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May 6th, 2009
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Iran: Movement of 1000 bloggers supports Mousavi for presidency
Supporters of two leading reformist presidential candidates, former prime minister Mir Hussein Mousavi and former parliament speaker, Mehdi Karroubi are using the internet, including blogs and Facebook, to beef up their chances of being selected as presidential candidates by the Guardian Council in June's election.
In this post, we look at Mousavi supporters as a first journey into Iran's election cyber-battleground. Around 1000 bloggers have announced that they support Mir Hussein Mousavi. Their names and web addresses are published on Mirhussein.com, a website created by “a big group of bloggers supporting Mousavi.”
In his speeches, Mousavi has previously criticized president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's “mismanagment”. Mousavi has said that he would work to build international confidence that Iran’s nuclear ambitions are peaceful. Mousavi has also spoken in defense of “free media” in the past, although he refused to promise to release political prisoners if he became president.
The bloggers who support Mousavi write about many different topics, from religion to sports, and they differ ideologically too. They also live in various corners of the country. Some of the blogs have been around for long time, while other have created their blogs especially for the election. We can divide pro-Mousavi bloggers into several different categories, including:
Fundementalists: Islam is superior to everything, is one of Mousavi's listed supporters. The blogger does not explain why he supports Mousavi, but has also published several photos of the Iranian leader, Ayatollah Khamenei and who could easily be considered a fundamentalist.
Non-Political Bloggers: Another blogger who backs former prime minister for the presidency is Perspolis Ghahreman, a blog that talks mainly about football. Perspolis is a very popular soccer/football team in Iran. Another blog announcing its support is, Modyryat, Eghtesad, Toseh (Managment, Economy, Development), an economics blog.
Election bloggers without geographic focus: Barayeh Mirhussein (for Mir Hussein) was recently created by its author for writings about the former prime minister's candidacy and his ideas. This blog quotes Mir Hussein Mousavi for saying that the government's most important problems are inflation and unemployment, and that it should be possible to create private TV channels in Iran. Barayeh Mirhussein does not represent any specific local community.
Election bloggers with geographic focus: Mousavi's supporters in Dubai is a good example of a blog by a group of Iranian expatriates in a foreign country. Mousavi supporters have also launched a blog, named Nasim 88 in the Iranian city Ardebil too.
Former Khatami supporters: Khatami88 is a blog that was previously launched to support former reformist president Mohmmad Khatami's bid for the presidency. But as soon as Khatami stepped out of the election race and announced his support for Mir Hussein, these supporters followed.
Although blogs are not very good as a sample to study the Iranian population's electoral preferences as a whole, at least we can see from the wide range of Mousavi's supporters in the blogosphere that support for his candidacy is not limited to any one specific group.
Tanzania: Dar es Salaam Armoury Explosion Death Toll Rises
The death toll from the military depot blast in Dar es Salaam has gone up to 22. Six service personnel and 16 civilians have been confirmed as killed by the military depot blast on Wednesday April 29, 2009, at the Mbagala Armoury, 15 kilometres outside the city centre of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania's largest city with a population of about 3.5 million.
More than half of the dead were children, many of whom drowned in a river in the panic following the blast.
The powerful blasts caused the collapse of several nearby buildings and ignited rockets and other weapons that showered shrapnel on bewildered residents. A total of 755 houses have been destroyed and 4,000 people rendered homeless.
Immediately after the explosions, Red Cross officials set up two camps to support the victims, including more than 1,192 children who were admitted by Wednesday night after getting lost while running for safety.
While Investigations are under way into the cause of the blast, the government has set up an inquiry to asses the damage caused by the blast and has pledged compensation to all those affected.
On the day the explosions occured several Tanzanian bloggers posted updates immediately after the blasts. Basil Msongo described the situation [sw]:
HALI ya usalama Mbagala bado si shwari, watu wengi wameumia na wengine wamezimia kwa hofu.
