THE WORLD CUP IS ON!!

From today (9th of June) until next month, the only thing that we will live and breathe will be football and only football. Much people would say, that “it’s lame”, “It’s the only thing on TV”, “the world cup one is for unemployed people”, etc., but I say what a delight… it’s going to be a month that the main news are not about murders, wars and violence (although unfortunately they still happened).

The truth is that I’m not very fond of football and I only watch the games when Colombia is playing (although they generally lose), but I enjoy the idea that this type of events are good to forget all type rivalries and it only remains in the sport ones, which generally are healthier, although not always.

Anyway… this time, thus Colombia is not playing in the world cup, I’m happy that people it’s going to speak only about that, sees the games on TV, and football is the only thing that is going to be breathed in all corners of the world.

Although you don’t believe me, the opening almost make me cry, it was something extremely stirring and demonstrates that, by a month, we are able to live peacefully and to respect our opponents. !!!That’s very good and I hope that this event will be lived with happiness and respect!

Now, the only thing that I hope is that this edition does not became just a routine: that always have to win teams like Brazil or Argentina… anyway, it is necessary to give the opportunity to others so that they would known for the first time the honeys of an important triumph as this one.

Ohhhhh!!, and since Colombia is not in it, I say :!!!!ENGLAND CHAMPION!

THE CONTROVERSY FOR THE LEGALIZATION OF THE ABORTION STILL ON

Ok…finally. The legalization of the abortion always has been an algid and difficult subject to treat, but it is necessary, in my opinion, because it deals with the free physical development as much as mental of a woman.

As I wrote in a passed article, I do not want that anyone misunderstands me; I am absolutely against the abortion. Nevertheless, I’m glad that the Court House has legalized it, because the mother will be able to have more guarantees to save her life by a decision that does not have to be far from easy.

Ever since the sentence came out, already more than a week ago, I have been thinking about many things, among them, that it would be a difficult decision for me, mainly in the cases in which it is allowed: By raped, it is complicated, because the baby is not guilty of this atrocity and if she has the possibilities of taking care of him, why not do it; by fetus malformations …well I have to think it there… because it is complicated to bring to the world to a creature with some deficiency, physical or mental, when the health system of our country is getting worse every day, and if the mother’s life o is in danger… well…

The fact is that now, the mothers who make this decision, that by the way they had all the right to do it, now will be able to make it in clinics and hospitals with all the hygiene specifications, with all the requirements and, by all means, with the previous approval of the doctor that would have it to practice it.

Although, I repeat… I AM AGAINST THIS PRACTICE, the fact to make it illegal was limiting the freedom of handling its own body for a woman. God has gave us free will and whatever our decisions, it is necessary to respect them.

I’m not agree with some priests who say that the doctors who make those interventions, as well as the women that practice it, will be expelled from church, because as the Bible says “does not judge or will be judged”, the first thing that they do is to judge all those women who do it for different reasons.

Nobody understands the body of a woman like herself, so all this seems unfair to me. I believe that Mónica Roa has made a good job, because she has returned to the women the right of being free and to do what they want with their body. Now, what they do is not everybody’s problem but them.

WHAT WOULD WE DO IF THE LETTERS DID NOT EXIST?

Have the idea of what the human being would do if the alphabet didn’t exist, cross your mind sometimes? Well I do, lately at least, thing that took to me to investigate the origin of our appraised alphabet. For example, that the word is derived from the first and second letters of the Greek alphabet: "Alpha" and "Beta" (it sounds logical), or that the first indications of communication between humans was thousands of years before Christ, using some kind of drawings that apparently showed a concrete idea.

Definitively the alphabet is very important in our daily life, because thanks to him (and to whom invented it), we can communicate through symbols and phonemes that show us a phrase, a sentence or a complete idea.

But can you imagine that the alphabet had not evolved? we still would have enough difficulties to communicate between us (as if we did not have them now), we could not express our thoughts with clarity (specially the women), and of course and most important, would not exist the diversity of languages, the identity of a town or a country... perhaps we all would be the same or think the same, because we would be limited to single language governed by drawings and signs.

During my investigation I realized that also exists diversity of typesetter identities... you can go to a computer and see the amount of classes of letters that there are: with serifs, without serifs, style Arial, Times New Roman... anyway... the technology and the language have evolved as much that now we have the possibility of communicating in hundreds of forms, colors and sizes but without changing the idea that means.

That this is not a fascinating investigation... but puts you to think... if the letters did not exist, I could not communicate to you what there’s in my mind whenever I write, or would not be love letters... maybe love drawings (???), the technology had not evolved like now and perhaps, we had remained in the stone age... I can’t imagine us in those skin suits or screaming to my boy friend with cartoons...

Thanks to the letters we can do many things... the only thing that we need is to learn to communicate between us, because it seems that in that matter still being virgin... I don’t know why the men and women say that we can’t understand each other if we have all the resources to do it... but that is another investigation that it requires of long time and perhaps never find the answer.

ANONYMOUS SOURCES... HOW RELIABLE ARE THEY?

At the University, one of the things that the professors say and repeat to us, to whom we studied journalism is the ethics, the professional secret and the freedom of press.

Often, the journalist can find news that affect the life and the situation of a public person and the sources are anonymous people who do not want that their names will be revealed because of fear of retaliation. Seeing this, the job of the journalist is not only "to release" the news, but to protect the identity of the source…but that happens when this is not that reliable?

