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Generation Y » Much More Frightened Than Me
Generation Y is a Blog inspired by people like me, with names that start with or contain a "Y". Born in Cuba in the '70s and '80s, marked by schools in the countryside, Russian cartoons, illegal emigration and frustration. So I invite, especially, Yanisleidi, Yoandri, Yusimí, Yuniesky and others who carry their "Y's" to read me and to write to me.
Much More Frightened Than Me
This Friday was complicated from the start, I won’t deny it. In the morning, we were missing Claudio, a photography professor at the Blogger Academy, because an agent – who barely deigned to show him a card with the initials DES (Department of State Security) – arrested him. We had a little party at our house after the classes to celebrate the first anniversary of Voces Cubanas, which in its brief life now has 26 sites. I remember that in the middle of the hugs and smiles, someone told me to be careful. “In the system as it is today, there is no way to protect yourself from attacks from the State,” I told him, with the intent to scare away my own fear.
Around six in the evening we were on our way to a family gathering. My sister was celebrating her 36th birthday; my father heard her first cry early in the morning on the day set aside to celebrate railroad workers. Even Teo, with his adolescent reluctance to participate in “old people’s” activities, agreed to come with us. We were expecting the usual birthday party, with photos, candles to blow out, and “Happy birthday to you, Yunia, may you enjoy many more.” But, the many eyes that were lurking had another plan for us. On Boyeros Avenue, a few yards from the Ministry of the Interior and Raul Castro’s office, three cars stopped the miserable Russian Lada we had taken at a corner.
“Don’t even think about going to 23rd Street Yoani, because the Union of Young Communists is having an event,” shouted some men who got out of the Chinese-made Geely, which reminded me of a sharp pain in my lumbar zone. I lived through something similar already last November and today I would not allow them to put me head first into another car, with my son. A huge man got out of the vehicle and started to repeat his threats, “What is your name?” was Reinaldo’s question which the man never bothered to respond to. From Teo’s lanky body rose the ironic phrase, “He doesn’t say his name because he is a coward.” Worse still, Teo, worse still, he doesn’t say his name because he is not recognized as an individual, but rather simply as a voice for others much higher up. A professional camera was filming our every move, waiting for an aggressive pose, a vulgar phrase, an excess of anger. The injection of terror was brief, the birthday found us bitter.
How can we emerge unscathed from all this? How can a citizen protect himself from a State that has the police, the courts, the rapid response brigades, the mass media, the capacity to defame and lie, the power to socially lynch him and turn him into someone defeated and apologetic? What were they thinking would happen on 23rd Street today that would make them arrest several bloggers?
I feel a terror that almost doesn’t let me type, but I want to tell those who today threatened me and my family, that when one reaches a certain level of panic, higher doses don’t make any difference. I will not stop writing, or Twittering; I have no plans to close my blog, nor abandon the practice of thinking with my own mind and – above all – I am not going to stop believing that they are much more frightened than I am.
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10 comentarios a Much More Frightened Than Me
Statue of Liberty
Enero 30th, 2010 at 12:00God Bless those who are resisting the attacks of these shameful dogs.
Kent Schnake
Enero 30th, 2010 at 11:47Yoani, I pray for you often. May God grant you strength and peace in the midst of a totalitarian regime. Besides prayer, the one thing I seem to be able to do is spread the news that is on your blog. I sometimes post the link to it on my Facebook to remind my friends and family how hideous it is to live in an oppressive state like Cuba.
Very likely Cuban police will read this. I know that as Yoani has said, we know that the police and goverment are more afraid than the bloggers. The police would do well to study what happened to the oppressors in Eastern Europe once their regimes collapsed.
mikebrown666
Enero 30th, 2010 at 11:39Why is it that a government that touts the revolution as much as the Cuban regime is now so afraid of revolution? They know the next revolution will see them out of power? I hope for the best for you Yoani, your family and friends. I’ll keep reading and letting others around me know of Cuba.
Julio de la Yncera (Silent Voice)
Enero 30th, 2010 at 10:14A way to cripple the way the gather intelligence is by misinforming their intelligence on purpose. So that way they will not know when is true and when is false!
