkie finger could prevent him from competing. He has battled all those injuries for fourteen grueling seasons, and he has five rings and a plethora of other accolades to show for it.

Hardworking Mantra

There are a lot of things to admire in Kobe Bryant, and unlike some of his younger fans who were only drawn to him when he was already posting numbers which forer player Steve Kerr could only call "Jordan-esque", I already noticed him as a high-flying guard who sported that afro and played behind the likes of Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel.

He wasn't banging in 30 a night back then, instead coming off the bench to provide quality minutes in an attempt to earn a spot in his coach's rotation. Kobe then slowly emerged as an outstanding player, finally earning a nod to the starting line-up when Phil Jackson patrolled the sidelines for the Lakers.

This is something that Bryant has the distinction of being able to do: when he started, he did not receive the same hype as that man who took his talents to South Beach. He averaged a measly seven points a night during his rookie season.

But what he did was he continually polished his game to perfection, putting long nights of practice en route to becoming the cold-blooded, pressure-absorbent man we now know as "The Mamba" Practice makes perfect, as that cliche'd adage goes, and there is no better testament to that than Bryant and his hardworking mantra that had led elevated his game and brought him success.

The Great Closer

Along the way to five titles, Kobe also earned the name for being "The Great Closer," as he has constantly proven himself to be a dependent player during the game's most crucial stretches. Again, being a great closer does not entail the responsibility of not missing in those situations, becaus Bryant has. He has muffed game-winners and had even lost in the NBA's grandest stage, The Finals, twice.

But in my opinion, the fact that he relishes those pressure-packed moments and is unmindful of the prospect of failure is what makes him a great player. Even when he's missed his last five or six shots, when the time came down to a handful of seconds and his team is down by a basket, you wold definitely find the leather in his battle-scarred hands.

And the courage to step up to the plate and take that shot, ignoring the crowd and the probability of missing the shot, all the while relishing the pressure, is sets Kobe apart from other players. Some good players develop stage fright during those moments, and that is why they shall only be pegged as good players, while Kobe shall bask in the pantheon of players who are "great".

In my pursuit of a career in the media, i hardly believe that i would encounter the same physically-imposing players that Bryant toys with on a regular basis. But the hardwork that Bryant has put in the perfection of his game transcends the basketball court and applies even in our lives. The lengths that he has gone in pursuit of his goals, and the fact that he uses the negativity, the criticism, as fuel to elevate his game, are traits of his that everyone could learn from.

The Mamba, like all animals, also has predators who want to take him down. The likes of Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, and LeBron James have already staked their claim in The Mamba's Pit and an ushering of the new guard is imminent. 


But the Mamba is ready for them. He slithers in silence on the ground, past the vines and tree branches, waiting for the right moment to strike. 

Images taken from:
http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/columns/story?id=6349178
http://youbeenblinded.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/kobe-face.jpg
http://lakers.topbuzz.com/gallery/d/17682-1/Paul+Gasol+and+Kobe+Bryant+congratulate+one+another+after+a+play.jpg
http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/slides/photos/000/211/956/Kobe-Bryant1_display_image.jpg?1272391809
http://redeemthedream.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/kobe-gamewinner-miami.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27137867@N06/2535072631/
http://www.midwestsportsfans.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/michael-jordan-kobe-bryant.jpg
http://sportswithlt.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/kobe_bryant11.jpg

Final Mission: A Major Trend in Contemporary International Relations

Help is at Hand

By Immanuel Canicosa

War! that mad game the world so loves to play.  ~Jonathan Swift

There are times when a nation might need financial as well as military aid from another nation. Nations who are still experiencing or are reeling from the effects of armed conflicts or have been devastated by natural disasters will, in most cases, find themselves dependent on the help of more powerful nations and organizations in order to rebuild their states.

Nations such as the United States, Great Britain, and France have been known to intervene in failed states which are engulfed in armed conflicts.

The intervention of British troops in the civil war which was raging in the African nation of Sierra Leone at the turn of the millennium is an example of such aid which was desperately needed by the nation in order to fend off the marauding forces of the RUF, which was shown to us in class courtesy of the documentary feature about Blood Diamonds. Without the intervention of the British troops, even neighboring African nations who have rushed to help the ailing nations of Sierra Leone have not been entirely successful in repulsing the RUF.

The liberation of Kuwait in the Persian Gulf War of the early 1990s also required a coalition of many nations which was backed by the United Nations (UN) and, of course, the United States and its allies. Again, without the aid of these nations, the liberation of the nation of Kuwait from the forces of then-Iraqi dictated Saddam Hussein would not have been possible.