Taarifa kutoka kwenye kambi yalipolipuka mabomu hayo zimedai kuwa huenda itatokea milipuko mikubwa kuliko iliyotokea hadi sasa kwa kuwa kuna mabomu makubwa hayajalipuka.
… Baadhi ya mabomu yamelipuka kwenye makazi ya watu, moshi umetanda Mbagala na kwa ujumla shughuli za kijamii zimeathirika sana.
… Some bombs have reached residential areas, mbagala is under a huge cloud of smoke and all social activities have bee affected.
And Charahani wrote:
Mamia ya wakazi wa jiji hilo hasa Mbagala na vitongoji vyake walionekana kuchanganyikiwa walikuwa wakihangaika kukimbia nyumba zao kwa lengo la kujiokoa. Katika harakati za kujiokoa baadhi ya wananchi ho walitumbukia mtoni huku baadhi yao wakiwasahau watoto wao na vikongwe nyumba bila msaada wowote
The day after the blast the initial shock turned into sessions of anger and questions about those responsible for the ‘accident'. There were angry reactions in a post with photographs of Tanzania’s president Jakaya Kikwete, Vice President Dr. Shein and other leaders visiting the site of the blast and temporary camps in Michuzi's blog:
We need to see some one anakuwa fired kwa uzembe uliotokea roho ya mtu ina thamani kubwa sana sasa uzembe wenu mmesababisha watu kupoteza maisha wengine viungo alafu hao majeruhi mtawaangalia kwa miezi mitatu tu mtaendelea na shughuli zenu na hivi 2010 inakaribia dah…. Hapa tunataka kuona watu WANAKWISHNEY waziri wa wizara usika, Naibu wake, mkuu wa kikosi cha maafa yalipotokea Mwamunyange ooooops huyu jamaa smart kidogo aendelee kutumikia nchi yake lakini hao wengine niliowamention tunataka kuona uwajibikaji wenu sio pole sizizokuwa na manufaa kwa wahanga wa tukio husika.
In another post with an aerial photograph showing bewildered residents confused along a freeway and another with some residents inspecting missile remains in a residential area prompted readers to blame not only the army and the government but citizens as well:
Hii inaonesha hatari kubwa ya kuhifadhi makombora (missiles) karibu na makazi ya watu wengi.
Haya siyo mabomu, bali nia surface-to- air missiles za kutungulia ndege, pia sitashangaa kama kuan surface-to-surface missiles ambazo zaweza kufyatuliwa na mzinga wenye midomo 20, hiyo kuruka kwa mpigo ktk uwanja wa vita.
Another reader said:
… muhimu ni kufuata sheria za usalama na utunzaji wa silaha mbalimbali,ila ajali huweza kutokea.
Mazingira ama makambi ya jeshi ni mazuri sana, salama, kuna utaratibu safi na utunzaji wa mazingira ni namba moja! ndiyo sababu popote kambi ilipo,raia watasogea na watajenga tuu, ukiangalia maeneo yote hayo yalikuwa misitu minene wakati jeshi lilipo establish makambi lakini with time wananchi wamesogea na wengine wamevamia kabisa! Wakiambiwa waondoke hawataki na wanaenda hadi mahakamani!
makambi kuwepo mjini siyo tatizo, maana hata nchi za wenzetu hilo hilo lipo tena wana mambo ya hatari zaidi ya maghala ya silaha!,
Ila nadhani kuna umuhimu wa kuwafundisha watanzania “raia” mbinu za awali za medani na jinsi ya kusaidia na kujisaidia panapotokea balaa lolote.kwa sasa watz wengi bado “bongo lala” -penye hatari sisi tunakimbilia,utayari na kutambua hatari ni karibu na sifuri -JKT irudishwe upya kuondoa uzembe unaojionyesha na kuweka watu fiti kwa mujibu(kupiga msasa).
Tusipojali haya,it will cost us more than we can imagine!
I think there is a need to teach Tanzanians ‘citizens’ battle field tactics and what to do in case of an emergency. At the moment most of Tanzanians are ignorant – we always run towards danger zones, how we assess situations and readiness to cope are near zero - national service should be reintroduced to get rid of this apparent incompetence and to keep people fit – compulsorily.
