More On Jesus Christ

VonJobi and DJB mentioned their familiarity with the image of a Laughing Christ. Made a little search and found this, though I couldn't attribute its origin:


But I do have the following images that I have kept for quite a bit:

This he-man looking Christ reminds us of the movies we have seen. Do the names Jeffrey Hunter and Robert Powell come to mind? Or even Max Von Sydow? Do you remember when the movies about Christ started showing his face? Before then, his face was never seen on screen. Reminds one about the present egregious violence world-wide connected with the Danish cartoons.

But guess what?

Sometime ago, scientists using all possible technologies then came up with a mosaic of Christ, as he would have looked based on factual findings about that bygone era.

And this is what they came up with:

Not a very pretty sight.

I don't recall any perceptible protests or street marching and burning from fellow Christians.

And as my puny contribution to the raging cartoon controversy, I will borrow words from Mr. Daniel Pipes, who knows a thing or two about Muslim affairs and history, since they echo my own personal sentiments:

The key issue at stake in the battle over the 12 Danish cartoons of the Muslim prophet Muhammad is this: Will the West stand up for its customs and mores, including freedom of speech, or will Muslims impose their way of life on the West? Ultimately, there is no compromise: Westerners will either retain their civilization, including the right to insult and blaspheme, or not.

More specifically, will Westerners accede to a double standard by which Muslims are free to insult Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism, while Muhammad, Islam, and Muslims enjoy immunity from insults? Muslims routinely publish cartoons far more offensive than the Danish ones. Are they entitled to dish it out while being insulated from similar indignities.

The deeper issue here, however, is not Muslim hypocrisy but Islamic supremacism. The Danish editor who published the cartoons, Flemming Rose, explained that if Muslims insist "that I, as a non-Muslim, should submit to their taboos...they're asking for my submission."

Peoples who would stay free must stand unreservedly with Denmark.

You Be The Judge

Here’s the reply of Mrs. Gail Ilagan of MindaViews:

http://www.mindanews.com/2006/01/31vws-ilagan.html

to a blog posted here.

If delays are noticed, please remember blogging for me is still very much a passionate avocation that I engage in when I have the time away from the concerns of continuing to attend to my family’s future. And blogging itself continues to be a learning process, essentially a self-learning process.

And importantly also, I have learned to try to always take a long and hard look before I put out there anything that may not be edifying. For once released, it is quite difficult to undo or repair. Still, I find myself failing this test at times.

Anyway, these are the points of explanation and clarification I would like to bring up relative to the reply above. And I bring these out only because they reflect on my personal character, admittedly flawed as it already is. And not because they relate to issues that were initially brought out by me.

1. Mrs. Ilagan berates me for taking 10 weeks to reply to her two columns. I have me to blame for that since on the latter half of 2005 I was away for one of my regular trips to my old hometown, this time for a total of 5 months, and have only gotten back here in my adopted place in the middle of January. Thus, though I was quite physically near Mrs. Ilagan when she wrote her columns, I was in the dark having only very limited internet access and having used whatever available time I had in internet cafes to attend to personal business.

And pointing to my many short trips to the old homeland, I take exception then to Mrs. Ilagan’s insinuation that I am part of the “uninvolved” quite unconcerned about domestic problems. The reason for the last longer stay was because we now operate a little vegetable farm in a barrio in Bukidnon which employs at least a dozen farmers and other workers. Aside from a couple of private projects in the city where we have invested outside capitalization, with the earnest hope that the added financing generates more employment for the local economy. And I issue an open invitation to Mrs. Ilagan to look us up when she gets the chance to be in our part of Mindanao.

2. Regarding the issue of blogs and blogging, I would advise Mrs. Ilagan, though she adamantly resists the urge, to learn more and immerse herself in the blogosphere. For this is now the new medium, manned by unkempt writers in their pajamas, that has exponentially prospered in its task of leveling the playing field between the MSM and the rest of us. She should really take the effort to understand that the blogosphere is now where ordinary people can air their gripes and grievances against MSM operatives, and not really be restricted by the traditional practices and conventions such as of writing letters to the editors to seek audience and redress.