A more contemporary example of this trend in the context outside of warfare is the recent magnitude nine earthquake and succeeding tsunami which rocked the North Eastern provinces of the nation of Japan. Help has indeed been bestowed on the nation which, ironically, is likewise a first world country and has accustomed itself to be helpers and not recipients of financial and material aid.

Or course, help from more powerful nations would be greatly appreciated especially in the case of nations who do not have the financial means in order to be able to stand up in the aftermath of armed conflicts or natural disasters. Many nations are immediately drawn to the promise of help provided by these aforementioned powerful nations, and while this is sometimes done out of their sheer want to help a fellow nation, it is not always the case.

It could be remembered that during the height of the Cold War, the United States issued the Truman Doctrine, which promised to give what they termed “free peoples” economic as well as military aid only if they promise not to side with the Soviet Union, which was then a communist nation and thus an opponent of their democratic ideals.

Financial as well as military aid is not generally detrimental to the nations who will receive them. It is, in fact, beneficial. However, there should be no ulterior motives on the part of the nations who will be giving help and that this help should be done only in the spirit of their want to help fellow nations in need.   

Mission Five: Globalization

OBJECTIVE ONE: LEARN

"The things you own, end up owning you/"

Tyler Durden, Fight Club

One of the recent trends in Hollywood that was made famous some years ago, was regarding the clothes that celebrities wore to certain events, like the premiere of their movies and to prestigious awarding ceremonies, such as the Golden Globes and the Oscars. 

The timeless question of "What are you wearing?" suddenly metamorphosed into "Who are you wearing?", and celebrities would then state names of various big name fashion designers such as Dolce and Gabbana, Versace, Oscar Dela Renta, among others. Why can't they just say that they wore clothes to these events?

And the sad thing is, Hollywood had long been deemed as the trendsetter, and these trends are being followed in our very own shores- shores that are supposedly protected by a huge body of water that is the Pacific Ocean. Apparently, however, no one is protected from the clutches of globalization.

Of course there is a good side to globalization. I remember taking up the lesson of the "Global Village" by Marshall McLuhan and it has indeed brought the world closer together. The advent of the Internet has enabled the fast dissemination of information and, especially for those people who have relatives in other nations, communication was made easy.

Even products which we deemed as something that was solely American have been brought to our country already, and it is only one of the effects of globalization. I cannot say that I am entirely free from these American products, because I am not.

No matter how much I watch the movie Fight Club and admired how Brad Pitt's character, Tyler Durden, has successfully fended off the advances of commercialism in his own life, I find myself watching the same sitcoms, buying the same clothes, listening to the same kind of music.

The reason for this is that the ideals of commercialism, and the influence of living this kind of lifestyle has seeped very deeply into everyone's mind so that it is nearly impossible to veer away from it. Everyone wants to be globalized, and since this is where everyone is going, it will be hard to go in the opposite direction, like a salmon contradicting the current of a body of water flowing downstream and instead going upstream.

We, in a sense, have becomes slaves to this kind of thinking, of acquiring anything new that Steve Job's wily mind has come up with, or of anything new that our favorite clothing brand has, or what new episodes out favorite Television Series has. We have been globalized fully, and we have been dependent on it.

So if I were an American who was intent on spreading the ideals of globalization in countries such as the Philippines, then I can flash a smile of satisfaction and pat myself of the back, because the mission was accomplished.

How can their mission not be accomplished? As I type this, I myself am munching on a KFC Twister, and this just shows how successful these guys are.

OBJECTIVE TWO: ACT

How Filipino is Philippine Basketball?

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the global representation of the well-loved sport of Basketball here in the Philippines. This is the stage where Michael Jordan drained those pressure packed jump shots and where Magic Johnson and Larry Bird elevated passing to an even higher plane. This is where future Hall of Famers like Lebron James and Kobe Bryant now tread, and the league has captured the attention of the entire world, including the Philippines.

In the 1970’s people saw the need for the Philippines to have its own league where its own players can showcase their own talents in basketball much like the NBA, and thus came the conception of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). This league, for a while, showcased the homegrown talents of the Philippines in Basketball, and paved the way for names like Robert Jaworski and Alvin Patrimonio to emerge and be loved by the masses.

After a while, however, people clamored to see more of the American brand of basketball. They wanted to see six-footers jumping fifteen feet in the air to dunk that basketball. They want to see behind-the-back passes and rim-rattling dunks- things that not all homegrown talents can give them. And what was the solution for that? Imports. Former NBA players or those who are seldom-used were invited to play as imports here in the Philippines, and we bore witness to the dunks, the thirty-two points a game that American basketball is known for.

