Tweeting Pope

Pope Francis “can be reached” directly and immediately by netizens or ordinary folks in the internet because he has joined the social media through internet’s Twitter  at Facebook. Go follow him at  www.ThePopeTweets.com.

The Holy Father  is sharing his regular thoughts so that all peoples of the world can get them in real time. I suggest all priests and religious and the faithful  join the social media and “follow” him there.  Otherwise, you will be “out of the loop” or not in touch with the latest.

As of the time of this writing, his latest tweet was: “Our Lady is always close to us, especially when we feel the weight of life

with all its problems.”  How relevant and real to all of us ordinary folks.                                                                      @@@

INTERNET LIBEL — There’s public uproar now with the new law that punishes libel in the internet (through Facebook or Twitter) called Cybercrime Prevention Law, principally because the penalty clause like imprisonment (maximum 12 years)  is even higher than what the revised penal code of the Philippines imposes on journalists and media persons.

This development is reviving the call for the “decriminalization “of libel or the  removal of the imprisonment clause but      still retaining the civil damages liability of an offender.

By the way, under the new law, only the original author of a libelous material is liable and not those who “like” “share” or comment.

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POLITICAL SEASON —  2016 is still a bit far but the political pot or cauldron is starting to heat up. Within the next few months, it will start to boil.

The reality is  that there is too much focus and concentration on politics in this country, Our day to day lives are dominated by what our politicians and public officials do or fail to do. Our newspapers are not interesting to read or our TV newscasts are not complete without this or that corruption or anomaly by some public officials. This is unfortunate because there are a million other  stories of life that happen every minute of our lives. The “positives” however we ignore. The “negatives” we somehow highlight and absorb.

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SALACIOUS  STORIES  — We also tend to  relish  salacious stories about our favorite actors or actresses whom we idolize and view as role models even if   they unbashedly expose and make public their private lives dominated by  marriage  separations, sex videos,  new “live-in” partners, unwed mothers, etc.  It is as if we are all spell bound and hostaged by what is exciting, never mind if they are giving us the wrong examples of propriety and morality. And we the public are entertained.

Worrisome, if you ask me.