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November 20th, 2007
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China: Bankrupt ant farmers prepare to protest
· 23:38
Shenyang was mobbed today with furious ex-ant farmers, former employees of Yilishen, a media darling and one of China's most well-known brands in the health supplement market, as the company has just closed, taking the huge amounts its peasant-class employees had invested with it. The city's ant farming industry is no stranger to controversy, and neither is the company. Blog posts on the subject were quickly deleted, including most of the ones below, but a larger mass action remains scheduled for November 21.
[Nov. 22 update (futher updates below): video is trickling out, and bloggers are rushing to save it before it gets deleted like this 56.com clip which was posted at 11am today and received 37 pages of comments before it was taken down just after 3pm. Here's one from Ku6 user Muxiwen:]
And a slideshow from 56.com's Yu Jian entitled ‘The biggest post-Liberation riot in Shenyang since the Cultural Revolution‘, hopefully simulating the video he had deleted yesterday:
NetEase blogger ‘Heartbreak leaves no scars' relates to the incident through a November 18 post recounting a phone call with a friend that lost nearly all of her savings, ‘hurt is a kind of unspeakable pain':
今天，姐打来电话，声音很是无力与沮丧。她告诉我‘小妹，蚁力神完了，姐的希望破灭了！我手握听筒，竟一时语噻。我找不到更动听的语言来安慰姐姐。面对姐二，三十万的投资转瞬间即将成为泡影的现实，我那几句华丽，肤浅的劝慰，是不是太显苍白无力？要知道，对于一个依靠月工资收入的普通人家，一点一滴的积蓄都是从牙缝省下来的，那是姐几十年的心血啊！孤注一掷之后，有多宽的心态，才能再付之东流时，笑着说我无所谓？我体会得到姐的心情，但我却望尘莫及，时至今日，我唯有在心里对姐说；姐，挺住！不管你即将面对的是怎样的一种结局，也许这几十万血本无归，也许你的损失会最大限度的降低，这已经都不重要。看看你拥有的现在，最起码儿女都已成人，不用你操心；最起码你跟姐夫加起来的退休金也有四千来块；最起码你们已年届六旬，却还身子骨硬朗！。。。。。。姐，看看你身边可以顺手拈来的幸福，那些身外之物还重要吗？
Baidu blogger dayongcom also shares a conversation with a friend in an earlier post dated Nov. 16, ‘Risk, risk…':
今天和一个当蚁力神养户的朋友聊了一会，他的心情比我差多了，可以说他都要疯了！听他说话显的非常激动。他真是一个什么家当都没有的人，他母亲在他小时候就没了，父亲常年有病，活着时候政府还给他家办了个“特困”三年前他父亲也没了，“特困”待遇也没了。随后住的平房也动迁了，好象政府是给了八万多块钱，也不够买个房子的。后来又找了个离过婚的女人处对象，一直和对象到处租房子住。他对象当售货员，女人工作还好找点，要学历没学历要长相没长相的男人可就不好混了，他以前还有点前科啥地，只能找地方打个短工干两天。动迁给的那点钱除了生活用点外今年五月都投在了蚁力神上，返回的那点钱又凑合一下接着投了进去~~~~今年10月份竟然开始不返钱了！而且一托再托，转眼又托到11月21日了~~~~现在蚁力神公司动向不明对他来说简直就是折磨！这点钱在有的人眼里看虽然不多，但这是他全部家当和对未来的希望啊！这要是出点差错他以后会怎样面对生活？我真不敢想！我除了安慰他两句之外啥办法也没有，还是祝他好运吧。怎么现在这社会明目张胆的骗子这么多？？真是明目张胆的开玩，ZF睁一只眼闭一只眼任其发展壮大。。。现在蚁力神动态不明，要是再定性非法融资后辽宁不得被全国人说成骗子省啊！这社会陷阱多啊，有些人掉下去几回没事，但有的人掉下去后果可非常严重！
‘How many ants, how much worry?' asks NetEase blogger Begging in Paradise in a Nov. 20 post:
“蚁力神”不神了,王凤友不灵了.天玺集团大厦将倾.日前养殖业户最为关注最为敏感的话题莫过于此.千千万万家养殖” 黑多刺蚂蚁”的人们最为担心的事终于发生了.
…
此时此刻同情是没有丝毫作用的,我只能在心底深深地 那些” 黑多刺蚂蚁”的养殖业户,遭遇了这很残酷的事实.几多蚂蚁,基多愁!我感同身受,天庸讳言,这是个难以忍受的煎熬的时段.
….
近日耳闻王凤友的”天玺集团”资金运作出现危机时,在大家的猜测与冷静的分析中得出结论,恐怕每天都在一堵窟窿的王凤友其实活得非常沉重,比谁都累!一个人如果过着拆东墙补西墙的日子,那简直是一种无情而可怕的生活.
…
我们拭目以待,静看事态的发展
…
At this point in time, sympathy is of absolutely no use to me, I can only look deep inside myself….those black ant farmers have been met with a most cruel truth. How many ants? How much worry! I fully sympathize, and there's no need to keep silent. This is a hard, tormenting moment to endure.
…
Recently the word has been that Wang Fengyou's “Tianxi Group” has been running on dangerously low funds, and the conclusion of people's speculation and calm analysis has led them to fear daily that Wang Fengyou is in the hole, and actually getting by with the utmost difficulty, more exhausted than anyone! Anyone who only gets by by tearing the bricks off the east wall just to build the west wall, simply must have a cold and terrible life.
…
We can only wait and see what happens, and calmly watch how the situation develops.
Not gently, judging from the photos NetEase blogger Diadora posted on the evening of Nov. 20:
蚁力神养户围堵市委,省委,声势浩大!有上万之众.来自本溪\辽阳\大连\鞍山等地.现省委已调派大量的防爆警察,周边的警力均已出动!!!
Calmly is not how most people seem to have reacted. From an anonymous and unsympathetic poster with an alleged semi-insider's view, writing on the ChinaByte forum:
蚁力神终于TMD的倒闭了：蚁力神倒闭,养殖户血本无归!
坑害了多少农民阿。。。。。
两年前我家就在养，周围邻居亲属都在养。。。。
赵本山还在拍摄的流行连续剧《刘老根》里帮蚁力神做广告，这些全栽进去了。。。。
Two years ago my family was farming, and so were all the neighbors and relatives around us….