But at what cost? Now, instead of scouring the nation, including the remote provinces, for genuine basketball talents, scouts now look for these talents abroad. Instead of a native Filipino being able to play in the league to alleviate his family’s poverty, we get someone who is not even Filipino and yet is showing his wares in the so-called “Philippine” Basketball Association.

Now I know that not everyone shares my sentiments and that many people also think that bringing in imports would be nice because it elevates the level of our own basketball to a higher plane, but I am looking at it at a different perspective and I respect your opinion.

On one hand, we see that our brand of basketball has been elevated to par with the rest of the world’s, but on the other hand, our brand of basketball is not even really ours anymore—it has become a pastiche of ours and of other cultures.

Note: I derived this analogy from your Formula 1 example. Since about sports po yun, I thought that my example could also be about sports. :D

OBJECTIVE THREE: IMAGINE

“Narrator: When deep space exploration ramps up, it'll be the corporations that name everything, the IBM Stellar Sphere, the Microsoft Galaxy, Planet Starbucks. “–Fight Club

It’ll be hard not to admit that globalization has not affected us, because our very lives are rooted on its effects—from the coffee that we drink before we go to work to the sources of the news that we see on the television before we go to sleep—all of these have been affected by the phenomenon of globalization, which has been both lauded and criticized.

The internet can be deemed as primarily responsible for this globalization, and the spread of Western culture can be credited as one of the things that it has achieved. A myriad of my own assignments had been aided by the internet, and I cringe whenever I hear my parents having to type their own theses with the aid of only a typewriter (and no internet).

If I had to live my own life again without the internet’s presence being there, as well as the other influences of globalization, then I might be able to survive, although the life that I may lead would be far from what I am living now.

But if at this point in my life, when all the provisions are suddenly snatched away from me and from everyone else, life would really be hard. Like what the documentary had told us, the people who sell these products also sell ideas, and the ideas have already been imprinted on my mind as well as everyone else’s.  

And the idea here is that we cannot live without these things and provisions, and that is why we need them. Just like Starbucks is selling an idea about having a community, a place where we can hang out, and McDonalds is a place for families, the internet, whether it is deliberate and unconscious, sells the idea that there are so many things that can be done with it, that it would be impossible to live without it, which is what we feel during the Lent Season or when we go out of town.   

So I can say that I may be able to live without globalization and its effects such as the internet if they were not yet conceived during my lifetime and if I never get to see them entirely. But, at this point in my life, as well as our, lives their ideas which they sold have taken its toll on us and it would be hard to remove these ideas, so it would also be difficult without these provisions who presence we now relish. 

:)

Mission Four: Human Rights

Mission Four: Human Rights

Objective 1: LEARN

States were initially built to protect their citizens, but as proven in recent history, the state not always succeeds in this objective. Rather, it sometimes protects a selected few in terms of maintaining their power as well as finances.

As a result of their lust for money and power, some heads of states forget their initial duty of protecting the welfare of their citizens who, in the first place, were the ones responsible for bringing them to power. The more vigilant of their citizens will then take action in order to restore order or a new head of state who will protect their rights and will have utmost concern for their welfare, a servant of the public and not of himself.

There is a recent spate for revolution against states because some of these states are failed states, such as Bosnia and Herzigovina. The governments of some of these states are weak and unable to wield absolute power to keep opposing forces and parties at bay as well as provide for the basic necessities of their citizens.

The example of the Romanov family in Czarist Russia was a failing state that was unable to feed the starving masses and, to make matters worse, was unable to win battles in the Eastern Front during the First World War. This massive starvation and losses of their men against the Germans and their allies, coupled with the rising popularity of Vladimir Lenin and the ideals of Communism, led to the overthrow of their family and the conception of the USSR.

Sometimes, a handful of powerful people will seize the power for themselves because they see the present rulers as unfit to rule over their nations. The military usually plays a large role in the overthrow of a state by a handful of powerful people. Generals who have led military juntas as well as coup d’ etats have been known to assume power once they have overthrown the previous government.

Idi Amin, who was beautifully depicted by actor Forest Whitaker in the movie The Last King of Scotland, as well as Cuba’s Fidel Castro and China’s Mao Ze Dong, are just some of the known military leaders who have taken the reins of power for themselves, although most of the time their iron-fisted backgrounds in the military gets the better of them once they have assumed the role as heads of states.

Also, there are some cases, in which there is an entire group of people which are being maltreated by the presiding government, and it is this group of people who will embark on a revolution to overthrow the government.