3. I apologize to Mrs. Ilagan for her misconstruing the implied connection made by me between the manner she writes about her opinions in MindaViews and the way she teaches her students in class. I never for a second doubted that Mrs. Ilagan teaches her students with the strict standards and demeanor that exemplify teaching in a Jesuit University. That was not the point I wanted to make. The question was: do her students also read her opinion columns and what do they think about how she expresses her opinions? Do they think it fair for her to prejudge and condemn others so gratuitously? Etc. For after all in the real world, it is really difficult to claim that we can compartmentalize our different personas and hope that people will not connect one with the other(s).

4. BTW, aside from also making available my initial blog to a close email group that I belong to, I also copy-furnished by email all my children. So far not a single comment from them. Maybe when we are able to get together, I can elicit some comments. But all this will go the same route.

5. Mrs. Ilagan also takes me to task by implicating me as part of the deserter teachers. But truly, it looks to me it was the other way around. Teaching deserted me. I found out early on that teaching did not really take too kindly on me, for I lacked the intellectual aptitude and of course, proper academic degrees, to even qualify as a good instructor. Add to that the realization that I was also missing the more important intangibles such as patience, perseverance, and maybe even passion that were so exemplary in the teachers that I admired.

6. In her reply, Mrs. Ilagan uses the phrase “bully’s pulpit” twice, in an apparent reference to my follow-up in the initial blog in which I used the word, “bully pulpit”. I sure hope she distinguishes the big difference between the two because again I apologize if misunderstood. I only meant this:

bully pulpit ,n.
An advantageous position, as for making one's views known or rallying support.

and not to refer to a bully using or owning a pulpit.

7. And lastly, I find it quite unfortunate that Mrs. Ilagan never addressed any of the issues that I exposed and which were the primary and maybe only, reasons for the personal judgments made by me in the initial blog.

But maybe also I should never have expected answers to the issues I raised.

In any way, you be the judge. And let it be known, I mean and harbor no ill-will toward anybody, in case any such malice appears to any reader of this writing.

And finally, this will be my last blog on this same issue. I shall lay it to rest, as any dead horse ought to be.

A little UPDATE for a finale
Some excerpts from a column aptly titled:

The work of a columnist

Feb 05, 2006
By Randy David
Inquirer

In the spirit of public debate, of which there is so little in our society, I will respond to his rejoinder.

He thinks that in criticizing Abueva and Davide, I have made "judgment calls that clearly lack academic detachment." So far as I know, "detachment" is a posture that has been questioned even in academe. If "academic detachment" were my goal, I would not write an opinion column. I would write dull monographs for specialists, in a language stripped of social judgment. Surely, Doronila does not believe that academic treatises, written in the dry dispassionate style of scholars, are the only justifiable statements that can be made about the world we live in. I have precisely kept one foot in media while continuing to teach at the university because I refuse to be trapped in academic debates that have little to do with the social reality of ordinary people.

Of course, this does not mean that a columnist is free to make irresponsible statements. I do believe that, harsh as it may seem, I am justified in my assertion that Dr. Abueva has lent himself as a "prop to a moribund presidency.

How Do You See Christ?

How Do You See Christ?
Click to Enlarge avnerijr.

As a youngster many years ago, somebody now quite unnamed and anonymous gave me this pocket-sized picture of Jesus Christ, with the question:

How do you see Christ? Are his eyes opened to you or are they closed as if in dismay and shame?

Now, many years later, I ask myself:

What say you?

Some Personal Views On the 2000 US Presidential Elections

I have been in the US for over 26 years, so I feel I may be able to insert some ideas into this discussion, which started in MlQ3’s blog and continued here.

