What did the men from the moon say upon arrival back on earth? I’m sorry, I have not caught any write-ups or interviews with them as to what they found and experienced there. Alas, I only have one source of information now, and that is television, but when a brownout occurs, I have to crack my coconut to think of what subjects would interest and inform our readers. I cannot cite the DAILY STAR because everyone knows that any material that comes from it have to go through me, so I feel as if they would not be interesting anymore to others, as they might have heard them from “chismis” already.
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Which is funny, because readers very often call me to express surprise at what they read in Twinkling, that means they had not known of those things before. Ah, you have to be an editor or a columnist to know how important feedback from readers can be to us. But the Good Lord has been very kind to the STAR. He has saved us and rescued us from many problems that we had feared would not allow us to reach, first, our first anniversary, then our tenth, later our 20th, 30th, and Voila! Last April 12, we marked our 39th birthday already!
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And all this we accomplished because of the strong support from our community, especially our business sector, who have always supported us with their announcements and advertisements. They know that the STAR runs on its own sweat and blood, we have no godfathers or big shots as back up even if, truth to tell, a lot have shown interest in doing so, but we could not compromise our independence. But we continue to be thankful to our readers, subscribers – even from abroad – who keep our spirits up whenever we go through hard times. They make the sacrifices and worries worthwhile!
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But how can we be “campante” when the world outside, the one peopled by great and wealthy nations seem to be on the verge of conflict lately? What will happen to us pygmies when the giants start fighting? Already we are feeling the pinch of higher oil prices. In what other ways will we be affected when the shootings and the bombings begin? Ah, that is a morbid thought, but if you watch the news closely these days, you could become as paranoic as I am lately!
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But the good news that we have been getting in recent days is that while the vaccination program of our local governments are either going on, or getting ready to start, there have been no reports of the alleged blood clotting reported from other countries. Maybe the Good Lord is protecting us, knowing how we trust in Him for our safety. As of now, I understand, the vaccines that have come our way are still intended for frontline workers who are more exposed to the virus. Our role, therefore, is to keep safe, avoid gatherings, and going out, and praying for our protection.
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Why am I getting paranoid about possible global conflicts? How can one help it when news like countries expelling representatives of others continue to come out? The Czech Republic has expelled Russian employees in their country on suspicion that they are spies. Russia has expelled U.S. diplomats from their country after President Biden sanctioned some of them. And lately, China is also being seen as pushing its weight around, as if it is not aware that their country is being suspected of being the source of the deadly coronavirus that has been nicknamed COVID, as confirmed by experts from the World Health Organization.
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And, as if we are not facing a lot of problems already in this century, here comes a warning for all people to conserve water, because time may come when we will run out of the potable one that we all need. Yes, there are the oceans and the rivers, but haven’t you heard of the complaint of “Water, water, everywhere, but not a drop to drink”? The day may come when earthlings will be wailing that again. Experts have been quoted as warning that we will run out of potable water before we run out of oil. But can we drink oil? And has anybody discovered a way to transform oil into potable water? The slogan suggested now is to “Use less, Save more”.
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Ah, but we must think first of how to deal with this COVID that does not seem to be controllable, so far. The latest to be reported are the cases in India, where 200,000 cases were diagnosed several days in a row. In New Delhi, 24,000 cases were discovered in 24 hours, with 4,400 dead within that time. This was on TV Sunday, I think, but I had no opportunity to follow up on the statistics yesterday. Their Prime Minister has reportedly called for “symbolic rituals”, but I admit I do not know what that exactly means. Are they referring to people like our “siruhanos”, and witch doctors? In their hinterlands, maybe?*