There are various reasons, but there is a common ground for these people or groups of people who sought to overthrow their governments: they see something that needs to be changed, and they want change to be drastically achieved, whatever means necessary. 

Objective 3: IMAGINE

Note: This unnamed and imaginary person is a photographer who was in Egypt when the Revolution happened. This is what is running in his head about his job and about the nation.

Is He A Pharaoh?                                                                                                                                                               By Immanuel Canicosa

He had taken thousands of photographs from his trusty camera (which isn’t much, really, but, given that he was at the right place at the right time, meant much) in the past couple of weeks, and he can conclude that this stretch of the Revolution had to be the most boring part in terms of generating interesting images which news agencies would buy from him.

The Tahrir Square, which is only a couple of days removed from being inundated with protestors who were successfully able to force the resignation of former President Hosni Mubarak, is relatively quiet now. They had celebrated his resignation like it was a holiday.

There were fireworks which blazed across the dreary night sky. There were huge flags being waved and passed around and anthemic chants being shouted, phrases which he didn’t understand, phrases which would have borne ill of Mubarak and his supporters.

From an observer’s standpoint, you would think that Egypt had won the World Cup.

Total strangers were jumping and clutching hands, and shoes were being raised up in the air. I guess athlete’s foot doesn’t matter much once democracy has been achieved, he mused. That was the situation a few days ago. And now?

No more camel or horse-riding protestors who braved the firepower of the other side, the side which eventually won. No more dead bodies slumped on the sidewalk like they were commodities on the marketplace which had expired and were not fit for consumption anymore.

Not that he liked these things altogether. Because he, as well as other journalists, have also borne the brunt of the protests as much as these Egyptians who braved the streets. For some phantom reason, stones were being thrown at them. They were being harassed. For telling the truth? He did not know.

There was this good picture he had taken, of children stomping on a portrait of the tyrannical leader, destroying his features, features which they have grown to hate. He had ruled for thirty years. Who does he think he is, a pharaoh?

He had very few good shots, and he knew not much money could be made from them, in the same way that he knew that it would still be a long way for this nation to achieve what they had thousands of years ago, when they lorded it over other civilizations.

But at least he isn’t being harassed anymore, that was the upside. The country is relatively quiet but now entirely quiet. Uprisings are still rife, some them still say. People still complain. But then again, they always do.

It would be a long way for this country, he thought, as he walked away from Tahrir Square, which is devoid of any potential photographs which he could sell to news agencies, but at least, at least they’re making the necessary steps.  

:)

Mission Three: Non Government Organizations

Objective1: LEARN

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) was one of the first groups that I joined in when I first became a Facebook user. Before the inundation of the games and less significant pages on this website, it was these groups which flooded my News Feed, almost daily updating me and millions of other members of the group about their activities from halfway across the globe.   

Until this day, I am not so sure what kind of force impelled me to click that button and join that group. Maybe it was because of the cute lumbering panda as its logo. Maybe it was because it sounded very similar to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), an old wrestling league which reminded me of my own childhood. But until now, my News Feed is still being constantly updated by the WWF, and I would like to keep it that way.

The protection of domestic animals is not exactly a cause which I firmly believe in, although my family also had kept pets in the past, such as hamsters and cats. The reason for this is that these domesticated animals will most likely still be glimpsed by the generations to come, although I likewise disapprove for the deprivation of the basic needs of these animals once they are kept as pets. I, however, firmly believe in the protection of animals which are endangered and might not be glimpsed by future generations.

We have heard of animals with queer-sounding names which have vanished and were not seen by our generations and even past generations. Animals such as the flightless bird Dodo, the aptly named Woolly Mammoth and, of course, the dinosaurs (although it might have actually been a blessing for us human that we mercifully did not live at the same time as these reptiles) are just some examples of now-extinct animals whose features and characteristics, we can only at best speculate on, now that they are extinct.

And in our day and age, various other animals are looking to join the ranks of these long-gone animals. Various of other animals with names familiar to us might never be seen by the future generations. Names like rhinoceros and tigers and whales are poised to be extinct in the coming years, and merely speculating on the appearance of tigers and rhinoceroses is something that I do not want my children to be doing.

They deserve to be able to see these animals in their natural habitat, and these animals deserve to be part of their lessons in Biology and about the Animal Kingdom. This is probably the reason why I joined the WWF on Facebook and visit their page on the social-networking site from time to time.

And, like I said, I intend to keep it that way. There Earth Hour is coming, and I believe turning off the lights on our home wouldn’t hurt a bit.

