Epidemic or a terrorist state?

I just received an e-mail from a Mexican friend of mine – with a citizen’s view on what is happening in Mexico – and influencing the rest of the world. Interesting read.

(written in Spanish by Gabriel Gaboides, translated with Google Translate and polished by me)

Monday April 27 2009

INFLUENZA: The Lie of the Year

It’s really depressing to see how people have been left chocked by a few days of TV and radio, because of the “Swine Influenza.” Thursday night Mr Calderon gave a message to the nation saying that there had been an outbreak of swine influenza virus, which is a “new and incurable” disease that had already caused several deaths, and he immediately said: “do not leave the street, do not go to school, movies, to clubs, etc”. But never said: “Do not be afraid”. Sure, he’s all we seek.

I have been reading a little and certainly not listening to the whole ball of nonsense they say in television, for example, found that the virus is the same that appeared a few years ago and was known as the “Asian flu”, which is a smokescreen to mask the serious economic situation that lived in Asia at that time.

The situation in Mexico is similar, the same Thursday night the Senate was approving the bill to legalize drugs, which allows the carrying of small doses of marijuana, cocaine, opium, crystal and other drugs ; forgive my lack of attention, but I have not seen in the news that they have discussed this and the law will be placed on approval by the Chamber of Deputies tomorrow (Tuesday 28). Find the note in the newspaper Millennium …

Nothing really serious? Then another of the laws that were passed on Thursday 23 is the “Law of the Federal Police” with which he awarded, among other things, approving the following:

• The use of police officers out of uniform in cases that warranted some investigation.(Bravo! Undercover cops, “civilian” armed robbery and kidnapping with impunity and more)
• The intervention of phone calls.(Adios privacy)
• The federal police to intervene and even now may retain e-mails if required.
• They are given all the facility to apply for a private personal information from customers for the purpose of research.
• Shares of the Corporation conducted surveillance, identification, monitoring and tracking in public Internet sites, in order to prevent criminal behavior. (Or, more precisely to prevent coups, marches, civil movements, and so on. Let us not forget that the revolution of the century is just around the corner)

Moreover, on the April 18, the International Monetary Fund approved a credit of 47,000 million dollars requested by the government of Mexico to address the crisis, if 47,000 million, osea U $ $ 47000000000 or 658000000000 Mexican pesos, within a year, this means that if there was external debt, and now there are big debts … but the news only got to the news, not to mention the risk of a loan, the magnitude of which would severely affect the population.

(…)

All this may well have been the cause of some marches, road closures, civil demonstrations, riots and armed by the Narco, but all was appeased by the curiously timely Influenza, which was timely as the government agencies (trade unions ) does not work, people do not go to the streets and by implication not to comment anything. What I could do was stay at home with no other option but to turn on the TV and every 15 minutes to see any spot to prevent the flu, and every 2 or 3 hours any news all the time talking about the same thing. Is it an epidemic or a terrorist state?

Gabriel Gaboides

(Disclaimer: The owner of this blog does not agree or necessarily sympathize with the view of the writer. The text has been published here to spread the multiplicity of perspectives on the epidemic situation in Mexico)

Horror, horror

As Jack Cafferty put it, “this woman will be a 72-year- old heartbeat away from being president of the United States”:

Thanks to TPM for collecting the evidence.

All Americans should watch this piece and then wonder why the Republican Party still succeeds in upholding the even polls. It’s beyond me.

Different perspective

Forget about your stressful life for a second and look closely at this:

Amazing. This recent photo was shot from a plane overflying the Amazon rain forest between Peru and Brazil in search of one of the world’s 100 remaining uncontacted tribes. Besides the fascinating aspect of having found new groups of mankind, this encounter raises ethical dilemmas:

“What is happening in this region is a monumental crime against the natural world, the tribes, the fauna and is further testimony to the complete irrationality with which we, the ‘civilised’ ones, treat the world“, says José Meirelles of FUNAI – the Brazilian government’s Indian affairs department.

For more photos and Reuter’s news article, go here.

How free became lousy

“Nyhedsavisen will be a revolution!“

Such wrote editor-in-chief David Trads courageously on his blog in the Summer of 2006, when announcing the three objectives of Nyhedsavisen, among which he aimed at publishing award-winning articles. In the autumn of 2006, the Danish “newspaper war” broke loose with the market launch of dato (Berlingske Officin), 24timer (JP/Politikens Hus) and Nyhedsavisen (investors). The concept that shook the entire media industry was thought out by the entrepreneurs behind Nyhedsavisen – and was quite simply “free”: Produce quality content and distribute it to nation-wide households. For Free.

