BALANCE of CULTURE

Recent Security Issues in Zanzibar, Tanzania

View from our small plane landing at Zanzibar's modest airport, Spring 2011.

I was one of the relatively few Americans among 200,000 (mostly European) foreigners who spent time in Zanzibar and Tanzania last year, so the recent security issues of this East African island is saddening to hear. Even the UK, the largest source of tourism to Zanzibar, has issued a travel warning to its travelers in reaction to two separate incidents--four tourists who were mugged in the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam, while growing political protests on Zanzibar have "vagabond youths" torching churches and threatening tourist bars and grocery marts.

Police teams have been released on the streets after hotels and businesses demanded some extra support. The nationalities of the mugged tourists have yet to be released.

Most residents I met in Zanzibar are Muslim, and criminal acts--even petty theft--are considered extremely wrong in their community. Despite a strengthening tourist industry, most locals remain quite poor and lack even basic necessities such as running water and electricity. As such, an act of thievery is considered a highly gross insult.

Upon arrival in Tanzania, I was advised that if anybody tried to pickpocket or mug us, to yell out, "Simama, mwizi!" This means "Stop, thief!" in Swahili and apparently it isn't uncommon for a large group to form around the suspect, oftentimes killing or seriously injuring them. Theft in Swahili culture isn't questionable at all; this is based upon the group mentality of being in poverty and how no individual person deserves to have material possessions above others, especially through the act of stealing. 

But perhaps some of this traditional belief is swaying now, as so much is changing in people's sensibilities about the world. We see protests growing in all corners of our planet, so in an impoverished yet connected land like Tanzania perhaps we should expect to see citizens express their own discontent in rather anomalous ways. Tourists from wealthy nations are easy targets because the message will get through to the the media, perfectly demonstrated by the UK's travel advisory and even this blog post. 

That said, we still plan to return to East Africa sooner rather than later. The first time was right when the Arab Spring burst, perhaps next time will be even more dramatic. 

Tuonane baadaye, Zanzibar!

 

A Better AMERCIA?

Oh, Romney.

I'm proud to be an AMERCIAN, too!

Memorial Day Lantern Floating Ceremony

Hawai'i celebrates Memorial Day every year with a lantern floating ceremony at Ala Moana Beach in Honolulu. These wooden lanterns, made by local volunteers, are reused every year. Such a beautiful reminder of what an amazing country we live in. 

 

More gorgeous photos here!

BoC Dérive: 25 May 2012

Baxter, the company dog @Jason of Beverly Hills!

Online Dérive:

EGYPT: How the sudden flood of polling data from Egypt's elections has failed to produce much credible clarity. 

COUNTERFEIT: Security forces in Mexico raided a workshop making fake Mexican military uniforms for use by drug gangs.

FRICTION: Tensions are brewing between Nigeria and Germany.

BLUE: Global whaling statistics broken down by country since the early 20th century. 

CRACKDOWN: Nigeria has freed dozens of Chinese textile traders accused of "economic scavenging."

DUMB: Arizona secretary of state finally drops the Obama birthing issue, even apologizing for embarrassing the state.

ACTIVISM: YouTube launches a human rights channel. 

DECLINE: Maldives is the only South Asian country to not see an increase in tourist arrivals this year.

BAMBI: Mystery deer have somehow appeared on the Big Island of Hawai'i, causing friction between residents and government officials. 

Late Pizza Deliveries Teach Paraguayans About Hunger

Part prank, part do-gooder, this aggressive ad campaign is definitely a bold move. Knowing that most people get relatively cranky when they're hungry, a Paraguayan ad agency concocts a unique campaign of deliberately late pizza deliveries to ornery customers--a simple plan helping ordinary people to understand what it's like to be hungry for more than just one evening.

ONIRIA/TBWA teamed up with the Food Bank Foundation to work with two pizzerias in Paraguay. Both pizzerias assured customers their food would arrive in 45 minutes but deliveries were purposely completed much later, prompting angry inquiry calls.

Once the food finally does arrive, customers find a note that reads, "When you're hungry, you understand hunger." The pizzas are free of charge but any money given goes directly to the Food Bank Foundation, which helps those who are hungry on a regular basis. 

High-Brow Porn

Writer Alain de Botton's latest venture isn't about art, travel or religion--this time, the philosopher talks about reforming pornography:

Ideally, porn would excite our lust in contexts which also presented other, elevated sides of human nature – in which people were being witty, for instance, or showing kindness, or working hard or being clever – so that our sexual excitement could bleed into, and enhance our respect for these other elements of a good life.

de Botton plans to meet with "leaders in porn and the arts" in order to explore how to come up with a "better" kind of porn. 

Sometimes people take the high-brow mentality a little too far and this may be one of those times, unfortunately. I just don't know if it's realistic or even necessary to meet with the "leaders in porn and the arts" (an awkward phrase to both read and write!) when you have an entire online community of porn fans/users who can tell you everything those "leaders" probably don't know.

And despite the growing number of female porn fans, let's face it--the vast majority of viewers is still highly male. de Botton would probably have a better research pool if he included teenage boys with internet access in his exploration with these porn and arts leaders. Still, it should be interesting to see what the "arts" people have to say about a huge world that totally doesn't include--nor even acknowledge--them. 

Elections Not So "Free" for Most Egyptian Women

Can we all agree that the concept of free elections is valid only if women of all classes are included the political process? 