Bonus: I do believe that international relations are better with the presence of NGO’s because states are sometimes too concerned with their own affairs that they tend to forget about certain specific issues, issues which these NGO’s might be concentrating on. Sometimes states are unable to immediately the needs of other states and thus are unable to immediately help other states. NGO’s, meanwhile, who may specialize in these needs of states and are fully aware of them, can enlighten other nations, a good example of which would be the actions of the NGO Global Witness who published a report on the Blood Diamonds in Angola, Sierra Leone, and neighboring nations, prompting the United Nations (UN) to send aid and diamond company De Beers to make the appropriate actions to be part of the solution.

Objective 2: ACT

Pollution is something that we see almost on a daily basis. The word almost actually makes that statement a euphemism, because we actually do see it every day, especially outside of the University which brims with various vehicles belching smoke, most of which are driven by our own fellow students or the drivers of our own fellow students. 

Laws are being implemented in an attempt curb our increasingly polluted air, such as the Clean Air Act, but, as always, the phrase “walang ngipin ang batas” has again proven to be prophetic even on this law. There are other forms of pollution, but the pollution of the air in the cities which is slowly working its way towards the more industrialized provinces sticks out like a sore thumb, and needs to be readily addressed.

One of my classmates, Mr. Raymund Nejal, as well as myself, agreed that the issue which we would like to addressed in our little ways will be the issue of pollution. Even though I live in Cavite as I have mentioned in one of my previous blog posts, the province has not been able to escape the grasp of pollution, either in the air or in its bodies of water. Raymund, on the other hand, lives in yet another city, which is Quezon City, and he himself has also borne witness to the various forms of pollution.

Simple things such walking and not using the car or commuting whenever I travel only a small distance (such as walking out of our village to buy food) can already help curbing air pollution. Also, the fact that both me and Raymund are non-smokers also fuels our bid against pollution, as smoking also contributes to air pollution. Riding the bicycle would likewise be a good alternative for walking, but I was deprived of having the experience of riding the bicycle when I was a child, so I promised to learn how to ride the bicycle this summer.

Yes, they maybe and are little things, but, as the saying goes, every little bit helps, and me and Raymund are more than willing to chip in our little bit to slowly alleviate the pollution in our air.

Objective 3: IMAGINE

Lou's Watch

By Imman Canicosa 

 Lou checked the clock. He’s isn’t used to looking at the time from a rusted wall clock which hardly did the word clock any justice. The second hand seemed to stop from time to time. Was it even telling the right time? How long have I been here? He wanted to ask these questions, but all that was coming out was a well-deep sigh.

He had a watch before. It was beautiful, truth be told, more beautiful than any jewelry his wife had ever had. Chrome-plated. Encrusted with diamonds.  He never had to look at the wall to know the time. It was, literally and figuratively, well within his grasp.

He still sees the watch from time to time, a constant reminder of the recent past. Every time he has a visitor he sees it. It sags, like the skin of an old person, on the reed-thin wrists of the warden guarding his padded cell. He was given his daily dose of cuss words earlier by that warden. And if it wasn’t a barrage of ‘f’ words or the all-familiar ‘bs’ (that doesn’t speak of educational attainment), it’ll be insults that cut to the core of his being, or what’s left of it.

“You better get used here, old man. You’ll never fool the people again,” was today’s vitamin of insult.

It was “You’re gonna rot here, you and your lies” the other day.

What’s it gonna be today, he mused. He didn’t want to know.

He rubbed his temples with his fingers, and then ran them over his cheeks. He looks thinner, his wife said. And unless he’s a teenager who wants to be a supermodel, that’s not exactly a compliment.

“No,” he said to no one in particular.

Even his cabinet members do not visit him anymore. And with good reason, for they are likewise locked in their respective cells. Maximum security cells. With sadists, rapists, and con men as his neighbors.

“It’s all their fault,” Lou said to the rusted clock and the sleeping warden.

“The people believed their published reports. The people believed those liars. Those organizations which nitpick every person who takes the presidency, everyone believed them.”

And now, they’re taking over.

“How long have I been here?” he said to his turned off television set.

Days? Months? Years? It seems like forever down here. Twenty-two years as the president is not equivalent to life imprisonment. It’s not fair. They don’t equate to each other.

Something was stirring. Lou looked from his cell. It was the warden, walking with the keys. With his watch. The diamonds from its hands shimmered from a distance.

“You have a visitor, Mr. President.” He said sarcastically and opened the cell of Lou.

Lou didn’t believe him. Lou didn’t believe him at all. He rubbed the bars before going out. This will be his home amd he better get used to it. 