Today, dato has closed down, 24timer is running with a considerable loss, and up until the recent round of layoffs Nyhedsavisen – now without David Trads – had a daily loss of DKK 1 million. Despite their ongoing losses, Nyhedsavisen can flaunt an impressive position as the country’s newspaper with the most readers. Whether their readership is established as a consequence of fine editiorial skills or thanks to the vast money tank supporting the paper’s yet inadequate business model is debatable. I would point to the last option.

The ‘Nyhedsavisen concept’ has failed massively. Journalistically, the newspaper is poorly regarded in the industry. Societally, Nyhedsavisen never became a clear voice as the scope of content decreased along with the size of staff. Technologically, developments never corresponded to the ambitions and the news media is still stuck with a disappointing website (far from living up to the goal of being the most read online news service). Financially, the newspaper is only alive because of the blind optimism being injected by the owners.

Regretfully, the private equity fund behind Nyhedsavisen has left indelible traces in Danish media – well illustrated by today’s speculations concerning the next editor-in-chief of the giant Jyllands-Posten: “The classical editor-in-chief we have seen so far… will be replaced by some more business-oriented types, concurrently with the industry changing from the classical newspaper production to distinct media conglomerates“, says Poul Madsen, editor-in-chief from Ekstra Bladet.

I’m not arguing against the fundamental competitive terms of modern society – as we are all surrounded and governed by the common rules of capitalism. I’m mourning for the real victim in this case: Journalism.

If the person at the end of the newsroom table is a capitalist – allowed to overrule the journalist – then we only have to look at the case of Rupert Murdoch and his take on objectivity to realize the appaling result.

Your circle matters

“Network is such a weirdly diffuse word”, says the conservative Danish businessman, Fritz Schur, in yesterday’s Berlingske interview, and prudently prefers the term “circle of acquaintances”.

Interesting numbers on just what people recruit through their “circles of acquaintances”:

• 30 % of all jobs.
• 25% of all housing.
• 17% of all relationships.
• 22% of all workmen.

The emphasis on networking might have reached a nauseating level, but nevertheless it can’t be ignored.

Election phenomenon

To my own surprise I have found myself heavily interested in the primary debates leading to the November election of a new U. S. president.

Not because I don’t find politics fascinating. I do. Another 10 months of political analysis, rhetoric tactics and waving polls just seems like a long affair.

So why can’t I let it go? I have tried narrowing down the reasoning behind my interest to five points.

1. Ultimate power battle
All people engage in daily clashes of wills. Either open fights with bosses, wives or neighbours, or subtle disputes with systems, policies or social environments. Being U.S. president is only achieved after having won the most extreme struggle for power – allowing the title holder to overrule all other conflicts.

2. Historic scenario
The high chances of beating the historic statistics and seeing the U.S. elect either a woman or an African-American makes this election a landmark. The great question is of course if the country is ready for such a step.

3. Intense coverage
The arrival of new (social) media has revolutionized the democratic processes. Everyone is signed on to rss feeds and can instantly follow the latest development, interact in discussions as well as particpate in the production of persuasive videos.

4. Local link
For more than 30 years Denmark’s tightrope walking between left- and right-wing of the Parliament has accompanied the U.S. elections. A remarkable detail is that whenever Denmark has switched from the conservative wing to the social democratic wing (or the other way around), it has been shortly following the U.S. switching from Republicans to Democrats (or vice versa). A Democratic president in November would strongly increase the chances of erupting the political landscape of Denmark.

5. Personal reflection
As a massive game with so much at stake the presidential elections can teach us about the significance of human ethics, the ubiquitous manipulation through rhetorics, the alarming importance of objective media and the awe-inspiring about talented people that choose to sacrifice their own private personas for the sake of their beliefs.

China takes the lead

In the latest report from CNNIC (Chinese Internet Network Information Center) the number of Chinese Internet users grew 53% from 137 million last year to an impressive 210 million now. Since the number of U.S. users is estimated at 215 million and China is experiencing a far more rapid growth than U.S. is, China is likely to be the largest online nation – even before this post is published.

However, analysts point out that China is approximately 15 years behind when it comes to market penetration, censorship and information access.

The “art” of optimism

I remember having discussions with a dear friend of mine on whether optimism or pessimism was the preferable perspective from which one should approach life. Optimism might lead to greater disappointment, whereas pessimism brings worse spirits. Eventually, we agreed on the happy medium: Realism.

Giuliani lacks just that.

I have entered the race!

Support your ego (or scare your friends) here.

The ghost of Reagan

Not since 1928 has a U.S. presidential election been without a former president or vice president participating in the race. This explains why the 2008 U.S. election is the most open, exciting and unpredictable within living memory.

While the Democratic candidates have been narrowed down to two favourites, the Republican side is blown wide open. The other night all Republican candidates were desperately trying to associate their own campaign to a popular president of the past: Ronald Reagan.

I wonder if they would have dared to present these claims if Reagan was still alive.

Interesting development: Bloomberg assumes a joker position.