Mexican reporter Manuel Gabriel Fonseca Hernández, who covers crime for El Mañanero de Acayucan, a newspaper in the south of Veracruz state, has been reported missing since 19 September. His family says that, on day he disappeared, he had gone out to conduct interviews for a story he was writing for his main newspaper.
Mexican organised drug cartels have again threatened social network users using a mutilated body. In the second incident this month, the decapitated and tortured body of a woman was found dumped in a public park in Nuevo Laredo, Taumalipas, a city on the US-Mexico border.
The body was discovered in the early morning hours of Saturday, September 24, with a hand scribbled cardboard sign left next to it. It said “Nuevo Laredo en Vivo and social networking sites, I’m The Laredo Girl, and I’m here because of my reports, and yours. For those who don’t want to believe, this happened to me because of my actions, for believing in the army and the navy. Thank you for your attention, respectfully, Laredo Girl…ZZZZ.””
The victim was identified by Morelos Canseco, the interior secretary of northern Tamaulipas, as Marisol Macias Castaneda, a newsroom manager for the Nuevo Laredo local daily newspaper Primera Hora. The newspaper has not confirmed her title, but it is believed Macias Castaneda was targeted for her contribution to social networking sites.
Apparently Macias Castro contributed reports on drug violence to the blog, Nuevo Laredo EnVivo using the handle “Laredo Girl”. ZZZZ is the signature of Mexico’s most dangerous organised crime group. The Zetas started in Taumalipas as bodyguards for the Cartel del Golfo, an organised crime group from this area. The initials, Zetas, referred to a paramilitary group that initiated its activities in the northern state of Taumalipas, first as an enforcement group for the traditional drug cartel, Cartel Del Golfo, and then toppled the leadership for the Cartel Del Golfo, and is now moving its group that can work in Mexico, the United States and Central America.
Two weeks ago, two Twitter users were also attacked and killed for using the internet to report on drug related violence.
In post-revolution Egypt, street art has become one of the symbols of ongoing resistance. Yasmine El Rashidi reports on the graffiti artists of Cairo (more…)
With the strict supposedly “moral” codes imposed on Iranian society with increasing conservatism in recent times, this latest directive – banning ‘love triangles’ and ‘half naked men’ — issued to television programme directors this week, strikes me to be of little significance. It was more than 10 years ago that I reported in the Touch issue of COLORS magazine that even if married in the story, couples were not allowed to be filmed touching in any way. This distortion of every day living is pursued in all depictions of life in television and film and is known to be a distortion and deliberate by those imposing it. This was transparent in this latest ordinance because the wording was such:
“The unnecessary mingling of men and women in scenes including weddings, family parties, work situations and celebrations must also be strictly avoided.”
I use the word ordinance because such directives come from Iran’s Supreme Leader in however a round about way. It is Khamenei who carefully chooses the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcaster, and by law all channels are owned and controlled by the state.
This gross misrepresentation of us as a people, within a culture that celebrates community and family values, respect for elders and warmth and understanding in interpersonal relationships — now replaced by an imposed monstrous utopia — is a tragedy and consequential. In essence all it promotes is a parallel existence, lies and false conformity and very questionable moral codes. The fact that weddings and other family gatherings are as good as banned on television because men and women would necessarily be seen to be mingling, presents a view of society to a generation of children that does not match their daily experiences and therefore establishes the double life idea, instilling a sense of an unfamiliar model on-screen life and the other real one.
The Washington Times reports that this may all be a backlash to the popularity of an Iranian soap opera Forbidden Fruit that posed a threat to public morality. But given that half naked men amount to a fantasy concept on Iran’s state television, does this mean the directive could be aimed at sports too? The tradition of wrestling matches in Iran is normally broadcast despite the dominance of scantily-clad men. Watch this amazing clip for an insight:
Entitled ‘Too Young The Hero’, it’s a primer for a proposed documentary following three young lads as they prepare for the World Wrestling Championships in Hungary. The project needs $4000 to go ahead and has opened up a fundraising initiative to the public, where a $10 donation will get you a 1000 Toman note with the film’s title stamped on it, and more for more. There are 9 days to pledge.