Born On A Cusp

Doing the rounds of the e-mail circuit these days is a collection of eight photographs from the book, ‘Hungry Planet: What the World Eats’.

The 2005 book, by photographer Peter Menzel and author-journalist Faith D’Alusio, documents the weekly diets of different families across the globe.

The photograph above, for example, shows a family of nine in Ecuador, surrounded by mostly potatoes, their staple. There’s a snapshot of a family from North Carolina, whose dining table is awash with crisps and french fries. One of a family in Italy, with lots of fruits and vegetables. In all, the two journalists give us snapshots of 30 families in 24 countries.

‘Hungry Planet’ makes us reconsider our own fortunes, revisit our priorities. The photo chronicle makes us realise how culturally diverse the world is. It’s at once a feast for the eyes (if you love photography) and food for the mind. The best part about it is that it does so without patronising cultures whose diets may be different from ours. It does not make us feel superior, as in, ‘Oh, pity this family in Chad.’ It just makes us discover diversity.

‘Hungry Planet’ is brilliant. I first saw it a few years back when it was published, and I’m glad someone has now taken the time to scan their copy and e-mail. It’s certainly one of those forwarded messages I don’t think anyone would mind landing in their inbox.

Somewhere in Italy, a 101-year-old man and a 98-year-old woman are set to marry after a courtship period that has lasted for more than half a century. The woman is quoted to have said: “We have only been together for 50 years — that may be a bit quick but then again, you are only young once.”

The newspaper carried the story under the heading, ‘Bizarre?’ Perhaps. But bizarre is a funny word, and most love probably is.

I love these stories. Give me a page off the news, whether print or online, and my attention will invariably be called far more quickly by this sort of news than all other stories in there.

Who wants to read about politics when I can read about how desperate staff at a cultural landmark in Melbourne, Australia, are using the help of an eagle called Zorro to scare away cockatoos flocking to the tower and consequently causing damage? The second is far more interesting. Reminds you of the elemental struggle of humans with nature. And here with a twist. Then immediately it gives you a mental image of an eagle (could have a mask on, for it’s called Zorro!), perched on top of a piece of Melbourne’s pride, looking mean and nasty and scaring off the smaller birds.

The report is from BBC. This is Melbourne’s Arts Centre.

Eagle guards Melbourne landmark

Staff at a Melbourne landmark have resorted to unusual methods to try to prevent damage to their building – a wedge-tailed eagle called Zorro.

They hope Zorro’s presence on the roof of the city’s Arts Centre will scare away white cockatoos that have been attacking its iconic tower.

The flocks of cockatoos have been pecking at the tiny lights that illuminate the 163-metre spire.

So far they have caused more than US$63,000 (£32,000) worth of damage.

Zorro will also be joined by a peregrine falcon named Bibi and the two birds will be brought to the building every day for the next six weeks as a trial.

“Cockatoos are part of their prey, so it’s a natural solution,” Arts Centre spokesman Jeremy Vincent told the French news agency AFP.

“The cockatoos aren’t hurt, because the predators are tethered to the building, but their presence on the building acts as a deterrent.”

A handler will also be present to monitor Bibi and Zorro while they are on the roof of the Arts Centre.

So far the two birds of prey were keeping the cockatoos away, Mr Vincent said, but they were also attracting groups of tourists.

Cockatoos are parrot-like birds known for their destructive habits.

Australia did a wonderful thing, offering its official apology to the generations of indigenous peoples across the country forcibly taken away from their families over 70 years in the last century, to be taught how to become ‘white.’ After a series of conservative Prime Ministers who chose not to, Kevin Rudd is taking the honourable path on behalf of all Australians.

The text of Prime Minister Rudd’s statement:

Today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.

We reflect on their past mistreatment.

We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations—this blemished chapter in our nation’s history.

The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia’s history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.

We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.

We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.

For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.

To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.

And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.

We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.

For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.

We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.

A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.

A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.

A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.

A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.

A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.

In the Philippines where I was born and raised, the Internet and mobile-telecommunications technologies have helped spur an uprising against a President.

In many other places across the globe, SMS, web sites, web logs, and networking sites are making sure nobody gets away with anything — from the most mundane celebrity goof-ups to the terribly insane decisions state leaders are making, you will surely get a heads up on every thing. (We are not talking here, of course, of the millions and millions who do not have access to these technologies — much less have food to eat — and thus fall through the cracks of the ‘communication revolution’.)

No doubt, these so-called ‘new technologies’ are creating such an impact in people’s lives that there is a huge swath of today’s population that will not even be able to imagine life before their dawning.

Three things I read today from the wires, which again show you just what it is people can do with all of these tools in their hands.

1. Two profiles very recently appeared on networking site, Facebook, claiming to be those of Bilawal Bhutto, son of slain Pakistan politician Benazir. Facebook has quickly taken down the pages after Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party, which the 19-year-old Bilawal took over after his mother’s assassination, said the profiles were a hoax and Facebook itself determined that they were, indeed.

2. An Egyptian woman missed a call from her husband on her mobile phone. Shortly after, she received a text message from him saying, “I divorce you because you didn’t answer your husband.” A unilateral declaration of divorce by a man seals the deed, according to Islamic law. But the woman is now seeking the court’s opinion on whether her husband’s declaration of divorce by text message is legally valid.

3. A Saudi blogger was arrested reportedly after writing against religious extremism and demanding political reforms in the kingdom. The man’s family still do not know where he is being held and what he is being charged with, almost a month since he was taken. His fellow bloggers are now campaigning for his release through their own sites.

See those colour marks on the Philippines map? Those are the places across the archipelago where I’ve been. And what about that huge white gap?

Lakbayan — ‘lakbay’ is Tagalog verb for ‘travel’, and ‘bayan’ is country — tests how much of the Philippines you have visited. And my grade is C.

This test reminded me of how much of my own country I haven’t seen. Some of FrenchBeard’s Indian friends based in Manila — who take serious time off work to spend days on road trips — would probably score better than me!

In Mindanao, for example, the country’s southern group of islands, I’ve only managed to visit Butuan, Bukidnon, Davao, and South Cotabato. And why am I going that far to make my point? In the northern islands of Luzon, where my home city, Manila is, there are so many places I’ve never set foot on.

Tsk. Tsk. Not good. Have to catch up.

Check your own traveler grade here.

(Lakbayan is the baby of tech blogger Eugene Villar.)