Zhao Benshan is still filming his popular sitcom Liu Laogen and using it to do ads for Yilishen…
[Frequently seen on Chinese television]
蚁力神走到今天是一个必然的结局.本人在蚁力神做过一年多的分公司经理,当时想不明白,为什么产品卖的不好,各个分公司都陪钱,而蚁力神还象没什么事一样,对外鼓吹大发展呢?后来明白了,是为了让辽宁城乡的人都对蚁力神放心,让他们掏腰包养蚂蚁.可是这种借来的高利贷钱迟早是要还的,蚁力神想到了去香港上市,可惜,”伟哥”事件又把这件事情毁了.如果2004年上市成功.能募集到14亿资金,蚁力神就可以从养蚂蚁集资的事情里脱离出来,只是,人算不如天算.这时候蚁力神已经没有退路,只能继续扩大养殖户,用后面人的钱还前面人的钱.本来这样的事情不太好做的长久,但是在蚁力神公司的大力运做下,在政府的默许和媒体的推波助澜下,在无知人们认为天上掉馅饼的情况下,蚁力神走到了今
很多人怨恨,埋怨,其实这一切都是你自己的无知造成的.当然政府和媒体也有责任,你又能把他们怎么样?只有自己提高警惕和认识才能少上当和不上当.
蚁力神也知道自己要做的是稳定人心,只要大家都认为他没事,蚁力神就会存在的长久些但是他们一定是数学学的不好,这是需要按几何方式有人加入才能维持下去的事实,是不可能实现的目标,今天终于停摆了.我为那些后来的加入者祈祷!
Both alarming and inspiring is the wiki that someone has set up just to keep track of how the larger protest proceeds; an excerpt:
蚁力神要是破产 政府就是罪魁祸首！ 一个经营了8年的公司 那么多荣誉那么多光环！明明知道公司的存亡关系到上百万老百姓的死活，政府为什么不帮助蚁力神渡过难关！ 明明知道多少人家破人忙 政府完全不顾我们死活！ 政府根本就不想扶植蚁力神！任其自生自灭，是政府喝了我们的血！现在还要我们的命！！！！！！ 今天打人的警察，我记下了他的警号115951 老爷们明天都带上白酒御寒 到时候坐在省委门口边喝边研究 喝多了就他妈的闹反正都到绝路了，有时间的明天都去，别再家等现成的了，都是我们自己的事情。 没别的办法了.能看见我说的这句话的人都尽最大的能力去沈阳了,也就只剩下去沈阳的这条道了,如果说现在还在想着在家里等的话,那就都别想拿到钱了 现在的情况我想大家都知道,现在就是不怕事闹大就怕事闹小,现在政府都把消息封闭了,
40多天啦，相信大家都是在极度的紧张中度过的，我们担惊受怕这么多天现在还是在拖我们养护，我们决不能妥协拉，ｙｌｓ从不返钱开始就有政府在参与（因为媒体和网络都在封锁蚁力神的消息，所以只能是政府参与在这里才会出现这种情况），政府想让我们养护受到损失是不肯能的，我们大家一定要齐心协力把我们的血汗钱要回来，明天大家都要去，这个事情不搞大，不引起社会各界的关注，我们就什么都得不到拉，不能让政府不能让ｙｌｓ这么对待我们养护，群里有资料（大家多多收集）我们大家多向外界媒体，新闻评论，国外网站，各国大使馆，南方的一些新闻媒体等反映，特别是网络流量比较大的社区（猫扑，搜狐，新浪，中华网，中青网等等），我们大家有相机的，都摄像机的都拿着，把政府的丑恶嘴脸记录下来，我们大家一定要齐心，不要持观望态度，钱都没有啦，以后也过部下去啦，还怕什么呢，如果不还我们的血汗钱，奥运会就别想开啦！！！！！！！！
Videos posted on several Chinese video sharing websites show a talk Yilishen president Wang Fengyou gave recently under what appears to be heavy police protection; in the comments left below this video, one reader estimates 5,000-6,000 people showed up at the Liaoning province Party committee hall on November 20. Many comments now following that are death threats aimed at Wang timed for Nov. 21, when the first main protest is set to take place:
Update: The video above has been taken down, but there are more. This video from Youku user Angel Bu lists a QQ group for ant farmers to discuss their plight in the comments, as do videos put up by user kefe1:
Update, Nov. 21, 3pm:
MSN Live Spaces blogger YoungDan68 writes this afternoon of trying last night to take the baby home for a diaper change and finding his road completely shut off and himself remains unable to return home for the moment.
Also this afternoon are several photos taken yesterday and today from Ycul blogger Wen Xuan, who writes that ant farmers began gathering at the Yilishen HQ, which has since been taken over by the People's Armed Police, around 10 am on Nov. 19, creating a very chaotic scene wherein no-one it seems was hurt. Today, Nov.21, she writes, about 10,000 people had gathered at the provincial Party committee hall by around 1:30 pm:
Update2, Nov. 21, 10pm:
Same old whack-a-mole approach; information surrounding what's going on in Shenyang keeps getting deleted at a rate just a little bit faster than bloggers are able to spread it around(forgot to take into account that Bullog is back, see links in Chinese below). Ycul's Wen Xuan (see above) is back with another post. She asks:
为什么会有这么多人陷入？这样一个显而易见的谎言为何会延续如此之长？敬请关注近期出版的成都传媒集团，先锋中国《调查》深度报道《蚁力神，150亿集资背后的疯狂！》
How could so many people get caught up in this? How could such an obvious lie propagate as long as it has? I'd ask you to check out the recently published investigative report from Vanguard China's “Investigation”, “Yilishen, the insanity behind the 15 billion raised!” put out by Chengdu Media Group.
Some interesting information is being collected on the Beijing DVD bbs; among what can now been seen there is background to how Yilishen products ended up being banned in the USA, an explanation of how Yilishen outsources its bee-raising needs, and enough statistics to make a newspaper editor quit drinking coffee; a short example:
目前蚁力神养殖专业户的年发展速度已经超过40％，在册养殖专业户的数量为27 万户，平均每户投入资金4.2 万元，总金额上百亿元，涉及到的家庭人口100 万
The Free China blogger at MSN Live Spaces posted some photos just before noon today:
The Aboluowang blogger has added a few others:
And even more can be found, for now, at the Yilishen8 blog hosted by NetEase:
Update, Nov. 2223:
最近消息 (latest news)：
谁用谁知道？ (Wang Xiaofeng!)
沈阳市中心连续3天发生示威事件：陷入一片混乱
[1510报童] (1510!)
