The typical story is that the loggers come, village or not, road or not. The only thing that stops the loggers is the absence of trees.
Joe > Le 22 oct. 2024 à 19:19, mp via nettime-l <[email protected]> a > écrit : > > > > The vignette / cover story for his "Towards a Political Economy of > Information": > > “...We are all familiar with the typical story of an isolated village at the > edge of the forest. Some villagers have to go to town to buy a few > necessities, and maybe to stock the village store. Others need to go to sell > some products for cash. Villagers start to feel that the foot path to town is > insufficient for their needs. > > Village activists may even pursue the issue and organize the people to demand > a better road. Eventually, public opinion is swayed, and a petition is > submitted. The government, the villagers are pleasantly surprised, is > amenable to the idea. Road-building eventually starts. > > As completion date nears, the village organizes a welcome party for the first > vehicle that is coming in. A few days later, the village wakes up to the > rumble of engines and smell of diesel exhaust. The vehicles have come. And > they are logging trucks, carrying men with chain saws.” > > He was a nice, kind guy. > > Sad. > > ... > .. > . > > > On 10/22/24 16:41, GM - tedbyfield via nettime-l wrote: >> I just saw that Roberto Verzola, the “father of Philippine email” and a >> nettimer from the “heroic” period, died a few years ago — “during Covid” >> but, as one obit says, not due to it. I never met Roberto IRL, and I’m not >> sure how many nettimers ever did, so — unless I missed something, which is >> entirely possile — that his death would go unmentioned on the list maybe >> isn’t so surprising If anything, it’s a testament to the remarkable reach of >> this list in a time when, amazingly, the poetics of the net were very >> different, somehow smaller or even strangely intimate. The involvement of a >> Filipino activist was important for the list’s imaginary. >> I did a Google search to check out his postings: >> https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Roberto+Verzola%22+site%3Anettime.org >> I remember him as being a bit more prolific, but it’s hard to tell. In >> Google’s earlier years, it *loved* nettime, but sometime, I’d guess >> somewhere in the 2010–2015 range, it changed how it processed mailing lists, >> and now it’s all but useless for finding results. >> Abstractions aside, hats off to Roberto for what sounds like a life >> well-lived in a time and place where it would have been much easier — and >> much safer — to drift along. 🎩 >> A few links below. >> Ted >> ——- >> P2P Foundation bio >> https://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Roberto_Verzola >> Libcom.org has him “narrat[ing] his youthful experience in the National >> Democratic (Maoist) movement during the years of the Marcos dictatorship in >> the Philippines” >> https://libcom.org/article/lest-we-forget-roberto-s-verzola >> And a few obits: >> Newbytes.ph: >> >> https://newsbytes.ph/2020/05/07/roberto-verzola-ph-internet-pioneer-and-activist-dies-at-67/ >> https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1271704/verzola-father-of-philippine-email-67 >> He was a man of many hats: an electrical engineer, a pioneering >> environmentalist, a mathematics professor, a social activist and a martial >> law detainee. >> But Roberto Verzola, Obet to friends and family, gained renown among civil >> society circles as the father of Philippine email, having designed and setup >> email systems for nongovernmental organizations (NGO) in 1992, way before >> the internet had reached Philippine shores. >> Verzola passed away on May 6 at the Capitol Medical Center in Quezon City, >> after hospital confinement for pneumonia. He was 67. >> Environmental lawyer Ipat Luna recalled how Obet had “a decrepit-looking >> computer underneath his stairs that was providing a gateway to the NGO >> sector to communicate.” >> Despite the economic possibilities offered by his innovation, Verzola shut >> down his operations in 2000 rather than charge higher fees for his services. >> His sister May Rodriguez described him as somewhat the country’s own Don >> Quixote: eccentric yet idealistic and wise. >> As a University of the Philippines student, he worked for the underground >> newspaper Taliba ng Bayan and paid dearly for it. >> In October 1974, the then 21-year-old was taken by state forces and >> tortured. Between heavy blows of fists and bottles, he was repeatedly >> electrocuted, an ordeal that was almost ironic to the young Verzola who then >> was studying to be an electronics and communications engineer. >> Verzola spent three years in detention, from 1974 to 1977. >> After the dictatorship, he moved on to become a driving force behind >> environmental groups, among them the Philippine Greens, Center for Renewable >> Energy and Sustainable Technology, Systems for Rice Technology and Tanggol >> Kalikasan. >> When the Department of Agriculture introduced genetically engineered Bt >> corn, Verzola led a one-month hunger strike outside the agency’s gates in >> 2003. >> “He never asked for accolades,” said Red Constantino of the Institute for >> Climate and Sustainable Cities. “It was enough for him to have the space, >> however small, to test his ideas and see them to fruition,” he added. > -- > # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission > # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, > # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets > # more info: https://www.nettime.org > # contact: [email protected] -- # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: https://www.nettime.org # contact: [email protected]