I essentially agree with the analogy of the dominance of elites in both countries. And I would add to the list of enumerated qualifications (wellborn, wealth and intellectual) another one, that of incumbency. Studies and polls show that incumbents are very difficult to depose in the US legislative branch of government. Once ensconced, they pretty much stay for life, unless other family members are so inclined to succeed them.

And the further observation that elections of members of the elites may be more symbolic than what real democratic participation ought to be, may also have legitimacy here in the States studying the conduct of past elections. Percentage of actual voters during presidential elections gravitates around 50+% of registered voters, not counting eligible voters who are in sizeable numbers and may just be apathetic to the process. Non-presidential elections, meaning statewide, county-wide and city-wide elections, are worse. Getting it to the 40s is considered satisfactory. In my many years in the most populous state of California, there had been instances where they fell below 40%.

Definitely then, elected officials do not truly represent the real majority of Americans.

Is this acceptable? Or is this typical throughout the rest of the democratic first-world countries of the world?

But I beg to differ on the following.

Two of the four justices giving dissenting opinions in the GorevsBush 2000 case were appointed by Republican presidents. And one of them you cited, Justice Stevens who was appointed by Pres. G. Ford, a Republican. And the other two by a Democrat president. Thus, it would be difficult to support the statement that the SC decision followed strictly along partisan lines. And by that I mean partisan political lines. I believe it would be more honest to say that the justices predictably vote along certain ideological lines, their positions on certain ideologies being known to the general public. One of the benchmark issues which would support this contention would be the hot-button issue of abortion (ROEvsWADE). The delicate but sometimes deceiving component in all this is the fact that certain issues are so identified with either party that decisions favoring one could readily unleash the partisan charge from the other side. To illustrate, legalized abortion is an issue near and dear to the Democratic Party, or the liberals. Thus, any SC judgment favoring reproductive rights could be construed as partisan, but in reality could stem simply from the ideological beliefs of certain judges, whether formed before or after their appointment.

It is ironic to note that even religion may not be a factor in partisan politics. The most vocal members of the US Senate for abortion are Catholic Democrats, though there are also on the Republican side of the aisle, Protestants who favor abortion. Now, with regard to the Supreme Court, the newest member who is still waiting in the wings to be confirmed, is also a Catholic and will make him the fifth Catholic member of a bench numbering only 9 justices. And Catholics represent only 20% of the entire population.

Yet, we have not heard a squeak from the pro-abortion groups including their Democratic leaders in the Senate regarding this obvious slant in the composition of the bench, given how adamantly anti-abortion the Catholic religion is.

In fine, I would find it difficult to accept a statement that purports to portray a Supreme Court that rules along strictly partisan political lines. And their for-life appointment releases them from any pressures that may impact on their freedom to judge based on their convictions.

And it is not completely true to say that “when Americans go to the polls during the presidential elections, they vote for electors not the presidential candidates”, because Americans do vote for the presidential candidates, and their electors, along partisan lines and on a statewide-basis. As implied below, electors from the victorious party will vote for the state-wide winning presidential candidate. But as also noted below, on very, very rare instances one or more of these partisan operatives will vote for the losing candidate, splitting the total electoral votes of that one particular state.

http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/about.html

Electors - In most States, the political parties nominate slates of electors at State conventions or central committee meetings. Then the citizens of each State appoint the electors by popular vote in the state-wide general election. However, State laws on the appointment of electors may vary.

Is my vote for President and Vice President meaningful in the Electoral College system?

Yes, within your State your vote has a great deal of significance. Under the Electoral College system, we do not elect the President and Vice President through a direct nation-wide vote. The Presidential election is decided by the combined results of 51 State elections (in this context, the term "State" includes DC). It is possible that an elector could ignore the results of the popular vote, but that occurs very rarely. Your vote helps decide which candidate receives your State's electoral votes.

And lastly, charges coming from Jesse Jackson, Jr. and Greg Palast were advanced to dispute and cast doubts on the election results of 2000.