Mission Two: Armed Aggression

Mission Two: Armed Aggresssion

Act One: Learn

There are a myriad of motivations for waging war, be it for survival, to regain liberty, or to stake a claim for supremacy, but the effects of war are almost always the same, although, as I will be discussing later, there are various trends in war which are common  throughout time , while others, conversely,  have changed drastically over time.

It has already been mentioned in class that there exists and persists a culture of death whenever there is armed conflict. This is an obvious similarity that is shared by most wars, but even in this similarity, a huge difference can likewise be seen. The difference between the culture of death that exists between wars is that is has increased exponentially as evidenced by the last few major conflicts, such as the two world wars.

There are many differences, on the other hand, between wars of past and the most recent armed conflicts. The more recent conflicts are ended much more quickly than the conflicts before. Wars are fought with many battles until a decisive battle is won by one side or until the opposing side reels from the lack of resources to continue their war against the opposing side.

These wars may be much more destructive in terms of their scale and the amount of property damage, but these wars drag on for only a handful of years, which is definitely fewer than conflict centuries back, especially during the time of the Middle Ages.

The most common example of a war which had dragged on for many years, although there are certain periods of stalemate, would be the Hundred Years War, which was waged between the long-time rival nations of France and England. The war, despite being touted merely as a ‘hundred’ year war, lasted a total of one hundred sixteen years, although, as I have mentioned before, battles during these wars are fought intermittently.

In stark contrast to the Hundred Years War, some of the more recent conflicts lasted for only a handful of years, such as the Great War or the First World War, which lasted four years, a far cry from the hundred sixteen count of that aforementioned conflict. Some wars, like the Arab-Israeli War of 1978, last for mere days, thus proving that the more recent wars are fought much more decisively.

This is not to say that wars today are fought with much less bloodshed, because, as mentioned before, the culture of death is ever-present in wars and, with the technological advancements in weaponry serving as an accomplice, the casualties in recent wars have been much more costly.

Another difference would be that in the ancient wars, the battles are fought merely between armies who meet on a certain location and then wage war on each other. These types of battle are much more common during the Middle Ages and the centuries which followed after that, but somehow this method of waging war was lost as the newer centuries and faces of warfare were ushered. At the turn of the century, civilians became much more involved in wars, unlike before wherein wars were fought between armies.

The involvement of innocent civilians in war could not be more highlighted by the Second World War, during which citizens from occupied countries are sent into prison camps, such as the Jews, the Russians, the Poles, and other nations which were invaded by Nazi Germany. Civilian death accounted for a large percentage of the casualties of the Second World War, which would prove prophetic for the wars that are to come.

Act Two: Act

Even though I live in Manila on weekdays, I actually live in Bacoor, Cavite and though we only recently moved to Cavite, most of my relatives from the mother’s side of the family have lived there all their lives. Needless to say, while Cavite is still relatively industrialized compared to other provinces and where I have personally witnessed the province turn from a backwater place teeming with farm animals to a province which hardly does the word province any justice anymore.

But even though Cavite is the site of a modern war between modernity and tradition, of the old and the new, it still cannot be denied that Cavite is still a province, although its proximity to Metro Manila is undoubtedly much nearer relative to other provinces which could probably explain the progress to cityhood by most of its municipalities.

I mentioned that I have spent most of my childhood here in Cavite, including my elementary years. And like all provinces, Cavite is a place which also abounds with stories, and one of the stories which I recall hearing back when I was in the sixth grade was when a teacher of mine, Sir Marlon Silva (who teaches math), recalled his experiences in living in Mindanao before relocating to Cavite.

Some of the details of his story have already worn away on my mind, but most of it I still remember. While he taught us about elementary geometry and equations, he related these things to his life story and, although he has mercifully evaded the military offensive of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in his area, he mentions that he has witnessed a few of the skirmishes between the forces of the government and the insurgents such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and he mentioned hearing gunshots within a few feet of him.

I actually have forgotten about his war stories, but, thankfully, my sister, who is studying in the same school that I went in elementary (it is named Christian Values School, a school situated along Aguinaldo Highway and can be walked from the nearby SM Bacoor) and is now on her fourth year in high school reminded me about his life story.

I asked my sister to ask him permission to use his story for this class, and he readily said yes. I, however, failed to make contact with him, although my sister also refreshed my memory and mentioned Sir Silva and his relocation to Cavite. He mentions that whenever a haciendero or haciendera had a big land, they were immediately surveyed by the insurgents and if they refused to give them a portion of their earnings, they were shot or killed.  