蚁—力—神怎么了？为什么消息会被封锁？(Mop)
sogou真不是盖的！人家那搜索技术……
沈阳蚁力神事件照片综合 (photo slideshow round-up, and this blog has been on top of the story)
[G2G] Re: “蚁力神”被和谐了！！！
蚁力神咋回事？
蚂蚁
‘Natural’ viagra arouses farmers’ anger
超级链接综合 Comprehensive round-up
“蚁力神”神话的破灭
11.20辽宁省沈阳市爆发大规模示威，数万人聚集省委省政府，沈阳全部警力出动。（苹果日报）
谁愿意去沈阳越俎代庖报道蚁力神养殖户的相关情况？ Who's willing to go to Shenyang and poke around to find out and report on the ant farmers' situation? (Zola!)
新纪录 A new record (of deletion) (He Caitou!)
沈阳万人抗议“蚁力神”欺诈 包围省府 Ten thousand Shenyangers protest the Yilishen scam, surround the provincial government
中国速度 ChinaSpeed
蚁力神到底怎么了 Just what did Yilishen do?
蚁力神王奉友是否被抓的最新消息 The latest news on whether or not Yilishen CEO Wang Fenyou has been arrested
蚁力神倒塌，沈阳蚁农暴动 Yilishen collapses, Shenyang's ant farmers revolt
一个天大的赌局该收场了 One astronomical gamble ends badly
蚁力神的事情 Yilishen's affairs
蚁力神功能性灭绝 Yilishen's effectiveness has evaporated
谁封谁知道 Who's deleting, no-one knows (a pun on the Yilishen product slogan, ‘who's using it, no-one knows) (Buchong!)
赵本山葛优，蚂蚁上树 The ants are marching up the tree upon which Zhao Benshan sits (Han Han!)
搜集关于沈阳事件的现场图片文字 A collection of photos and writings from the scene of the Shenyang Incident (Beifeng!)
沈阳天玺集团多年来以高额回报的承诺，同数十万名养殖户签订合同收购“拟黑多刺蚂蚁”，用于生产一种叫“蚁力神”的保健食品。近月，天玺集团突然中断收购，也没有依照还款计划分期支付投资回报，还传出公司已经破产、高层出逃的消息。大陆互联网的消息说，数万名投资者星期二从四面八方涌到天玺集团在沈阳的总部示威，又到辽宁省委抗议，数千公安武警严阵以待，气氛非常紧张。记者星期三打电话到辽宁省委了解情况，没有人接听电话。记者又向天玺集团所在地的皇姑区公安分局了解：
记者：蚁力神的投资者几万人到省委反映情况要求解决投资款的问题，有这事吗？
警员：这我不能告诉你，我不接受采访。
而知情人士星期三晚向记者表示，投资者还聚集在省委大门外：
知情人士：示威者今天还在请愿，一部分在蚁力神公司总部，一部分在省委外。那天我听他们说省委那边封了路过不去了。现在好象没有听说官方正式表态发言要解决这件事。示威者相互在劝不要冲动，只要要回钱就行了。我没看到这两天发生了冲突，流血之类的事，也没听说抓人。
记者：蚁力神是不是中止了向养殖户收购蚂蚁？
知情人士：现在比较确切的说是没有返钱（给高额劳务费）。原来说十月份应该返钱的，然后推到了这个月，今天（星期三）要返钱的，现在又推到要下个月才返钱。出了什么问题天玺公司至今没有一个正式的说法。
蚁力神系列产品，根据其广告，是从中国特产的“拟黑多刺蚂蚁”体内提取特殊营养制成。由于“拟黑多刺蚂蚁”是主要原料，天玺集团与养殖户协议，养殖户以万元为单位向集团购买养殖装置，养成后高价卖给集团。虽然天玺集团自称蚁力神保健食品营养丰富、固本培元，但是产品是否具有那么强的功效一直存疑。而年销售额仅一亿多元人民币，也使得集团也从难以说明其资金回报的来源。
不过，天玺集团拥有商务部首批直销牌照，媒体不断地宣传它的合法性，公司总经理王奉友是全国商会副主席，在春节联欢晚会上亮相，被称为慈善家。因此，经营八年来，投资的养殖户数十万人，涉及资金难以计算。
二零零四年，美国食品与药品管理局向美国的消费者建议不要服用天玺集团的蚁力神产品因为该产品含有治疗阳萎的药物伟哥的成分，大陆也有一两家媒体披露：加了伟哥的产品好使，不加的不好使。此后，天玺集团的财务状况每况愈下。养殖户纷纷质疑，集团真正的目的是收取养殖户的抵押金，用后加盟养殖户的抵押金给先加盟的养殖户，以骗取更多人投资加盟。
星期二开始的上访请愿开始后，大陆互联网上有关蚁力神的讨论和示威讯息被官方大幅删除。知情人士说：
知情人士：网站上看不到相关消息了，我是进入养殖户的QQ群里才看到相关消息的，养殖户就是用这种方式联系的，而且很多QQ群被封了，不能发言了。
More from ESWN:
128 comments · »»Once upon a time, there came along a company named Yilishen (蟻力神) in China. The company sells health and food products that derived from ants. But how does the company ensure that it gets an adequate supply of ants from which to extract the ingredients required for their products?
Yilishen actually used the well-known behavior of ants by recruiting massive numbers of ant farmers. Each ant farmer signs up with the company with an initial fee of 10,000 yuan, and then he gets supplied with the company ant-breeding equipment. The ant farmer gets paid for the number of ants produced at a price that ensures him a good profit if he meets the quota. Hundreds of thousands of people sign up.
The ability of the company to pay the ant farmers requires that enough of the ant-based products are being sold. If the sales exceeds the supply, all is well. If the sales is lower than the supply, it is hell to pay.
Recently, Yilishen suddenly discontinued buying from the the ant farmers as well as the payments. The rumor was that the company was bankrupt and the senior company officials have esconded. Several tens of thousands ant farmers converged to the company headquarters in Shenyang to protest without effect. So last night, the protestors switched their target and surrounded the Liaoning provincial party committee's office and broke through the police cordon to wave banners and chant slogan. The police are on full alert. Meanwhile, all discussions about Yilishen and the demonstrations have been disappeared from the mainland Chinese Internet.
Peru: Blogs from El Comercio
· 20:20
After the last Festival of Blogs (see participants) organized by BlogsPerú [es], it remained clear that although there is a certain percentage of bloggers who do not see the blogs of the newspaper El Comercio in a very good light, perhaps they may seem to be threatened by its presence and obvious mass diffusion, the majority agrees that it would be stupid to deny them the right to be called blogs. It is true also that to be a blogger with a salary is seen perhaps with a certain envy and that on the other hand some speculate that these wage-earning bloggers once they conclude their contracts, do not have the intention of continuing to blog on their own time.