They for example may learn that a manifestation will take place at such and such place thru you guys and then do not do it. Is kind of like boxing when you make a move but is not really going to be an actual hit but just to let the opponent concentrate on that direction. That way they may not know when the hit is coming for real.
Enero 30th, 2010 at 10:08I must be still sleepy
I mean to say “one day they may..” instead of “One they they may…”
Enero 30th, 2010 at 10:03I meant to say
“hide information” not “high information”
Enero 30th, 2010 at 10:00Igor Funny you mentioned that. I was also watching the downfall of Ceausescu and by every second they loose to introduce reform they are approaching more and more to and end style Ceausescu. One they they may have in the revolution plaza all these people and instead of chanting for them they will be chanting against them. They have failed to understand that the days where they could easily high information in and out of Cuba are over. There is a new reality for the world with the Internet. With an interconnected world is difficult if not impossible to do the brainwashing they do.
Just think this. Yoani Sanchez and individual have more audience than any of the media coming out of Cuba by the regime!!
They got to be afraid! very afraid. They know they are not in power anymore is a matter of time. how much time can they buy to steal the few millions for retirement in some cushy island? If they can scape justice.
It is my understanding they have place cameras in strategic places in Havana. Those cameras exist so they can watch people in case of a manifestation or an event like it happen before and that could be repeated again. Before a manifestation it will be nice to disable this cameras so that they do not have access to information. They will be easy to disable with spray paint or something that will blur the vision of the big brother state watching over.
Crippling the way the state is able to gather intelligence is important. To that effect is important to learn the mechanisms they have to gather information.
We know the usual ones like using moles and spies but those are not the only ones.Igor
Enero 30th, 2010 at 09:37Julio , you are so right. See the link with the Romanian dictator. He gather the masses to preach his usual non sense. The uprising in the Capital started with the masses being gathered by him. The next day he was captured, 4 days later trial and sentenced to death. For years he did not wanted to abolish death penalty so he could eliminate freedom fighters. He was the last one executed in the country
Enero 30th, 2010 at 06:47Yoani
I do not think their objective was to make you afraid. They by now know they will not be able to stop you or force you in anyway.They were either trying to stop you from going to 23 or maybe they were just trying to document with their film cameras for them to learn or to later show. In reality I think the camera touch must be a safety measure for them and you so that whatever happen in one of this arbitrary arrests is documented.
They are afraid Yoani. They know the written word is more powerful than all the weapons they have to control you. They know your word travels fasts and wide thru the whole world. They know! and they are afraid.
It seem almost as if they have all the power but we know they do not because they do not have the approval of the people. That’s what they lack. They are even afraid that one of this manifestations they prepared people could turn against them. One day this will happen. Nobody knows. One day those that the push to support them as rulers may joint the others protesting. The day that happen they will be doom.
We need to get those that support or supported the regime to joint us. We need forgiveness.
Enero 30th, 2010 at 06:31Yoani from now is pretty obvious that the regime’s state security took Claudio off the streets so he could not take pictures to document. And that is the same reason why the pick some bloggers so they could not see or joint the manifestation that was going to take place in 23 street.
Interesting is that by doing so from now forward the state security will become a messenger of bad news for the regime. So seen Claudio or any of you temporarily arrested means that something will be happening that the regime does not want you to participate or see. It will be important to transmit this information.
via desdecuba.com
For anyone who thinks Cuba is a wonderful system (I'm looking at you Sean Penn) you need to read this blog post. I've been following Yoani for a couple of years now and I'm really afraid the Cuban government will 'silence' her voice forever.
Jan 29 / 10:54am
Jan 29 / 9:23am
Notes From the Voodoo Cafe: Make-Up For My Hoo-Ha. Like That’s Going to Happen.