He has personally heard of some notable people in their province who have been killed for refusing to give money to the insurgents, and, fortunately, before the scale of the war in Mindanao became even bigger, they were able to relocate in Cavite and thus be able to impart his knowledge in Mathematics to students, including me and my sister.

Act Three: Imagine

“War is young men dying and old men talking”

-Odyssesus, Troy

I remember having read a book before in which there was a passage which states that war is necessary for men, because it could be deemed that war is a necessary call to manhood, a phase which all men must undergo in order to complete his ‘being a man,’ or simply put, a rite of passage which sorts the boys from the men and serves as a fuel to the machismo image of males.

While I grew up playing violent computer games, I grew older and developed a more profound grasp of the concept of war, I gradually understood that these statements should not be believed. War is something that is only made visually-appealing in Hollywood by directors such as Stanley Kubrick, Quentin Tarantino, and also in video games, but war, in clock-ticking reality is something that is not good to have, as evidenced by the testimony of my former teacher in the Second Act of this mission.

Even the United States, who has glorified the concept of warfare with Hollywood serving as a doting accomplice, has a policy of first using diplomatic means before resorting to war. Sitting down and talking things over maybe first a good means of resolving conflicts before actually resorting to the violence and destruction of war.

Sometimes full-scale wars are the direct result of a single person or group of persons’ greed and lust for power. Adolf Hitler promising the German nation with oil for their war machine and food for their population had willingly dragged his country into the death and destruction of the Second World War.  

The names of persons who have willfully strapped their countries onto their backs and plunged them into chaos are endless, and if these persons were not allowed to take power, or at least stopped once it was visible that they were leading their nation to destruction, then the casualties of the wars which were started by these persons would at least be lessened.

Or perhaps, if wars could not be avoided, at least leave the civilians out of it, which is what was being done before. Armies would march out of their camps and then slug it out on a middle ground, leaving the civilians out of the way. During the more recent conflicts, however, wars have been synonymous to innocent nations being carpet-bombed and civilians being taken hostage and executed, which should not be the case.

Some of these methods may not necessarily stop the deaths of people, but at least it would lessen the amount of deaths. It would make sure that towns would still be left standing, that people who had not choice but to be dragged into the conflict at least had homes they could go back to, and families that they could be reunited with once, eventually, the smoke of the battles clear.

:)

Mission One: The Global South

Mission 1: The Global South

By Immanuel Canicosa

Act One: Learn

In the well-loved sport of basketball or even any other team sport, there are those teams in the professional as well as the amateur leagues which are always dark horses coming into each season, teams which are the so-called “cellar dwellers” or “bottom-feeders”.

This means that these teams have been perennially at the bottom of the standings and are only bestowed with victories every once in a while. They are mincemeat to the powerhouse teams, who, in stark contrast, are perennially contenders for the championship.

It could be said that the gap between the Global North and the Global South can be compared to the power struggle between the teams in a league. The First World countries are always atop the standings, while the Third World countries, which comprise most of the 192 states recognized by the United Nations are the “bottom-feeders” and the “cellar-dwellers” in the context of their financial and economical standing.

Sports analysts, however, have a euphemism dubbed for these so-called “cellar-dwellers” which also reminded me of the Third World countries. Sports pundits call these weaker team “developing teams,” and the one optimism they constantly hurl in the direction of these “bottom-feeders” is that “they could chalk up all their losses as an experience which they can use to get stronger next year.”

While this may be true for the world of sports, in the world of international relations, nothing could be chalked up to experience. The countries in power cannot be easily removed from power. Victory for the Third World countries seems as far as ever.

And one of the reasons, naturally, is that the First World countries would not want to help them in their plight.

I looked into some of the issues in the link provided, and what struck me the most was one of the articles posted in the Third World Debt link. It contains all the causes as well as the implications of having huge debts, and the various ways in which these debts have been alleviated. It is sad to note, however, that the articles detail that most of these efforts have failed.

The G8 is an informal group of some of the most powerful countries in the world (The United States, Russia, Germany, Italy, Japan, The United Kingdom, and France), and every year they deliberate on various issues, including the Third World countries. They, however, have done little to alleviate the woes of the Third World countries despite their capability to do something.

Some of the articles have also cited the causes of the pervasive debts incurred by the Third World countries, and one of the reasons still traces its roots back to the time of colonialism, which saw the First World countries conquer the Third World countries. Some of the debts being borne presently by the governments of these Third World countries are merely transfers of the debts of the colonizing states and not their own.

 In effect, the rich are actually being subsidized by the poor.

So in my opinion, a possible solution for this would be for the First World countries to make efforts to alleviate the debts of the Third World countries. Unlike in team sports wherein the teams vie for supremacy, in the real world countries should be helping one another.