For a historical view, in Roberto Bustamante’s blog El blog del Morsa [es]’, he published the post ‘the revolution of the blog: blog day peru’ with the following passage:
no soporto los rollos arties de raúl cachay en ¿descontrolados? (en realidad ni un solo blog de el comercio, que en realidad son más bien columnas digitales antes que blogs en el sentido estricto de la palabra).
I do not support the artiness of raúl cachay in out of control? (in reality neither one of the blogs of “El Comercio”; they actually are digital columns rather than blogs in the strict sense of the word).
This produced a reaction in a number of different blogs and the comments on this matter represented varied possible approaches to the topic, nevertheless the only blog of “El Comercio” that took up the gauntlet and challenged the assertion was Santa Lima of Juan Manuel Robles who said in Chifera Habich (I):
Ahora resulta que esto no es un blog. Yo no soy un blogger y quienes leen estas líneas no son seguidores de blogs, sino cándidos cibernautas atrapados por las fauces de ese monstruo hipnotizador chupa-lectores que es El Comercio. O sea, ustedes no me siguen: les soy impuesto por alguien más grande. Soy falso. Acabo de leer eso en una página en la que unos chicos muy exaltados celebraban el Día del blogger, mega evento ritual virtual al que, por supuesto, no fui invitado. Fue así como me enteré de algo que se sostiene hace tiempo: Santa Lima no es un blog porque, entre otras cosas, los bloggers de verdad no cobran. Bueno, mientras le buscan otro nombre a lo que están leyendo (”parablog” suena bien, creo), yo voy a hacer lo que más o menos hago siempre, o sea, mirar las cosas, escribir sobre ellas y ver cómo reacciona mi público.
Now it turns out that this is not a blog. I am not a blogger and whoever reads these lines are not followers of blogs, but candid cibernauts caught in the stomach of this hypnotic monster, that is: “El Comercio”. Meaning, you do not follow me: I am imposed on you by someone bigger. I am false. I have just read this on a page where a few very impassioned boys were celebrating the Day of the Blogger, a mega ritual virtual event to which, of course, I was not invited. It was thus that I found out about something that is supported for some time now: Santa Lima is not a blog because, among other things, the real bloggers do not charge. Good, while they look for another name for what they are reading (”parablog” sounds good, I believe), I am going to do what more or less I always do, that is, look at the things, write about them and see how my public reacts.
This response also generated some comments in several blogs. Finally Morsa in the post yo, blogger wrote:
ya, démosle vuelta. he escrito ya demasiado sobre los blogs, qué son y qué no son y me rindo. si los periodistas del comercio dicen que sus columnas digitales son blogs, no hay ni un problema: estamos en la época del geek is beautiful, y me imagino que renato cisneros y juan manuel robles quieren un poquito de vibra friki (que no le hace mal a nadie).
Now, let's turn it round. I have already written too much on the blogs that are blogs and on those that are not and I give up. if the journalists of “El Comercio” say that their digital columns are blogs, there is no problem even here: we are in the epoch of “the geek is beautiful”, and I imagine that renato cisneros and juan manuel robles want a bit of freak wave (it does not harm anybody).
But let´s start the review of blogs with the already mentioned and quite popular Santa Lima of Juan Manuel Robles, who usually devotes himself to gastronomic and related topics. For example his last post ‘La Bocina familiar’ tells us about … ice creams:
El tiempo borra ciertas cosas, en eso consiste su lógica inapelable. Nos encanta recordar con nostalgia las marcas registradas que aderezaron nuestra infancia como si fueran parte de un pasado más auténtico, acaso queriendo olvidar que la industria de helados más grande del país siempre tuvo una maquinaria marquetera abrumadora, que incluía argucias luminosas como ese comercial con la música de Bobby McFerrin que luego usaron los pañales Huggies en Estados Unidos (que bueno, Donofrio, Donofrio que bueno). En otros tiempos, que yo recuerde nada era más sabroso que un Jett o un Esquimo. Ahora me entero por la señora Lidia que la moda es el Egocéntrico, un nombre acorde con el yoísmo de los tiempos. Helado de vainilla bañado con chocolate Sublime. Todos lo piden.
Time erases certain things, in this consists its incontrovertible logic. We like to remember with nostalgia the registered brands that added color to our childhood as if they were a part of a more authentic past, perhaps wanting to forget that the country´s biggest ice cream industry always had a burdensome marketing machinery, that included luminous dodges such as that commercial with the music of Bobby McFerrin, that later on was used by the diapers Huggies in the United States (so good, Donofrio, Donofrio so good). At other times, I remember nothing was tastier than a Jett or an Esquimo. Now I find out from Mrs. Lidia that the fashion is “El Egocéntrico”, a name following their own self-centerdness spirit of the times. Vanilla Ice cream bathed in Sublime chocolate. They all ask for it.
But perhaps the most popular blog of all those of “El Comercio” is ‘Busco Novia [es]’ (I’m searching for a girlfriend) of Renato Cisneros. The topic? obviously, vicissitudes of life of a guy from Lima to find the woman of his dreams. In his most recent post ‘Señoras y Señoras’ he speculates on a rather uncommon option for a “serious” relation as he calls it himself:
Las mujeres mayores nunca me han interesado para iniciar una relación seria, pero sí me han llamado la atención para soñar con un romance. Creo que desde que eres niño y hasta una cierta edad (digamos 30) te topas con mujeres adultas que te impactan, te atraen, y te hacen montar secretas expediciones por la imaginación y fantasear con escenas mudas en donde ella y tú protagonizan clandestinas refriegas pasionales. Eso me pasaba, por ejemplo, con la Miss Lucía Shwarz, mi profesora de inglés en quinto grado de Primaria: tenía no más de veintisiete años, y usaba el pelo corto a lo Jamie Lee Curtis. La recuerdo en minifalda, con sus piernas larguísimas enfundadas en azulinas medias de nylon, con sus ojos verdes, con esa boquita siempre iluminada por la suave estridencia del colorete, y la voz ronca de cantante de taberna con la que nos decía “please, students, be quiet”.
Another very popular blog is almost inevitably the feminine counterpart of the previous one: Alicia Bisso’s Busco Novio [es] (I’m searching for a boyfriend). Her last post ‘Fiesta sin disfraces’ (Party without disguises) is about her falling in love with unreal characters and in parallel, with unreal ones that are real characters.