But first, we have to know where these individuals are coming from, because that ought to be pivotal in judging credibility and validity particularly of statements that are of a very political nature. Mr. Jackson, son of Rev. J. Jackson, Sr., belongs to the opposing party and Mr. Palast is very undeniably partisan, and is described as a progressive or liberal. Aside from his challenges in the 2000 elections, he has also questioned the results of the 2004 Elections in Ohio, and had proclaimed Kerry as the winner of the entire race. Now, honestly if he had what might be considered an earnest diligent man’s good chances of proving his charges, then I would suggest that Gore and Kerry would have been the last persons to concede their defeats. But we know those are not the cases. So I will suggest further that we concede the benefit of the doubt to the proclaimed winner. And let the dissenting issues rest.

And because in the meantime, independent and non-partisan sources favor the incumbent.

A Short Collated Primer On Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement

The two terms stand for two distinct and different behavior.

Plagiarism: Definitions and Facts

Plagiarism is using someone else's work without giving proper credit - a failure to cite adequately.

If you use someone's exact words without putting them in quotes and giving credit, you've committed plagiarism. If you've paraphrased someone's work and haven't given credit, you've committed plagiarism. If you've included a photo or illustration in your report but didn't give credit, you've committed plagiarism.

Schools enforce plagiarism by giving the cheaters academic consequences.

Plagiarism is typically not illegal. In fact, plagiarism is typically not recognized in law. But the State of California, for example, has incorporated and defined in its legal codes a kind of plagiarism (of term papers) as illegal behavior and thus punishable by law. Other states have also acted similarly.

However, plagiarism wears different masks as:
• Copyright infringement
• Unfair or illegal competition
• Outright fraud
Being found guilty of any of these offenses could result in significant financial penalties or expensive out-of-court settlements to the offending party.

And it is also unethical. It can get you in trouble at school (for breaking the rules about Academic Honesty). It can get you in trouble at work (by giving you a bad reputation or getting you fired).

Copyright Infringement: Definitions and Facts
First, a definition of copyright:

Copyright is a type of law that exists to protect intellectual property. Copyright -- the "right to copy" -- is an exclusive right. It excludes everyone except the person who owns the intellectual property.

Next, a definition of intellectual property:

Intellectual Property: something you created with your mind that has commercial value, including written, artistic, and musical works.

Copyright infringement is using someone else's creative work, which can include a song, a video, a movie clip, a piece of visual art, a photograph, and other creative works, without authorization or compensation, if compensation is appropriate.
The courts enforce copyright infringement. The courts assign consequences for copyright infringement. This means someone may come after you with a lawyer if you violate his copyright. Your school can report copyright infringement to people who have the legal power to take you to court. Students have been sued for copyright infringement before. In some cases, the court may require you to pay the fees for both your lawyer and the copyright owner's lawyer.

A more comprehensive definition follows:

Copyright infringement is using someone else's work without getting that person's permission. The author of any original work, including books, essays, Web pages, songs, pictures, and videos, automatically gets the copyright to that work, even if she doesn't label it with the copyright symbol and her name. The work must be fixed in tangible form, which means it must be stored on something physical, such as paper, canvas, a CD, or a hard disk. This makes college students copyright owners, since they've already written many original works for school.

The owner of a copyright gets to decide who can legally make copies of that work. It is illegal to copy large sections of someone else's copyrighted work without permission, even if you give the original author credit.

Relationships Between The Two

Often, plagiarism and copyright violations go hand in hand. But it's possible to break copyright without plagiarizing. And it's possible to commit plagiarism with out breaking copyright.

Plagiarism doesn't have to include copyright infringement. For example, William Shakespeare's plays are not copyrighted because they're too old. Even though it would technically be legal to copy from one of those plays for an English assignment, it would still be plagiarism if you didn't give credit to Shakespeare.