Because I’m thinking, ladies, this: if he’s such an uber-critical sort of man that he’s down there, naked, scouting the terrain, and instead of thinking this is the happiest he’s been since Christmas 1969, he’s thinking, “Goodness, this must be some really old and worn-out scooz,” then that’s one dude who wasn’t really all that interested in the first place, you know? He might as well go down to Carpet City and offer his services in vetting the Berber. Then he could go on all day long about color and texture and spring-y-ness, and everyone would be ultra glad.
Funniest. Article. Every.
Jan 29 / 9:09am
A Verdict on the Vaccination Boogeyman | BlogHer
Have you ever wondered why, exactly, vaccines are erroneously associated with autism? I'll tell you: In 1998, Dr. Andrew Wakefield held a press conference to announce that his research had revealed a possible link between the MMR vaccine and autism. He published his findings in the respected independent medical journal The Lancet, and spent the next few years promoting his vaccine-autism "concerns" through media outlets like the TV news magazine 60 Minutes.
The result was panic, a vaccination rates nosedive, and the resurrection of vaccine-preventable diseases like measles.
In 2004, it was revealed that Wakefield had also been conducting a separate, simultaneous study funded by lawyers seeking compensation for clients who claimed their children suffered from vaccine damage. Ten of Wakefield's twelve original paper co-authors, horrified by Wakefield's conflict of interest as well as the public health crisis they'd help cause, issued an official retraction in The Lancet [PDF], stating, "We wish to make it clear that in [Wakefield's] paper no causal link was established between MMR vaccine and autism as the data were insufficient."
But the retraction wasn't nearly as newsworthy as the original claims, and besides, it came too late: Anti-vaccination fears had been established, and were burgeoning. They were harnessed by gullible torch-wielding celebrity Jenny McCarthy, who leads media crusades to demand the "truth" about the vaccines she claims caused her son's autism, even while she encourages the enraged and the credulous to dismiss any evidence that contradicts her "Mommy Instinct" on the matter. Organizations like Autism Speaks milk the "tragedy" of autism to raise millions of dollars, then divert a disproportionate amount of those precious funds towards vaccine/autism research instead of using them to support autism families and adult autistics in need.
Wakefield has always denied any wrongdoing, even as the fallout from the Lancet retraction spurred his relocation from the UK to the United States. He has even occasionally gone on the offensive, using the media arm of Thoughtful House, his US autism organization, to try to discredit Brian Deer, the journalist whose ongoing research first revealed the extent of Wakefield's questionable actions. Though I can't fault Wakefield for acting out, as Deer's efforts led to Wakefield being investigated by the UK's General Medical Council (GMC) for professional misconduct.
Finally, after more than two years of expert witness testimonials, hearings, and deliberation, the GMC has reached a verdict [PDF]: They determined that Wakefield "acted unethically" during his original study. They also found that he violated the non-patient-contact guidelines of his research contract, that he conducted risky procedures such as spinal taps without sufficient basis, that he manipulated his findings, and that in general he conducted his research "dishonestly and irresponsibly." (Note that the GMC specifically did not address whether or not Wakefield's conclusions were valid. They didn't have to. The Lancet had already made its retraction.)
Wakefield continues to have staunch supporters despite the GMC's verdict, which is unsurprising to thinking members of the autism community. Wakefield has long been a darling to contrarian organizations like Age of Autism and Generation Rescue, who never stop confidently proclaiming that a horse is a cow, and encourage supporters to bully anyone who hears the animal neighing. They hypocritically castigate mild-mannered vaccine proponent Paul Offit for making money off vaccine patents though that is his job, while conveniently ignoring one of the goals behind Wakefield's Lancet study: to impugn the MMR vaccine so he could patent (and one assumes, reap the financial rewards from) a replacement vaccine.
How has Wakefield himself responded to the GMC's verdict? He keeps mooing. He keeps denying any wrongdoing. Just keep reminding yourself that he's a unethical cow.
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My thanks to the following bloggers for providing links, and for sharing their great big skeptic brains:----
Shannon Des Roches Rosa
Squidalicious.com parenting first, autism second
CanISitWithYou.org real tales of schoolyard terror and triumph
My Child Has Autism and I Vaccinate you heard me
via blogher.com
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