Desde que era chica e iba al cine -muy seguido- con mis padres y mi hermano, comencé a tener un secreto jueguito imaginario; de seguro, gracias a mi debilidad por la ficción. Éste, ahora que lo pienso, era un mecanismo de evasión de la realidad muy simple y debo aclarar, totalmente inconciente y además, irresistible para mi mente. Después de ver una película, en la que había visto a algún personaje que me había gustado por algo en especial, jugaba a convertirme en él o ella. Claro, no aparecía vestida de la Princesa Leia con el bikini dorado en la sala de mi casa, esto lo hacía en la privacidad de mi habitación o de mis pensamientos. Así pude ser Jennifer Conelly en Laberinto y estar enamorada todo lo que me dio la gana de David Bowie, amor que hasta ahora recuerdo como el primero; ya más grande, fue divertido jugar a ser la caprichosa Scarlett O'hara o la traviesa Faye de Chunking Express soñando con viajar a California. Me gustó jugar a ser la princesa Elisabeta, por la que el conde Drácula de Coppola navegó “océanos de tiempo” para encontrarla;
Since I was small and was going to the movies – continuously - with my parents and my brother, I began to have a secret imaginary game; certainly, thanks to my weakness for fiction. Now when I think about it, that was a very simple mechanism of evasion of reality and, I must clarify, completely unconscious and also irresistible for my mind. After seeing a movie, in which I had seen some personage that I liked for some particular reason. I would imagine myself turning into him or her. Certainly, I was not appearing in the living room of our house dressed as Princess Leia in a gilded bikini, I was doing it in the privacy of my room or of my thoughts. This way I could be Jennifer Connelly in Labyrinth and be in love with David Bowie as much as I wanted, love that till now I remember as the first one. Once I was older, it was entertaining to impersonate the capricious Scarlett O'hara or naughty Faye from Chunking Express dreaming of traveling to California. I also liked imagining myself as princess Elisabeta, who Coppola ‘s Count Drácula navigated ” oceans of time ” to find.
The following blog that I want to select is that of Gerardo Manuel: Disco Club [es]. Gerardo Manuel is the personage in the history of Peruvian rock: musician and VJ, and an authority when it comes to rock. From his blog I select not the last post, but the one that talks about national rock: ‘Noviembre de grandes retornos’ (November of great comebacks). OKKKK
Hace algunas semanas en un post titulado “El Telégrafo suena de nuevo” les comenté la posibilidad del retorno de uno de los grandes grupos peruanos de los 70's: Telegraph Ave. Noviembre nos depara esa satisfacción después de 32 años de su última presentación oficial. Pero también hay otra reaparición que se nos viene el 9 de noviembre en El Templario de Barranco. Como una especie de experimento genético entre el pasado y el presente, se mezclan dos generaciones para traernos de vuelta a una de las bandas pioneras del heavy metal en español de Iberoamérica: Tarkus.
Some weeks ago in a post titled “El Telégrafo suena de nuevo” (The Telegraph sounds again) I commented on the possibility of the comeback of one of the biggest Peruvian groups of 70's: Telegraph Ave (Telegraph Bird). November offered us this satisfaction after 32 years since their last official presentation. But also there is another reappearance that occurred on November 9 in The Templario de Barranco. As a species of genetic experiment between the past and the present, two generations mixed to bring back to us one of the pioneering heavy metal bands in Spanish from Latin America: Tarkus.
The blog LaNuez [es] of Javier Prado is an atypical case inside the blogs of “El Comercio” since it is led by someone who has already been a blogger before opening this blog. Moreover, his previous blog had the same name. Javier is a very good illustrator and connoisseur of the topic. The post ‘El extraño caso de los huevos cuadrados del Perú’ (The strange case of the square eggs of Peru) is a sample of it:
Recuerdo esta historia dentro de la colección empastada en azul que tenían mis primos, a la cual tenía acceso cuando los visitaba algunos fines de semana. Tenía seis años y mis intereses reales en ese momento eran ver a Batman y Superman en televisión, pero esa historia en particular se me quedó grabada precisamente por las menciones de los Incas y, por supuesto, por los Huevos Cuadrados. Mucho tiempo después, ya con el virus del cómic instalado y en plena época preuniversitaria, a inicios de los ochenta, el libro “Para leer el Pato Donald” de Ariel Dorfman y Armand Mattelart, me la volvería a recordar.
I remember this story inside the collection pasted in blue that my cousins had, to which I had access when I was visiting them on the weekends. I was six years old and my real interests at that moment were to see Batman and Superman on television, but this story in particular stayed engraved in my mind precisely for the mentions of the Incas and, of course, for the Square Eggs. Much later, already with the virus of the installed cómic and in full pre-university epoch, in the beginning of the eighties, Ariel Dorfman’s and Armand Mattelart’s book “Para leer el Pato Donald” (to read Donald Duck) would remind me of that story again.
Another well-known blogger, but in this case always well tied to “El Comercio”, is Juan Carlos Luján who in his blog Vida y Futuro [es] (Life and Future) speaks on technological topics in our country. A good example of it is his post ‘OLPC: Un recorrido por Arahuay’ (OLPC: A trip around Arahuay).
Ayer estuve por Arahuay, un pueblito enclavado en las alturas de Canta, a unos 2.500 metros sobre el nivel del mar, en la sierra de Lima. Llegar allí con la comitiva del Ministerio de Educación no fue nada fácil. El camino es de tierra afirmada y el viaje desde San Borja hacia esa zona toma unas cuatro horas. Arahuay es visitada desde junio de este año por funcionarios del Ministerio de Educación, técnicos, profesores, periodistas y gente interesada en conocer cómo es el asunto de las llamadas Laptops de 100 dólares. En realidad, estas cuestan un poco más (unos 189 dólares) y las 50 que se prueban allá son parte de un lote de prototipos que la Fundación One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) envió al Perú para que se evalúen en un programa piloto antes que el Gobierno tomara la decisión de comprar 40.000 de estas unidades.
Yesterday I was in Arahuay, a little town nestled in the heights of Canta, approximately 2.500 meters above sea level, in the mountains of Lima. To come there with the retinue from the Department of Education was not at all easy. The path leads over solid ground and the trip from San Borja towards this area takes approximately four hours. Arahuay was visited strating in June of this year by officials of the Department of Education, technicians, teachers, journalists and people interested in knowing more about the so-called 100-dollar Laptops. Actually, those cost a little more (approximately 189 dollars) and the 50 that are being tried there are a part of prototypes that the Foundation One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) sent to Peru to be evaluated in a pilot program before the government decides whether to buy 40.000 of these units.
