TOPAZ HORIZON

The times, they are a-changin'. Used to be we looked to newspapers and television for what's happening in the world. Now, we turn to our blogs, mobile phones, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other live chat software. It's back to the old ways of spreading the news--word of mouth. Citizen journalism is very democratic. And fast. It has its problems, too, like some of the news can't be confirmed to be true. But, for now, I'm going to think of it as a blessing.

For me, it started with Michael Jackson's death. For others, with Obama's rise to the US presidency. And for the rest of the Filipinos affected by Typhoon Ondoy, this new way of spreading the news was so true during the height and the aftermath of the storm.

And then there's the uplifting messages we get that we no longer seem to get from TV and newspapers. These are inspiring stories of people we'd never have heard of because there are so many of them out there but there's only so much space on paper and airtime on TV. With YouTube and blogs and the worldwide web, we get to learn about wonderful people like Logan.

This gets me every time. Every time. Especially now when I've lost a mother, I'm losing my beloved pet wabbit, and I see suffering everywhere. God understands. He will always understand. God bless you, people.