The G8 should start acting and stop merely discussing their plans on how to help the Third World countries. They should be the ones who should be initiating the help for the Third World countries. Unlike in team sports, it is only they and the other First World countries that can put an end to the spell of the Third World countries as the “bottom-feeders” and “cellar-dwellers.”

Act Two: Act

Mention the word Ondoy to any Filipino, and he or she will almost always have an experience to recount, a story to tell. Because the Typhoon Ondoy which wrecked havoc on our nation during September of 2009 was one of the worst typhoons to hit our nation in recent years.

Some information websites affirm that it dumped a staggering four month worth of rain into Metro Manila and other provinces in Luzon and Visayas in just a single night, and it was during the fateful night of September 26 that the nation bore the brunt of this vicious force of nature, which left more than two hundred people dead and millions of destroyed property in its wake.

However, one positive which can be drawn from this otherwise forgettable event was that it brought together Filipinos, and for the first time, there was no distinction on who is rich and who is poor, who got educated in an esteemed institution or who is illiterate.

This tragedy had inadvertently brought together our nation of more than ninety million people.

My family was just one of the millions who were afflicted by the typhoon, but after we got out of our heavily flooded village in Cavite and into one of our relatives’ house, we wanted to help other people who were in need. We donated clothes and food to our neighbors and those residing in neighboring villages and even personally delivered some of the much-needed food rations into their homes.

We have also heard stories of other people going out of their way and helping people who were strangers to them, people they have not hitherto even seen. This act of kindness which was seen throughout the country is an evidence of our nature to help our fellow Filipinos.

But do we need another Ondoy to once more bind us as a nation? Do we need two-hundred more bodies and millions more in property damages to wake up the slumbering kindness deep within our hearts?

What I am pointing at is that the initiative to help other people should be present in us so that we can help other people, especially marginalized people whom we see every day. We can start by helping in the community as well as some of the projects of the University (DLSU) which are aimed at helping these aforementioned marginalized people. This would be the best that we could do as students, especially since we Lasallians practice Christian values.

Act Three: Imagine

Title: Poor Man’s Grave

Note: This is a short story that is the consequence if the gap between the First World and the Third World is never alleviated ad a war breaks out. This is more of a negative story than a positive one.

The sun bore down on the scrawny frame of Diego, aged thirty-three, as well as thousands of other backs bent like dried twigs. Yes, Diego is thirty-three, but numbers these days are just bland digits that no one really notices. These days, nobody looks like his age anymore. Or at least in this part of the country.

Diego and thousands of other have braved the scorching morning sun because it is Tuesday, the day in which the government sends its supply trucks out from the walled-off city and into the slums in which Diego and thousands of others live. They hand out small bags of food and water supply, one for each family, to be saved for the rest of the week until they can give another set of supplies the next Tuesday.

They are mired in a myriad of problems, but yet another one reared its head in their direction: It is rumored that this ration of water and food is the last, and that the meters-high gates of their capital city living in relative affluence shall be forever closed on them, leaving them to their own fates, if ever they had one.

That is why Diego woke up extra early today: so that he might get that last ration of food and water for himself. Other families have children to worry about. Thank God my parents died in the war, Diego thought.

But it wasn’t only his parents who were claimed by the war. The last time he watched the news, which was four year ago, Diego heard that half of the world’s population had been slaughtered, all because the Russian president was attempted to be assassinated. He wasn’t even killed, and yet the world paid dearly for it.

Even the idyllic nation of Switzerland was forced to take sides and break its centuries of neutrality in armed conflicts. Now, their banks lay in ruins, and their once-renowned timepieces are merely memories.

Not to mention the end of chocolates.

The line wasn’t moving at all. Diego looked at the beginning of the line and saw that the soldiers have already begun to give the first set of rations to the first family. Soon it would be his bony fingers getting hold of those plastic bags filled with canned foods and a kilo of rice, and a small jug of water.

Is this really the last time I’m ever gonna be able to eat, he wondered. It was a question, sure, but it was question for which he knew the answer. And the bad thing is, he couldn’t bring himself to say the answer.

He tried straying from the truth, thinking of another bland optimism being preached by some of his more optimistic neighbors. One of them mentioned another flourishing settlement in the mountains, but the mountains have all been razed, so that piece of optimism had already been shot down.

Diego walked over gingerly as a green-clad soldier handed over the red plastic bag containing his last meal and last drink. He would go back to his house (which hardly did the word ‘house’ any justice) and heartily eat the food, drink the water, and wait for his inevitable death.

:)