Borderline

Before 1989, this sign signals the border between West and East Berlin. Today, it still stands even though there's no border defined. In the past, Germans from the East and West were considered separate countries, now they are all considered as one entity. Oh well, it's safe to cross the line in Germany.

The Pakistan-India border. The border was defined in 1947, when India gained independence and was partitioned into India and Pakistan. The root cause was the conflict between Muslims and Hindus. Today, the border is well-protected by Pakistani and Indian guards, who control both entry and exit points.Finally, the most notorious borderline is within the boundary of the U.S. and Mexico. Of course, this was due to the stringent procedures against illegal immigrants. Well, not all of the U.S.-Mexico border is closed. If you were a Mexican living below Texas, you may well swim into the Rio Grande and cross Texas. And it's also safe to cross Mexico and vice versa through varied checkpoint around the border. However, a visa may well be needed to avoid the possibility of arrest.

To cross the border may be hard and arduous, but by obeying to the law and agreeing to the principle, you may well cross the border safely and easily.

Back in 1989.....

Majority of IDs 106 and 107 as well as some of ID 108 were born in the year 1989, at the time when the Cold War was about to come to end and the Internet age was at its infancy. Of course, remember the bloodiest coup during the Cory Aquino administration? So much to remember about the year that wrapped up the 1980s.

Well, a lot of us nowadays think it was nothing but a distant memory. We grew up in the YouTube, Facebook and Twitter age and listened to our teen idols like Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber. Well, for us to remember what happened, here are some images that captured our imagination when we're still babies.

Remember the man in front of the tank during the Tiananmen Square protests? Of course, the dissident Chinese students who demand a change of reforms to the Chinese government. In the end, however, the government cracked down on the protesters. To this day, the matter remains unresolved. (Photo courtesy of AP)

The walls are crumbling. November 9 was the day the Cold War reached its turning point, as the Berlin Wall in Germany was dismantled. The East German government finally opened the border between East and West Berlin that has been closed for nearly three decades. In the days that followed, jubilant East Germans tore down the wall, as Ronald Reagan has asked Mikhail Gorbachev two years earlier, and finally crossed the West for the first time in three decades. Germany would later reunite into a single country a year later. (Photo courtesy of AP)

Events like these changed the world and eventually brought the world back to its stable self after so many years. Wonder what will happen in 2010 and in subsequent years? If the trend continues, then we may live in too many countries and in too many races.

The Boredom of the Lower Class

What's with all the 'mass-cultivated' TV, radio and print? Very intriguing showbiz updates, crappy soap operas, and even repetitive hit songs; this is the uneducated portion of the Philippines, propagators of the counterculture.

Global society has been riddled with the Justin Biebers, Miley Cyruses, Twitters, Facebooks and the Twilights of the world. Somewhere down the line, majority were very unadaptive to counter culture, choosing instead to read or watch gossips involving local showbiz stars, even buying tabloids full of sexual innuendo.

I personally hate listening to 'masa' stations like 90.7 Love Radio, 91.5 Energy FM and even 101.1 Yes! FM because of their repetitive and boring playlist, majority of which were played everyday. I also hate their so-called jokes during commercials, because it is so irritating that you'll be ready to throw your transistor to trash.

Also throw in cheap tabloids, showing nothing but gossips and sexual content. In the U.S., the New York Post don't always show girls in two-piece swimsuits, but here it has been a norm for some tabloids (Toro, X-Files, Police Files) to feature actresses in skimpy, semi-naked outfits. So much for the growth of prostitution in the country.

Since the turn of the millennium, ABS-CBN and GMA, two television giants, have shifted their attention to the masses more than to the educated sector, with majority of their programming were mainly crappy telenovelas with less than a year of shelf life, and Japanese anime. Point that out to the rise of cable TV and the internet for such a reason. In contrast, U.S. TV giants CBS, ABC, NBC and FOX's content have remained virtually unchanged despite the rise of cable and internet. Daytime soap operas have stayed longer than a year; Days of our Lives and General Hospital have stayed on air for nearly 50 years, introducing new storylines and characters to keep viewers in tune. The Filipino soap operas last only for a few months before getting axed, except for Mara Clara, which neither station has yet to replicate its success. How much more does the old medium beginning to lose its charm?

With Twitter, Facebook and other medium beginning to dominate the media circus, how much is left of the original medium like television, radio and print? And how will the lower class adapt to a new medium? Only time will tell.

Crossing the Line: Filipino Alien

One of my high school classmates departed to study in the U.S. three years ago, never finishing her high school education. We were fourth year students then, about to finish four years of demanding but exciting portion of our lives. Now we're in junior year, while she is just about to enter her second year in college, having redshirted her first year in high school. So technically, she was one batch behind from us because of the delay.

One by one, some of our batchmates departed for greater opportunities abroad, particularly in the United States. The greatest influx of Filipinos in the U.S. are in the West Coast, particularly in cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles because they're much closer.

The question is, are they still Filipinos or Americans?

Techically, they still are Filipinos, but by residing in a foreign country and haven't applied for naturalization, they are considered aliens. Such is the case of nurses and OFWs going to a foreign country.

With the lack of employment opportunities, a lot of Filipinos flee to other areas of the world to find greater opportunities. However, the risks of going abroad were too great; a lot of OFWs suffer persecution from their bosses, and ended up inside a wood coffin upon returning home. News like this create greater awareness for those who like to go abroad and never suffer the same fate.

As Edkins and Zehfuss discussed, it is both easy and difficult to travel and reside in a foreign country. The law has failed to restrict immigration, but physical implementation has resulted in some deaths and persecution. Of course, aliens are welcome, but they have little rights compared to a naturalized or a native-born citizen; not even the right to vote is a right to obtain.