If we do not take heed, it will cost us more than we can imagine!
The government, the military and the police are responding to the situation. Lukwangule has posted a press release from the Prime Minister’s Office promising compensation to all those affected by the blast:
Serikali imeshaanza kugharimia gharama za mazishi kwa watu waliokufa katika ajali hii, na itaangalia jinsi ya kuwapa pole wale waliofiwa ili kupunguza makali ya maisha na kuwasaidia waliopata ulemavu kwa matibabu na vifaa…
And regarding the issue of having military arms depots close to residential areas, Basil Msongo has short post where the Tanzania’s president explains why ammunitions depot is located near residential areas:
Rais Jakaya Kikwete amesema, ghala hilo halikujengwa katika makazi ya watu, kwa kuwa lilijengwa mwaka 1976 nje ya makazi hayo.
Venezuela: Conflict Between the Media During Earthquake
The earthquake that awoke Venezuela earlier this week had a wide variety of reactions among bloggers. After all the panic and the worries finally subsided, most of these bloggers shared different strategies to protect and prevent accidents during an earthquake. The importance of alternate media was evident, since mainstream media took too much time to inform or alert.
This natural phenomenon also pointed out the contrast between the role of mainstream media led by the government and the private sector, which also meant a big fight between the government and opposition. While both sides tried to inform and contract each other, most of the warnings and recommendations came from Twitter, instant and text messages.
La tempestad by Héctor Rattia and used with permission. La tempestad by Héctor Rattia and used with permission.
In the end, the earthquake was the starting point of new discussions, demands, reflections, and also humorous expressions, which is something that has never been absent in any of this country’s events in the Venezuelan blogosphere.
Luis Enrique Blanco, in his blog La Conciencia Ciudadana [es] points out the great importance of alternate media in this kind of crisis:
… A las 5:00 a.m. yo, un pendejo cualquiera, estaba claro de que había ocurrido 15 minutos antes en la República. Bueno, El ministro El Aissami a las 5:30 a.m. conjuntamente con el Alcalde Jorge Rodríguez, casi una hora después, estaban esperando que FUNVISIS les confirmara el informe del sismo pero en su lugar se dedicaron a desacreditar la información que suministraba GLOBOVISION la cual esencialmente era la misma que yo había recibido de manera bien informal.
¿Que puede esperar un venezolano cuando los encargados de informar no lo hacen y en cambio se dedican a utilizar momentos importantes de alerta para cantar su canción revolucionaria? (…) No conformes con la metida de pata que los voceros del Gobierno Central habían ya protagonizado, casi prohibían faltar a clases alegando que, no existía peligro de réplica y esta se suscitó a las 10:30 a.m., afortunadamente sin hechos que lamentar.
En fin, como el título dice, este round lo ganaron Twitter, Facebook y Messenger Live
At 5:00 a.m., I, just another idiot, had a clear idea of what was going on 15 minutes before in our Republic. Well, the Minister, along with the Mayor, almost an hour later, were waiting for FUNVISIS (Venezuelan Seismic Investigation Foundation) to confirm the report of the earthquake and, in the meantime, they devoted themselves to discredit the information given by Globovision (a private channel network), which was, essentially, the same information I received in a very informal way.
What can a Venezuelan hope for when people in charge of information don’t inform, but take moments of high alert to sing their revolutionary song? (…) Also, the government’s spokesman, not content enough with their faux pas, almost forbade missing class for this reason, saying that there was no danger of aftershocks… and there was one at 10:30 a.m., but nothing happened to anybody, fortunately.
In the end, this round was won by Twitter, Facebook and Messenger Live.
Daniel of Venezuela News and Views also writes about how this earthquake moved the government’s point of balance more than it did to the earth itself in his post Globovision Shakes Chavismo Early this Morning:
There was a rather strong quake early this morning close to Caracas. Even in San Felipe I felt it enough to wake up. Fortunately it was very brief and thus no major damages reported or loss of life. But apparently there was a lot of loss of pride among chavismo.
