Who Killed PINK Wednesday?

As far as I know, I am the only one who has continued with the PINK Wednesday habit. 

It was originally part of the kakamPINK campaign for good governance during the 2022 presidential elections. We uploaded on Wednesday something PINK, symbolizing hope for a better-run Philippines. 

Atty. Leni lost and this stopped. No use beating a dead horse. 

But I slogged on. My PINK Wednesdays have become bigger, growing into my panacea. They now feature God’s grace through spectacular PINK in nature, blessings unlimited by a generous Creator.  

I research every post, making sure it is accurate. I cite owners of quotes and images, careful not to alter nature and data that support it.   

But slowly, my panacea has turned into pain. What used to be fun has morphed into a chore. And therefore everything about my Wednesday posts will now be in the past tense. 

PINK Wednesday ended last Wednesday, the 16th of June.    

Who killed it? The creative people behind AI: digital editing and invented tales. They are so good at their jobs that mine became impossible. Most of the PINK things I found on the Net were excellently done by them--deep fake, digitally enhanced or manipulated images with matching fabricated data--and passed off as real. They took liberties with the natural beauty of nature, with sensationalized captions and tales meant to be click baits.   

The last straw was when more than two dozens of my friends sent me via Messenger the same news and photos of a magnificent PINK dolphin. One uploaded it to my wall. After a few days, FB took down the viral post with these words: “This is fake news and violates our ethical standards.” 

I refuse to be a complicit in unethical standards. So I ended my PINK Wednesday habit with this post: 

(PINK rose. That's how and where my PINK Wednesdays started--two years and eight months ago.  And now, this is where it will end. 

So . . . my last hurrah. 

As of this year, there are about 60,000 varieties of roses and counting. Out of these, only 1,600 are PINK! And yet, it is already a mind-boggling number. Plantitos and plantitas say this number grows every year because of pollination and breeding. Wow! 

PINK rose to me will always be that in the largest photo. The tiny photos are just a few of the varieties of PINK, which are all lovely, too [and hopefully, not digitally enhanced]. The amazing beauties in nature multiply before we can even count them. 

PINK Wednesday it is. One last happy PINK post. ❤)

“Can AI even magnify or alter God’s great design? Nevah!” my friend Yay replied to this post.  

No, but it can magnify and alter anything to lure the eyes and trick the mind into thinking they are authentic and original, as created. That's deception.  

Its only way out is to come clean and present these images as a new genre of art, and the words, a stab at literature (fiction). From last Wednesday, this is how I will see them—through a new lens.