All posts by Jay

About Jay

Blogger/Writer. Advocate of causes. Geek.

On being more tolerant towards theists

Opinion, , , ,

Around a decade or so ago, I’ve decided not to engage in debates about religion – the interpretation of the Bible, which religion is THE religion or trying to win over believers that there is no such thing as a divine being, etc as I’ve come to accept that it is anyone’s right whether they would believe in it or not, whether they would join one religion or another.

However, when one’s religion or their own interpretation of what ever text they consider holy, is used to abuse and mistreat, to oppress, marginalize, and limit the agency of members of certain communities including the LGBTQIA+ communities, then I would spare some time to address it, expose it and call it out for what it is. I may not have all the answers, but someone has to make a stand and speak up.

During my college years, most anti-activists I’ve encountered on campus were deans, department chairs and professors. With all sorts of letters after their names. One wasn’t even shy preaching about how schools should remain neutral and defending the policies of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in one breath.

Support the Anti-Dynasty Network

Daily dose, , ,

For decades since the ratification of the 1987 Constitution, the public has been waiting for Congress to enact a law that gives life to the constitutional prohibition on political dynasties. With Congress dominated by politicians from political dynasties, it’s been near impossible for such a law to be enacted. Nonetheless, it shouldn’t stop the people from demanding and campaigning for it.

Enter the Anti-Dynasty Network – a non-profit organization composed of ‘reform-minded dynasts, academics, public servants, and citizens committed to ending political dynasties and advancing inclusive, accountable governance.’

They are currently gathering signatures in support of the effort to enact an anti-dynasty law with the following features:

We would like to see the following in an anti-dynasty law:

  1. No family member must immediately succeed an incumbent in any elective office.
  2. The ban must extend to relatives up to the fourth (4th) civil degree of consanguinity or affinity; this covers grandparents, parents, spouses, in-laws, children, siblings, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, and first cousins.
  3. The ban must cover overlapping constituencies.
    i. No two members of the same family within the fourth (4th) degree can run for and hold the offices of President, Vice President, or Senator at the same time.
    ii. No two members of the same family within the fourth (4th) degree can run for and hold office in the same province and/or city or municipality at the same time.
    iii. No local official may be related to the district representative of the same area.
    iv. No relative of an incumbent national or local official may be fielded as a nominee of a party-list organization.

Clear. Reasonable. Long overdue. If you’re looking for a cause or effort that would bring meaningful change to our country, this would be one of it. Express your support here. Together we can do this.

Stop Meta from Accessing your Camera Roll

Daily dose, , , ,

Meta wants access to the photos in your device’s camera roll. Yes, the ones you haven’t posted or uploaded online for various reasons – intimate, raw, it could even be proprietary, Meta doesn’t care, it just wants to feed it to its AI.

To turn off this feature and stop Meta from getting to the photos in your camera roll, do the following:

  1. Open the Facebook app and make sure you’re signed into your account.
  2. On the upper right corner, tap on your profile pic to open the Menu section.
  3. Scroll down and tap on Settings & Privacy.
  4. Select Settings.
  5. Scroll down and tap on “Camera roll sharing suggestions”.
  6. Turn off both toggle switches labelled “Custom sharing suggestions from your camera roll” and “Get camera roll suggestions when you’re browsing Facebook”.

If one or both of those toggle switches are already on, then Meta is actively scanning, processing and retaining your photos to train its AI. Turning off those toggle switches will stop it.