See, Globovision the 24 hours news channel did its work: they had staff at hand, they started inquiring, but no one was around to tell them what was happening. VTV was RE-transmitting the Chavez Sunday show, Alo Presidente. God forbid the wisdom words of the beloved leader would be interrupted to tell the audience that there had just been an earthquake. Besides they already knew about it: did they not feel it?
Globovision then tried the next logical step, to ask the Venezuelan seismological thing, FUNVISIS. Nobody was attending. So Globovision went to a US specific site where indeed they found the quake, its magnitude and its epicenter.
Well, that was apparently too much for chavismo who even sent the education minister, silly sycophantic and ineffectual Navarro, to blast Globovision as destabilizing the country with alarming news and showing that they suffered of “psychotic dissociation”, not realizing of course that he was presenting himself as a poster boy for the disease in that speech
Naky Soto in her blog Zaperoqueando [es] also wrote some thoughts about the little battle among different sources of information and what would happen if the effects of the earthquake had been more serious:
Es insólito que una circunstancia como esta también sirva para la diatriba política. Ravell comunica lo del temblor sobre la base de la falta de información “oficial”. Perfecta plataforma para que todos los medios, periodistas, voceros y ministros (oficiales, claro está) le brindaran mayor importancia este señor que a la necesidad de información que requería la gente antes de salir de sus casas.
La ministra Eckhout (rindió declaraciones ilógicas) sobre el poder de la naturaleza y su necesidad de venganza por los daños que la humanidad le ha hecho avalados por el capitalismo, alejándonos de la sabiduría de nuestros ancestros indígenas.
It is incredible that something like this can also be good for political fights. Ravell communicates about the earthquake and the lack of “official” information; a perfect starting point for all the media, journalists, spokesmen and ministers (from the government, of course) could give more importance to the information that people needed before they leave their homes.
Minister Eckhout (gave some illogical declarations about) nature’s power and its need for revenge because of all the damages made by humanity with the help of capitalism, which distances ourselves from our indigenous ancestors' wisdom.
The occasion also opened the way to jokes and other impressions, something very much in touch with the Venezuelan character, which uses humour as one of the sharpest ways to point out what is going on around almost any event.
In El Espejo del Venezolano [es], (The Venezuelan Mirror) there are some of people’s impressions on the earthquake:
Ya en el transcurso de la mañana se escuchaban los relatos de cada quien. Hubo un par de historias que me parecieron interesantes. Otro pana, quien pasó una “agitada” noche junto a su novia, no entendió que esos temblores no habían sido causados por él hasta que vio las noticias (suele pasar). Otros dicen que fue la gripe porcina que aterrizó en Venezuela, mientras que algunos argumentan que fue obra del imperio.
During the morning we could hear some of people’s stories. There were a couple of them that seemed interesting to me. A friend of mine, who passed a very “agitated” night with his girlfriend, didn’t find out until the next morning, when he saw the news, that those shakes were not caused by him, but by the earthquake (that happens). Some others say that it was the swine flu that landed on Venezuela, while some others stand that it was the work of the Empire.
El chiguire bipolar [es] (The bipolar capybara), a very popular blog based on humour and politics, published this picture of Francisco Garces, the spokesman of the FUNVISIS saying, “Garces admits he has not learned yet how to handle the new seismometer”
Screenshot by El Chigüire Bipolar and used with permission
Finally, bloggers think that the most important thing is that there are not enough ways to avoid all the terrible consequences that could come with a hard hit from nature; an idea well summarized by Soto [es]:
Lo más grave es que si llegase a ocurrir un verdadero sismo, nuestras debilidades están más que probadas, tenemos fallas considerables en infraestructura que no necesitan de enfrentamientos de opositores o defensas revolucionarias, antes bien, ojala comencemos a prestarle atención a las recomendaciones que durante años han realizado la gente de Protección Civil (otrora Defensa) los bomberos y hasta la Cruz Roja con sus equipos de rescatistas. Pareciera que a 10 años de la tragedia de Vargas-Miranda, la lección sobre la prevención no está asimilada.