There are certainly more blog, and they all can be accessed from the web of “El Comercio [es].” The blogs are grouped in the section called BLOGSx36. It can be said, and it is true, that there is very little visible interaction between the bloggers and the people who comment in the blogs, that the big majority of these bloggers are (or they were, in some cases) quite foreign to the local blogsphere and that they do not take part in many of the conventions of a blogger, but to me it seems that the tool and its gadgets (the blog and everything that it includes) are interesting but the not most important thing. What matters is what one thinks and what one writes (communicates, let’s say) and of that there are very good examples here.
Translation by Sabina Abdulajeva
Bangla blogs seek aid for cyclone Sidr victims
· 20:18
Five days after cyclone Sidr ravaged Bangladesh, news regarding devastation continues to pour in. Despite steps taken by the administration to evacuate a large number of people and put them out of harm's way, the official death toll has now crossed 3000.
According to the updated statistics provided by the Disaster Management and Control Room (DMCR) in Dhaka, the total number of families affected by Sidr is around 1.054million. As of yesterday's update approximately 3,00,511 houses have been completely destroyed and 6,26,000 have been partially damaged.
About 792 educational institutions have been completely destroyed and 4,393 were partly damaged. Embankments of about 57 kilometres (km) of length have been damaged, and 58km of road has been destroyed completely while 87,948km of road has been partly damaged.
Given that harvest was around the corner, crops too have weathered
the brunt of the cyclone. According to government sources, crops on 29,374 acres of land have been completely destroyed and on 8,55,525 acres have been damaged partially.
Officials say that the it will take a few more days until a complete assessment of the damage to life and property falls into place.
Meanwhile, relief operations are in full swing, trying to reach food, medicines, safe drinking water etc. to the cyclone victims. However, more needs to be done and soon. The Bangla blog world is typing fast and furious, trying to garner aid for this cause.
(Photo courtesy Sujan)
Blogger Aurangzeb called upon all Bangladeshi citizens to forget their political differences and work together to rehabilitate those affected by the cyclone. His words and emotions were echoed by korbojoy blog.
Nighat tithi pointed out that time and again Bangladesh has had to fight natural calamities - be it frequent floods, the deadly cyclone of 1991 or the current Sidr. While the fight will continue in the days to come, the blogger called upon one and all to do their bit for the present victims of Sidr. Ishtiaq Rouf informed us how Bangladeshi students from Virginia Tech were collecting funds through Paypal and how others too could send in their contribution to the same fund. Other bloggers like Irteza, Addabaj and Biborno Akash too provided additional links to organizations/ websites where one could donate money for disaster relief. Farukh Wasif talked about the need for publicizing and thereby enhancing awareness regarding the various disaster relief/aid related proposals
In addition, Biborno Akash linked to a video blogpost (En) by Sheril Kirshenbaum where the young marine biologist from Duke University, USA requests viewers to join the rehabilitation drive.
On the other hand, blogger Tirondaz rued that fact that Bangladesh was still dependent largely on International aid every time disaster struck while her neighbor India was gradually gaining the strength to fight her own disasters - like she did when the tsunami struck in 2004. He hoped that the day would soon come when Bangladesh too would be self-sufficient like India in these matters.
Bangla blogging platform Somewherein, in association with Save the Children, has 
launched an innovative SMS based campaign “Jagoron” (which literally means ‘the awakening') to enable those living in Bangladesh to do their bit in aid of Sidr victims. The campaign works as follows:
A mobile phone user types SAVE and sends SMS to a given number. Each SMS costs Bangladeshi Taka (BDT)2. Then Somewherein and other sponsors add a certain monetary figure, currently standing at 15BDT (this is a dynamic figure which will go up as more corporate sponsors join the campaign) for every BDT2 generated through the SMS and the total amount is deposited in the Save the Children Cyclone Relief fund.
For those living outside Bangladesh, Somewherein requests them to send their donations directly to the Save the Children Cyclone Relief fund as this SMS facility is available for local residents only.
4 comments · »»China: Bloggers bust another really big lie
· 16:40
One of the less glamorous side-effects of censorship, the impact the 17th Communist Party National Congress had on Chinese media made a faked photograph of a rare tiger the top story throughout the Chinese blogsphere for the entire past month. The whole affair ended this weekend when an obscure blogger in Sichuan province found that the tiger in question was not rare at all but actually came from a poster, copies of which were snatched up all across the country and are now on sale for jacked-up prices online [zh].
And yet, the discovery of the poster made this just the latest [zh] scandal this year to bring bloggers recognition as a fact-finding force officials across the country should not fear butcould easily benefit from [zh].
Meanwhile, part one of China's decade-long moon plan the lunar probe Chang'e I was sent up into space late last month, inspiring bloggers to post pictures of water bottle replicas, chart the probe's movements down to the second, and even jump the gun on images Chang'e isn't expected to send back until the recently-revised date of November 26.
On November 11, overseas Chinese websites began posting a rumor [zh] that something had gone wrong with the probe, citing moves taken by top aerospace officials to investigate the possibility Chang'e 1 having been given a scrap oil drum smuggled in from the US, among others. On November 12, an official report was released announcing a 45-minute down in communication with the probe planned for the same day. On Nov. 18, a short communique suddenly appeared announcing the probe to be in perfect condition and working normally; the hundreds of readers who left comments on it generally appeared suspicious.
So in lack of any solid evidence that Chang'e has flown off somewhere, just the precedent from last year in which authorities covered up a similarly high-profile project failure for over a month, do the South China Tiger (华南虎/周老虎) truth-diggers have a new task on hand? Less enthusiastic [zh] and plausible [zh] attempts have been made to suggest that the probe is par for the orbit, but the question [zh] remains open; Cat898 blogger Extraterrestrial Senior Citizen mulls it over in a Nov. 18 post, ‘from the climate at Chang'e 1 to that on the internet‘:
中国人习惯于用科学来说明政治,用艺术来阐述政治,嫦娥一号,在十七大之后发射升天,被许多人看做是政治政治伟大,盛世来临的象征,所以是不能冒泡泡的.但科学来不得一点儿虚假,就如同眼睛里容不得丁点儿沙子一样.
但从开始,科学家们就给了我们许多的希望,比如什么时候发躲,什么时候变轨,什么时候绕月,把原本一次十分严肃的科学探索,硬要变成了许多人关注的全民精神教育活动.除了给自已的人民一些什么喑示,对于这次科学探索,好象没有多大意义.