While the rapid development of Egypt's new political era unfurls this week, most media outlets are focused on how the country's first free presidential will affect the voters, or whether voters will choose a secular v. Islamic path. Certainly this week will be some sort of "moment of truth" for Egypt, but I can't help but wonder if the inherent gender bias ingrained in Islam society has left the women who helped oust Hosni Mubarak largely shut out of the political decision-making process since the revolution. 

Despite small signs towards equality such as a recent women's rights conference in Cairo, many Egyptian women voters are rightfully concerned of a divisive class distinction in terms of this week's elections. The well-organized Muslim Brotherhood has some fearing that they are taking advantage of uneducated, lower-class Egyptian women by influencing their votes through religious and charity efforts. To counter this, the newly reinstated Egyptian Feminist Union is sending transport-less women by the busloads to voting booths in order to gain their checkmarks. Women seem to be valued as voters in a race, but not as equal citizens in a society. 

Whether these women will actually vote for the Brotherhood's candidate Mohammed Morsi remains to be seen, as polls seem to largely be unreliable to date (as they often are even in the first world countries) and the Egyptian Feminist Union has yet to endorsed anybody (telling sign?). 

I happened to find myself in the Middle East and East Africa region early last year when the Arab Spring first grabbed the media's spotlight. Since then, it seems to me that the main "war" going on in Islam societies is against their own women--and I'm certainly not alone in this, as Mona Eltahaway's recent article nearly blew up the internet and international affairs circles last month. 

But it's not just the scary past and present that shows the war on women in the region. The Egyptian parliament, Islamist-dominated, is discussing proposals that would cancel out any progress on gender equality that has occurred in the past +1 year: lowering the legal age of marriage for girls from 18 to 13, as well as revoking divorced mothers' custody of their children at earlier ages than before (of course, the boys' age is even younger than the girls').

It's so easy to recall the images of protesting Egyptian women on the streets of Cairo, seemingly finding their voice in a rather hostile environment. But these new proposals indicate concerning facts, such as how women take up less Parliamentary seats than before Mubarak's oust. While this is indeed an exciting time for Egypt, the division between men and women remains quite sharp, as do the positions of women who come from upper- and lower-classes of Egyptian society. 

China Conglomerate Buys AMC--So What About Freedom of Expression?

AMC Entertainment's failure to go public last year apparently eventually led Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group to purchase the American theater operator for $2.6 billion yesterday. The deal, controlled by billionaire Wang Jianlin, includes about $1.9 billion of net debt (when was the last time you went to the movie theater?).

The agreement also potentially reveals warming relations between the US and Chinese film industries--just in February, China agreed to finally open more of its movie theaters to show American films. Chinese investment in its soft power has clearly been on the rise along with its economy, but we won't necessarily be seeing Chinese films through AMC until their cinematic content organically finds a place in the global film market (in other words, they're not going to force Chinese films that are subpar only because they now own AMC). 

I find this deal to be especially exciting for Chinese filmmakers who have long endured a lack of total freedom of expression in their work. Perhaps now, with this very global move in the international film market, freedom of speech and artistic expression issues will be better addressed and served. The thing is, a burgeoning economy is usually on a trajectory towards democratic values, no matter how gradual the process may seem….hopefully this is the case for China now, too. 

BoC Dérive: 18 May 2012

POV from our favorite booth @Cut

Online Dérive:

RIVALS: Opposing sides in the Maldives crisis vie for help from neighbor India.

REALITY: The details of the upcoming K-Town reality show, produced by Tyrese Gibson. 

EU: Should you cancel your trip to Europe this summer? 

SWEAR: A study suggests that profanities published on Twitter may forecast the outbreak of protests in countries with limited free expression. 

CIA: An excerpt from Ambassador Henry Crumpton's new book, The Art of Intelligence.

HINDSIGHT: George W. Bush seems to be busy this week--his piece on the Arab Spring.

EAT: The 10 best tacos in Los Angeles.

Shoe-Lace Tying OK, But Not Income Inequality?

Let me start off by simply stating: #FIRSTWORLDPROBLEMS. Moving on...

TED's refusal to distribute a talk by multimillionaire VC tycoon Nick Hanauer has the internet scoffing, causing reason to point out how the conference has officially jumped the shark. With so many questionable talks that are eagerly hosted by the now ubiquitous project, people are confused, to say the least. Especially Hanauer himself, who received a standing ovation at the end of his talk, which is on how America's middle class--not the wealthy--are the ones who actually create our jobs:

"We've had it backward for the last 30 years," says multimillionaire Seattle venture capitalist Nick Hanauer. "Rich businesspeople like me don't create jobs. Rather they are a consequence of an ecosystemic feedback loop animated by middle-class consumers, and when they thrive, businesses grow and hire, and owners profit. That's why taxing the rich to pay for investments that benefit all is a great deal for both the middle class and the rich." 

Besides the talk being "too partisan," (not sure how this is so partisan, unless you're coming from an ultra partisan perspective), Hanauer's lack of original research is stated as a reason why his talk doesn't hold up to TED standards.

I'd like to know since when are all TED talks based upon research? Go through the talks yourself and you'll find tons of speeches that have very little research involved. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but experience and ideas aren't technically "research." I'm not saying some of the talks aren't entertaining or useful, but with so many people online now, terms like "research," "innovation," and "think tank" have become so benign and misused that the real meanings are completely lost on even those who use these terms the most. So is anybody really surprised about this turn of events?

Also, does this have anything to do with that new free "TED" offshoot coming up?