The worst part is that if a real earthquake happens, our weaknesses would be more than obvious. We have a notable lack of infrastructure that does not need any disputes coming from the opposition or revolutionary defenses. I hope we can begin to pay attention to all the recommendations given by Civil Protection, the firemen and the Red Cross for years now. It seems that 10 years after the Vargas-Miranda tragedy, the lesson on prevention has not been learned properly.
Bloggers react to NZ Maori Party's proposed trip to Fiji
Bloggers are reacting to proposals by members of New Zealand’s Maori Party who wanted a delegation to travel to Fiji to speak with the country's Prime Minister to better understand what he is trying to achieve.
The announcement came just hours after Fiji was stripped of benefits from the Pacific Islands Forum for refusing to schedule elections by May 1. Maori leaders feel that New Zealand’s troubled relationship towards Fiji needs changing and would like to support their ancestral brothers, the indigenous Fijians which make up two-thirds of Fiji’s population.
(Unlike Fiji’s first three military coups, military leader Frank Bainimarama took power in December 2006 in the name of righting past wrongs against the minority ethnic Indian population that has fewer political rights than indigenous Fijians but enjoys economic success on the islands. )
However, Prime Minister John Key tampered hopes for the meeting. Because the Maori Party belongs to New Zealand's governing coalition, the Prime Minister said his government should speak with “one voice,” meaning no face-to-face talks will take place with Fiji’s Prime Minister until he is willing to move up elections earlier than his intended date of 2014. Maori Party members have suspended an official trip to Fiji, but said a delegation may travel in an “unofficial captacity.”
Fiji’s political blogosphere, which is mostly anti-regime, was unimpressed with the Maori plans from the outset.
The Maori delegation had explained yeterday that the NZ govrnment had ”misunderstood” what Frank and his military regime were doing in Fiji.
It seems they were the ones who had “misunderstood” what Frank was doing.
Thankfully they had the presence of mind to admit they were wrong when they thought Frank was fighting the whole world to safeguard Fiji’s best interests.
Someone must have sat them down and explained to them that Frank was actually fighting the whole world (and the whole of Fiji) to safeguard his own best interests.
Victor Lal, author of the blog Musings on Fiji, writes this in Raw Fiji News:
The agony of the people of Fiji, to a large extent, can be laid at the door of Papua New Guinean Prime Minister Michael Somare (and a few others) who constantly talked of dealing with the anti-democracy gangsters and gun-haw-haw coupsters in the so-called Pacific Way.
The Maori Party’s Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples should go to Papua New Guinea and have a word with Somare, who will give them a better picture of the psychological state of the present goons in Fiji.
He thought he was dealing with brotherly and sisterly Pacific Islanders, only to find out that they were devils in disguise, feasting on their own people.
If Somare had taken a tough stance with Australia and New Zealand, the gangsters might have thought twice before tearing up the 1997 Constitution, dismissing the Judiciary (which also had been propping them up), not to mention being thrown out of the Pacific Islands Forum.
In New Zealand, the planned trip was seen in a much more positive light. But the diplomatic give-and-take within the Key government was criticized.
No Minister calls it “common sense.”
While our foreign affairs poobahs who seem to have captured John Key and Murray McCully continue to insist on ‘elections now, no matter how bad they are' for Fiji, Mrs Turia suggests we actually sit down and talk civilly with Mr Bainimarama and, in her words, find out what is going on in Fiji.
Adolf sincerely hopes she goes to Fiji. I suggest the delegation should comprise the Maori King (mana) Dr Sharples (cabinet minister) and Lt Col (R) Wira Gardiner. (emminent Maori leader and National Party member)
Mr Gardiner has precisely the right background to put the Commodore at ease during discussions.
A circuit breaker such as this is essential if New Zealand's interests in the South Pacific are to be fulfilled.