You can plagiarize the ideas in a work without violating its copyright (which only protects the specific expression of those ideas), and you can also plagiarize the content of out-of-copyright works whose authors died 70+ years ago and they're then considered in the public domain.

Example of violating copyright without committing plagiarism: If you use a copyrighted illustration in a book, and did not receive permission to do so, you've committed copyright infringement even if you give credit for the picture. Giving credit keeps it from being plagiarism, but that won't keep you from getting fined in this case.

Additional Concepts

Fair Use Exemption

Allows you to legally copy small amounts of someone else's work. Just make sure to give the author credit so you won't be guilty of plagiarism!

Derivative Work

Taking a copyrighted work and changing it creates something called a derivative work. Since you made changes to create the derivative work, you share the copyright for it with the copyright owner of the original work. Since you don't own the entire copyright for the derivative work, you must still ask for permission before making copies of it. Because of this, taking someone else's work and changing some of the words only creates a derivative work and does not give you full ownership of the copyright.

How Plagiarism is Treated Around the World

While plagiarism knows no geographic boundaries, some parts of the world (Indo-China in particular) have until very recently tolerated and even condoned plagiarism in its various forms (copyright violation, fraud). Recent court cases in India, for example, suggest a much lower tolerance for plagiarism than in the past. Areas of southeast Asia remain a problem spot, particularly when considering the lucrative “business” of pirating DVDs and CDs is actually a form of plagiarism (copyright violation). In the U.S.plagiarism is considered at a minimum to be ethical misconduct, and for many businesses can be cause for immediate dismissal. Legal cases arising out of plagiarism are often pursued aggressively through the courts by injured parties.

Tools To Combat Plagiarism and Copyrights


1.

If you're jumpy and want to make extra sure you haven't copied, then plug some phrases from your essay into PlagiarismChecker.com. Hopefully, you'll never have to say that what seems like plagiarism was just an accident.

2.

there is another device on the internet called the Way Back Machine and it takes you back in time – virtually. Found at www.archive.org, the Way Back Machine allows you to type in the URL to your website (or obviously any website) and it will show you a timeline and view of the different versions your website has gone through. It’s like a massive internet scrapbook.

3.

A free website is available called Copyscape www.copyscape.com. It works very similar to (and is programmatically tied with) Google. Simply go to a page on your website, copy the URL and paste it into the search prompt at Copyscape. Copyscape will then search the web looking for plagiarizers of your content for that page

4.

Another way is to copy a block of text from a page on your website, go to Google.com and paste the text into the search prompt, making sure to put quotes at the front and end of the text (an exact word search). If you copied a section of text that’s not too common, Google will find any other sites who have stolen your text.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND REFERENCES

Statements in this blog entry are all quotes and are collated verbatim from the following sources:

References

1.

Plagiarism and Copyright - What Are the Differences? (The Council Chronicle, Nov. 05). 16 Jan 2006 . The definitions were modified to make them more consistent with copyright law's use of the terms "tangible form" and "idea".

2.

Stanford Policies: Copyrighted Material and File-Sharing Networks - Stanford University Office of Judicial Affairs. 16 Jan 2006 http://www.stanford.edu/dept/vpsa/judicialaffairs/guiding/other.copyfile.htm

Websites:

http://www.plagiarismchecker.com/plagiarism-vs-copyright.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Plagiarism
http://www.waunakee.k12.wi.us/midlschl/msb/copyright.htm
http://www.ieeepcs.org/newsletter/archive/oct2005/pcsnews_oct2005_plagiarism.php
http://www.i2integration.com/Default.aspx? tabid=997

Added Disclaimer:

While full attribution has been made to all the statements quoted and collated verbatim above and thus, plagiarism is avoided, there is still the possibility that there may be copyright infringement since no due diligence was exercised to find out. Thus, this early if indeed some violation was made, I will appreciate being informed so the item(s) in question can be immediately removed.