科学家们说,嫦娥一号绕月成功之后,在11月18号左右,能传回月球的写真照片, 还有媒体用略带遗憾的口味告诉咱老百姓，照片是黑白的。所以全体民众是伸长了脖子等在11月18号看嫦娥的黑白美人照。可还没有等到18号，也只是在14 号到15号左右，就有消息传出，就咱们家嫦娥出事儿，可能跑了。相信当时许多看到这测消息的网友，与笔者有样，怀疑传播这测消息的人，是别有用心的。但到 11月17日终于国家有关专家们坐不住了，站出来“避谣”，说我们的嫦娥一号一切正常，偶而与地面失去联系，也科学家们掌控之中。并且特别是指出了凯迪网站这传言的源头。但到11月18日时，科学家们终于肯说了点实话。说嫦娥一号要等到本月26日，才能传回嫦娥的美人照。并并且对网友质疑“体检”时间为何会持续十余天之说，朱毅麟专家说：“即使一颗绕地的卫星，设备检测也要花上一个星期，对于绕月的卫星，多花几天时间不足为奇，也是为了卫星更安全、更保险。”
这话是在网友质疑之后说的，并且嫦娥一号真的没有能于18日发回嫦娥的美人照片。所以网友们传的至少不全部是谣言。到目前为止的嫦娥事件说明，持怀疑态度的网友们，取得小胜利。这个小胜利让网络，有点象整风之前的延安。（可能是笔者想远了）领袖们好不容易有空，到学校去讲点话什么的，但老是有人质疑，（领袖那点三国、水浒里的帝王将相，那能与学者专家什么斯基，什么斯基们比？）最后搞得领袖们，领导们都不敢往学校跑。后来就整治了一下。
当网络压倒喉舌们，当网友让许多代言人都没法讲话时，笔者开始但心，“嫦娥事件”，“华南虎”之后，可有得我们走着瞧了。
And using politics to interpret reality is Cat898 blogger Wild Mountain Flower with a post from later the same day, ‘Questioning Chang'e 1 is the spine of the country and the people‘:
我是中华人民共和国公民，我有权对政府干的事说三道四（虽然不那么管用）。我是国家的主人翁，主人有权对公仆们指手画脚（在网上）。说嫦娥一号这样那样的问题，正是对国家关心的态度。试问一下，嫦娥上天这么久了，网友们一直不当回事，这才是最可怕的事。国不知有民，民也不知有国呀。当年的清兵和英军打仗，老百姓在一边看热闹。 假若嫦娥真的出问题，我们不关心，不问，“那是他们的事，爱咋地咋地”。麻木不忍，把自己排除在公民之外，不关心国家大事， 试想，这样的国家还有什么希望？
回想当年的大跃进，瞎指挥，反对的人少吗？彭大将军更是直接上书毛泽东。
不准人对政府干的事直疑，一有反对意见就扣帽子，打成反革命。这样的现像一去不复返了。奴才们三呼万岁的时代结束了。我不反对我国发展空间技术，相反，我极力支持。我只是问一声，什么时间让我看一下照片？ 嫦娥真的有事也别瞒着，苏美等国不是失败多次才取行功的吗？何况他们还死了好多人。
取于说真话，取于怀疑，这才是中国的脊梁，民族的脊梁。 那些万岁不离口的奴才们是不会理解的。
Thinking back to my youth and the Great Leap Forward, and the confused instructions, did many people object then? Marshall Peng's closest superior was Mao Zedong.
No one was allowed to call the government on the things it did; the slightest opposition and you got a label: anti-revolutionary. The days of flunkies cheering are gone.
So. I'm not opposed to our national scientific development; on the contrary, I super-support it. I just want to ask a question: when do we get to see the photos? If Chang'e really is in trouble, don't cover it up; didn't the USSR and USA and others fail multiple times in their tries? Never mind how many of their people died.
To make a habit of speaking the truth, of doubting, this is what will be China's backbone, the backbone of the nation; those flunkies who can't get “long live!” out of their mouths wouldn't understand this.
Japan: The Bully and the Bullied
· 15:59
The problem of bullying is a recurring theme in Japan, one that makes periodic appearances in the media driving up ever-increasing levels of alarm. An incident in which videos of bullying in a Hokkaido school were posted on YouTube (and subsequently removed) made headlines in late 2006. A government survey released last week [ja], which found that that the number of cases of bullying has increased sixfold [ja] over the result of the year before, has exacerbated fears yet again. While this increase is attributed in part to a change in the way bullying is defined and measured [ja], the rise is nonetheless telling: from 20,000 cases in 2005 the number ballooned to an estimated 125,000 cases in 2006, including six cases of bullying-related suicide [ja].
Not everybody is taking the news sitting down. Japanese world boxing flyweight champion Naito Daisuke is tackling the problem by talking at schools to children [ja] about his own experiences being bullied as a child. Pressure has also been put on schools [ja] to change the way that they deal with bullying.
Bullying-induced suicide at Takigawa school
Blogger tekicho makes a perceptive observation about the problem:
敏感な言葉をいうけど、いじめは無くならない。根拠は大人同士でもいじめがあるという誰でもよく知っていることです。
But how has this culture of bullying developed? Blogger nano3000xp delves into its origin:
いじめは、なくならない。昔からいじめはあったし、今後もいじめは続くはずである。なぜなら、いじめることで、自分の欲求不満を解消するからである。それが、個々の人間の本質だからである。会社でも、社会でも、学校でも、人が集団になって、ある場を作れば、そこに必ず、人間関係という相互作用の場が生じるからである。
難しい言葉をつかったが、つまり、相手を認知し、相手からも自分が認知される交流の場が生まれるのである。その場が固定されれば、ある基準に対して、相対化（順番）が出てくるのである。会社や組織で言えば、階級なのである。警察や自衛隊では、その階級の差が絶対であり、上官や上司の言うことは、その場にいるかぎり、絶対となるのである。
人類の歴史を見る限り、この相対化がなかった事例はないし、どんな社会制度（資本主義でも共産主義）でも、必ずなんらかの階級制度は存在しているのである。
It is easy to theorize about a phenomenon without an actual case to compare to. On one message board, a 15-year-old girl writes about her experience being bullied and provides such a case:
私は今学校でいじめられています。
一度先生に相談して止めるよう言ってもらったんですけど、それが逆効果だったみたいで・・。
もっとひどくなってしまいました。
I once went to the teacher so they could tell them to stop, but that seems to have had the opposite effect.