Fiji: The Way It Was, Is and Can Be wonders whether John Key’s strategy of only negotiating with Fiji through the Pacific Islands Forum and the Commonwealth is the best choice.
I can see John Key's point but why doesn't he accompany the delegation? It would be in line with his familiar hands-on, up-front approach to other issues: a round-the-table dialogue by a down-to-earth pragmatist rather than hands-off bureaucratic negotiations? Unlikely, but it could actually help.
Tumeke takes the proposed dialog into the context of inter-governmental politics within New Zealand’s ruling coalition.
Mactional is an ugly mash sometimes - and the Maori Party's kite-flying on Fiji was another lost opportunity. It was a potentially valuable back channel to the regime in Suva, but it was fumbled. Why did the PM shift his position? Did clumsy MFAT has their fat paws on it, or was it a political botch from McCully? Or was it the Fijian regime that scotched it?
It was the timing the PM could have played with in permitting any delegation that included a Minister of the Crown - enough time to work something out; but now it's all gone. The Maori Party isn't too hot on the diplomatic tango either and has stood on the government's feet because they didn't read the nuances themselves.
Kiwi Blog is one person who admits to being perplexed.
I’m a bit puzzled by the Maori Party stance on Fiji. The original Fiji coups were about preventing the majority Indians from forming a Government. It was about protecting what they saw as the right of indigenous Fijians, and that stance had the support of some Maori activists in NZ.
But the Commodore’s coup is (officially anyway) about the opposite. He is saying he wants to remove any special rights from indigenous Fijians, and replace the constitution which has race based seats.
Somewhat strange bedfellows for the Maori Party I would have said whose entire party is about how there should be special rights for indigenous people.
From Political Editor Audrey Young, blogging at the New Zealand Herald.
John Key hasn't made many mistakes since becoming Prime Minister in November - and those that he has made haven't mattered much anyway.
That changed this week with his mishandling of a possible Maori Party visit to Fiji…
On Sunday Key responded quickly saying a visit by Sharples would be okay so long as it was in a private capacity as Maori Party co-leader and not as a minister representing the Government.
On Monday he had had a change of heart. He said he had talked to Sharples, that he had agreed New Zealand had to have one voice on the issue of Fiji and that he did not believe Sharples would be going to Fiji.
On Tuesday, it became very untidy: Sharples said he might still go and Key said he would stop Sharples from going if he went ahead.
It would be helpful if the Prime Minister had one voice, as well. It should not have taken him long on Sunday to realize that such a trip by Sharples would be problematic for perceptions of Government unity, at the very least.
Kazakhstan: State support and censorship on the Internet
“As I thought, this year will prove to be a breakthrough for the Kazakhstani Internet”, says izhanov [ru].
The process of creation а start-up projects and interesting web-ideas has already started last year naturally, as a consequence of lowered cost of Internet access and higher speed on the intra-Kazakhstani traffic. A number of blog platforms, social networks, photo- and file hostings, citizen journalism websites and podcast portals. In recent months, the state has revealed its steadfast interest in the virtual space. It has funded several projects from the budget - and as they promise, “it is only a beginning”. The e-government website has been redesigned, the presidential web-page is also awaiting change of design. Izumcheg suggests going further and using up-to-date technologies on an institutional level [ru]:
I think that in order to increase transparency of state purchases via automated systems, it is necessary to publish their source code under the General Public License. The same should apply to the e-voting system “Sailau” [Election].
Meanwhile, the most popular Russian-language blog platform Livejournal is still blocked in Kazakhstan since October last year. Recently, the opposition websites started suffereing from massive DDoS attacks campaign. One of such victims is the website of independent weekly “Respublika”, which often criticizes the prime-minister.
Its website is attacked and filteres, and they wrote about it to the prime minister. In response, he posted the newspaper's articles in his official blog. I think, it's a creative and powerful response, writes megakhuimyak [ru].