Recently, the journalist Daniel Samper Pizano, published an article in the Credencial magazine in which he spoke about the journalists "where on earth we obtain the news", regarding to reveal facts that are told by witnesses who nobody knows... are they reliable?

In the article, Samper Pizano says something very certain, and it is that not only the source is the one that makes the news, this simply is limited to help to find the tracks, but the reporters are who have the job to find out the rest... sometimes with a lot of luck, as in the case of "Deep Throat", which only until now, thanks to the discretion of the journalists of the Washington Post, was revealed the identity of the most famous witness of the history who helped to open the scandal that made fall president Nixon in 1972.

The totally opposed case is the one of the Newsweek magazine, that, after having published that US soldiers that watch after a field of imprisonment in Guantánamo, supposedly profaned the Corán, sacred book of the Muslim religion, thanks to an anonymous source, they had apologies later, since nothing was never verified and the same source said that it was not sure about it.

Cases like these are seen every day, and is the journalist duty learning to discern if the information that the source is giving is worthy of trustworthiness or not. Often the reporter is manipulated by the source, falling in a "marriage" that is difficult to dissolve. The sources are an important piece in the development of the news, but is the reporter who has the capacity, and why not, the power to take it until the last consequences. If there is awareness of that, perhaps less mistakes will be committed and the press will return to have the credibility that was lost until now.

WHY THE LACK OF FAITH?

Whenever I watch one of those TV programs in which people call another person to guesses its luck or says that it is possible to communicate with the dear beings who are further on, I change the channel immediately. I don’t know about you, but I try not to believe in those things and the destiny I leave it to God.

It is not that I’m discrediting those people who are so called "fortune tellers", after all is a job like any other...... well, I don’t know if like any other, but a job is a job. Anyway... it is assumed that in most countries there is freedom of cults, and you can believe whatever you want as long as it does not damage the other person’s freedom... is just that it surprises me that there is so little faith in the divine thing, that we have begun to guide us by the human’s.

Of course... everyone is open to read even once per week the horoscope every day in newspapers (I do it sometimes), but there are people who believe it! And live based on which it says a piece of paper, a fortune cookie or a person who says to know the world future.

I want to be clear, I’m not judging anybody, because each one is owner its own life, is just that when I read this type of things or I watch that kind of programs on the television, I wonder myself if the people are too naive and simple minded to believe in that stuff...

In Colombia this phenomenon is beginning to show a long time ago and has taken enough place the fact of making telephone calls that cost a fortune to find out what it is going to happen in the future... the truth is that I don’t know if happens what this fortune teller said that would happen (understand?)... But every time this of recurring to worldly voices takes more and more force in our country and the world... I only want to ask to them... Why the lack of faith?

CONTROVERSY FOR USING THE WORD "TERRORISM" IN LONDON

And the attacks do not stop. Non contentment’s with which happened in London, England, the 7th of July, yesterday, a group of terrorists, wanted to repeat the tragedy of that day, but this time, luckily without hurt nor deaths.

As a result of this, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) said that according to its style handbook, the word "terrorist" is not well used since it considers that the expression is not objective, and they prefer to use words like bombers or bombings, talking about the people who place the pumps.

This has generated controversy in the colleagues means like The Daily Telegraph, and international means like the ABC of Spain, and the newspaper El País of Uruguay, assuring that "Rod Liddle, former director of the journalistic program Today, of the BBC, accused the broadcasting station of being political prisoner of correct measures".

Now, what does it means the word terrorism? According to the Dictionary of the Real Spanish Academy of Language, this term is defined as "the dominance by the terror" and the second meaning reads: “succession of acts of violence executed to instill terror”.

If this is true, would be necessary to ask ourselves: ¿What would the attackers of the 7th of July, the 11th of September and the 11th of March looked for with these attacks that caused the death of thousands of people? I would dare to say that to instill terror on people just to obtain the attention of governments that, according to the "Terrorists", attempt against their own country.

What I would not dare to say is what will be underneath that absurd controversy to use or not an expression that to me looks like, deserve the people who cause those tragedies in the name of their country, religion or government.

It is necessary to wake up to the reality which is that we lived in a world in that the terrorists exist as God exists, and not to accept the expression seems like to fill us of euphemisms that somehow will end up flattering the people who instill terror to obtain what they want. Not always the aim justifies means.

THE ART OF WRITE WHATEVER IS ON YOUR MIND

I know that this subject of weblogs is a little beaten. Everybody has heard speak about blogs by the Internet, the television, the press, etc, or simply because you has one.

Ever since this boom began, millions of people in the world have wanted to express their opinions bythe network with no need to resort to a newspaper, and that closes the doors not wanting to publish your thoughts.

Now it is much easier to speak of the present situation of the country or the world or what is happening in your life, just by to follow steps as simple as those that there are to follow to form a weblog. All this, almost became an art... the art of writting whatever is on your mind.

The problem is then, in THAT often it is complicated to maintained updated it... the problem is tha if it is complicated seatting to with in a peace of paper, it is the same or perhaps more difficult to seat in front of a computer. There it is what we called inspiration....this art is not only to write whatever is on your mind , it is to do it in a coherent way and with subjects that you could think that the reader would like.

Anyway, this of having a space to give your opinions is very positive, nevertheless, it is necessary to rely on which the people say about what they read... for that reason, if you want to write the first thing that goes through yur mind (like now), it is better to do it assuming all the consequences... is the price that we must pay for saying what we are thinking.