It's become even more horrible now.
男女問わずほとんどの人に悪口を言われます。
すごく苦しくてつらいです。学校をやめたいと思っています。
フリースクールに通うとか、何とか学校には行きたいんですけど。
（高卒じゃないと就職ってやっぱり大変だろうし・・・。）
It hurts a lot and it's really difficult to take. I'm thinking of quitting school.
I'm thinking of attending freeschool, I want to go to some other school.
(But if I haven't graduated, I suppose finding work will be really terrible…)
働いたほうがいいんですか？
それから、親にはまだこの事を伝えてません。反対されそうだし、どう伝えていいのかわからなくて。この先すごく不安です。・・これから私はどうしたらいいですか？
As well, I haven't yet told my parents about any of this. They would be against it, and anyway I don't know how I would tell them. I am really anxious about what will happen next. … From here on, what should I do?
A blogger from an educational NPO that works with children provides a second-hand account of another case of bullying:
小学３年生からいじめの悩みについて
メールや電話で相談を受けています
from a third grade student worried about bullying.
１年のときからいじめられてる
靴を隠されたり嫌なあだ名を言われたり
Their shoes were taken and hidden away, and they were called nasty nicknames.
親に話すと怒って学校に行っちゃうから言えない
先生も皆の前で話すからばれちゃうから言えない
友だちも仲良くしていてもいじめっ子の方についちゃう
The teachers will talk about it in front of everybody, and it will get out, so they stay quiet.
Even close friends follow the bully.
どうしたらいいんだろう？
毎日楽しく学校に行きたいよね？
そのためにはどうすればいいだろう？
と聞いてみたら
You want to enjoy going to school, right?
What would be the best way to do that?
I ask these [questions] and see.
道徳の時間に皆でいじめのことを考える
授業をやってほしい
と言いました
I want to do it in class.
This is what [the student] answered.
自分がいじめられてるとか
誰がいじめてるとか
そういうことじゃなくて
クラスの皆でいじめのことを考えることの大切さを
子ども自身が実感していること
そのまっとうな感覚に驚きました
who is getting bullied,
they really felt the importance
of the whole class thinking together about bullying.
And this decency completely took my senses by surprise.
１つ１つのいじめについて対応しようとすると
被害者は誰か
加害者は誰か
誰が責任をとるのか
などどいう次元の話で終始しがちです
then the conversation has a tendency to begin and end with things like:
Who is the victim?
Who is the perpetrator?
And who will take responsibility?
そうすると二重に傷つけられたり
子どもの心の取り扱いも
大人の人間関係も
非常に難しくなります
And dealing with the children,
as well as their relationships with adults,
becomes much more difficult.
目の前のいじめをすぐにやめさせることも大切ですが
簡単ではありません
それよりもクラス全体の共感意識を高めたり
いじめのことを一緒に考える
予防教育がもっとも大切だというのが
当会の考え方です
it is not that easy.
More than this, raising shared awareness among all students in the class,
thinking together about bullying,
and prioritizing preventative education,
this is the thinking of the members [of our organization].
Finally, blogger ojezal69 provides some more encouraging thoughts when he writes about Naito Daisuke, the Japanese world champion boxer who was bullied as a child:
内藤選手は、すごいです。中学時代、いじめられっ子で、その事実を消したい、そんな思いで頑張ってこられた結果の世界チャンピオン
今いじめと戦っている子供達に勇気を与えたと思います。
そんな思いを抱えて彼は頑張ったと言っています。
I feel that he has brought courage to kids who are struggling right now with bullying.
He says that he worked really hard with that memory [of bullying] in his mind.
Hong Kong: Pan Democrats' Dark Day
· 09:18
The Pan democrats have lost a bitter battle in the recent district council election. Before the election, the pan-dem worried that they wouldn’t be able to keep all their seats and tried to explain the situation by predicting a low voting rate. The final result is worse than they have estimated: they has lost one third of their seats. Among the 294 candidates only 104 of them have won, losing 47 seats in total. Whereas the pro establishment party, Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) has won 115 seats and the liberal party 15 seats.
The immediate comment from the mainstream critics is that the pan democrats are not performing well enough in their district service. However, many bloggers disagree.
Yinnest points out that most of the voters wouldn’t know who the district councilors are, not to mention their work:
學者賽後檢討，分析民主派大敗的原因是：地區工作做得不好。查實我不知為何他們能作出這個結論。其實有幾多個人知道所屬選區的區議員做過些什麼？他們的地區工作做得好唔好呢？不同派別的區議員，他們的地區工作可以有什麼不同呢？或者學者即係學者，可以一下子知道全港十八區的區議員以前做過些什麼。又或者，好像家眷所言：今年回歸十周年，民建聯在地區可以做的事情，一定比民主派多。又或者，是標籤效應，包括：民主派失去了吸引選票的能力。
Kursk believes that Hong Kong is trapped in a political Matrix where the pro-establishment force can disgust their political position and live in different identities:
有人說泛民不落力做地區工作，所以抵死。我們很容易找到例子，可是民建聯尸位素餐者也大有人在。地區工作做得算是有看頭的民協(根據小弟在民協據點打政府工的經驗)，還有擅於攪大龍鳳的灣仔社區聯盟又不一樣輸？
不過，形勢才是大原因。
放眼世界，有哪個國家的執政黨及其聯盟會在經濟大好的時候下台？現在的香港，不再負資產，沒有白痴當特首，連葉劉都認罪悔改了，土共也收了其口(連轆豬事件也完全write-off了)，中央已經是崛起大國。我們的土共，連海報也不再土，還有用不完的資源攪服務處，請黨工和你玩在野玩足十年。這就叫做形勢。
All over the world, which ruling party would lose its power when the economy is blooming? We don't have any negative equity in nowadays Hong Kong. No more idiot chief executive, even Regina Ip has to show her remorse to the past. The native communists have shut up (the incident concerning mincing pigs with tanks has been wipe off). The central power is a grand nation. Our native communists' posters are no longer old fashioned and they have endless resources to provide service. They can employ party workers to play the role of opposition party for 10 more years. This is called trend.
只可惜，人家的國家可以有政黨輪替，有上有落，可是我們的香港，只是個Matrix。現在社會大治，形勢比人強，普選之路只有愈來愈遠。連這個Matrix也未攬定，我們做什麼，面對的也是有無限分身，無限復活的Agent Smith。我們要怎樣打？Leo和Oracle在哪裡？那肯定不是陳太，不要發夢了。