The well-known blogger's opinion is not shared by the chief editor of Internet-newspaper Zonakz.net, which has been experiencing DDoS attacks for two weeks. He alleges that the attacks were connected to the publication of 1. appeals that urged the people to partake in the opposition's rally and 2. materials from the rally, which demanded resignation of the government:
Of course, you can say (like you said to “Respublika” newspaper) – “publish your articles in my blog”. I appreciate the originality of this idea, but it does not satisfy me at all. We want to publish articles in our newspaper. Otherwise we could close down all critical newspapers and make them post their stuff in your blog.
“Terrorism on the web is a poblem that has to be solved by the law enforcement bodies. Who makes these attacks? It is time to find that out”, writes Yuri Mizinov in his open letter to the prime-minister, and asks whether he, the head of the government, has any connection to these attacks [ru].
Also posted on neweurasia.
Mexico: Scenes From an Outbreak
Almost two weeks after the outbreak of the H1N1 virus, Mexico City was declared in “state of emergency” suspending activities at closed populated spaces, such as schools, workplaces and restaurants, as well as large public events, such as concerts and football matches. In order to control the transmission of the virus, wearing a mask became an obligatory measure, and it painted a unique and devastating landscape of the streets of Mexico. These are some of the stories of the Mexican people.
Raúl Zepeda of the blog Banalidades y Algo de Teoría [es] (Commodities and Some Theory) describes streets of the city after the Friday's first health warnings:
El casco de Santo Tomas tiene un cariz espectral, los estudiantes que deberían estar llenando las escuelas del Instituto Politécnico Nacional se han quedado en casa, los rumores nocturnos de la suspensión de clases dejaron desiertas las escuelas Diego Rivera, Rabindranath Tagore y Frida Kahlo, así como la Normal Superior.
Las calles están inusualmente poco transitadas a pesar de ser un viernes, que en la Ciudad resultan tumultuosos, ruidosos, poblados y caóticos. Hay mas adolescentes en la calle, algunos en patinetas practicando en la avenida, otros caminando despreocupados.
The Saint Thomas quarter has a ghostly look, the students who should be at the National Polytechnical Institute have remained at home, the nightly rumors about the suspension of classes have left the Diego Rivera, Rabindranath Tagore and Frida Kahlo schools closed, as well as the Superior Teacher's College.
The streets are unusually empty even though it is a Friday, which in the City usually mean tumultuous, noisy, full and chaotic. There are more teenagers in the street, some are skating along the avenue, and others are walking without worry.
Photo of Mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral by El Enigma and used under a Creative Commons license. http://www.flickr.com/photos/marca-pasos/3483280250/
Gitana Mojada [es] shares about one of her trips in the Metro without using the facemask that authorities suggested to be worn in public spaces:
Subi al metro justo las 2pm el TRANREALISMO en su maxima expresion me rodeaba, este es realmente mi ambiente, la gente cubierta de mascaras… los hibridos miedos-humanos, me rodean. Huele a que despertaron, parece que hoy la gente sabe que morira, pero caray…. Olvidaron la primera parte aun estan vivos!
Entonces miro a un niño, su cara reflejaba el maximo panico, sus ojos brillosos, transparentaban la serie de comentarios que su madre le dio antes de salir de casa, me sente a su lado me miraba, asombrado, por mi “valentia” al no traer cubrebocas. Yo asombrada veia a su madre con un semi remedio esquibador del virus, pues su cubremiedos estaba sobre su garganta y no sobre su nariz y boca…
I boarded the Metro exactly at 2pm, the TRANSREALISM in its maximum expression surrounded me, this is really my surroundings, people covered with masks… the human-fearing hybrids surround me. It seems like they’ve just awoken, it seems like people know that they will die today, but hell… They forgot the first part, they’re still alive!
Then I looked to a kid, his face reflected maximum panic, you could see through his shiny eyes the series of comments that his mother gave him before going out of the house, I sat by his side, he looked at me, amazed of my “bravery” for not wearing a facemask. Amazed, I looked at his mother who wore a semi-remedy to avoid the virus, because her fearmask was over her throat and not over her nose and mouth…
Blogger Agridulce recounts frictions after coming back from the Federal District of Mexico City [es]:
Y como todas las veces que voy al D.F. me dediqué a lo mío, salí poco de casa, consentí, fuí consentida y poco ví las noticias. Al regresar a Guanatos City el taxista me preguntó: “¿Oiga y usté de donde viene?, si no es indiscreción”, -De la Ciudad de México- le contesté. Por el retrovisor ví que puso ojos de plato y en todo el recorrido noté sus ganas de salir corriendo del taxi… al final me preguntó que si no le tenía miedo a la influenza, le dije que le tenía más miedo al sistema de salud.
Mac of El Rincón No Poético [es] (Non-Poetic Corner) writes about the unfortunate conjunction of the flu panic with a small earthquake in the city [es] that struck the city earlier in the week:
Minutos antes del medio día estacionaba mi coche para llegar al trabajo, y me sorprendió ver que mientras yo quería entrar, todos querían salir.
¿Alarma por influenza en la empresa? Ante esta situación, uno ya no sabe qué esperar. Al llegar a las cabinas para mi programa de radio, me informaron del temblor, mientras los operadores y productores se pitorreaban de la situación.
- ¡Se va a acabar el mundo!
- No, hasta 2012, según los mayas.Después de la emisión, mi hermana me alegró el día:
“Hoy tembló porque nadie fue ayer a misa”.
Minutes after noon, I was parking my car to reach the office, and I was surprised to see that, while I was trying to get in, everybody wanted to get out.
Alarm of influenza in the office? At this point, one doesn’t know what to expect. When I arrived to the cabins for my radio program, they informed me of the earthquake, while the operators and producers laughed of the situation.
- The end of the world is coming!
- Not until 2012, according to Mayas.
After the transmission, my sister made my day:
“Today we had an earthquake because yesterday nobody went to church.”
Moreover, Twitter had also an important role when it came to opinions and understanding the humor of the victims. Published in Regioblogs [es]:
Eso de la influenza es una campaña viral que me estan tratando de colar por dos o tres lados
mergas! el tema de hoy en twitter son “La influenza vs. Los zombies”… ya pensaron en el soundtrack???
A mis compatriotas mexicanos les diré: Quedarse en Twitter todo el día es la manera más segura de no ser contagiado con #influenza
Los chilangos somos una raza en peligro de extinsión!!!! =O
Mexican newspaper El Universal also collected other curious moments from Twitter regarding the flu [es].
Links for Wed, 2009-05
Before news agencies reported that riot police and opposition supporters clashed in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, human rights lawyer Anna Dolidze writes on Resistance Georgia that she fears the ongoing stalemate and protests will lead to bloodshed.
Democracy For Nepal (DFN) weighs in whether an all party government is desirable and possible in Nepal after the resignation of the Prime Minister.
Groundviews highlights a series of videos published by Vikalpa, which interviewed leading civil society activists, politicians and academics to “interrogate the current situation in Sri Lanka, where we are told the war is at its end, and the LTTE defeated.”
Adil Najam at All Things Pakistan comments about the Obama-Zardari-Karzai summit which will be held tomorrow: “The tragedy of this trio is not just that all three countries - USA, Pakistan, Afghanistan - have failed to do the right thing, it is that none of the three have any idea about what the right thing to do is.”
Ashley Wheaton at The Dhaka Diaries comments about the faces of poverty in Bangladesh: “Poverty can be determined not only by your income but by by your access to services, your ability to make decisions for yourself, your level of security, your place in society… It can be very deceiving and it would take a lifetime here to truly understand.”
Kotha-Chhilo criticizes Bangladesh government's customs duty policy on imported second hand cars: “The government increases duty on those cars that the middle class people buy. So, you see! Our government, our elites want to make life of the middle class difficult.”
Repeating Islands reports that four people have died as a result of torrential rains and flooding in Martinique.
Diaspora blogger Uncommon Sense learns that the authorities have “cracked down on one of the few ways most Cubans can use to access the Internet.”
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