The Free Speech Not-So-Special

Yes! Seven people participated directly in the poll thingy whatever invitation to participate I threw out into the e-pond a couple of weeks ago. I think that's... oh, wait, it's not a record for the blog. Between us, may I confess that I am proud of how dependably poorly these Mikocheni Report Polls perform? It's like a perverse love letter from the silent readership. Bless y'all.

So, the results: three of you think there might be something to some decent policing of the online dialogue. Two of you think it's a horrendous idea to even bring up and another two of you are dedicated fans of the domesticated bird. Finally, and most importantly, nobody voted for actual regulation of free speech online, not even for fun to bait this cranky liberal. Either that means you guys all rock, or it means the blog is only read by seven folk who have a liberal bent- both of which options spell happiness with a capital Freedom.

Erm... oh yeah, the caveats and other stuff. The poll on the right there is not statistically representative of anything at all except perhaps an abiding love for chicken. Live long and prosper. Also: special smushy kisses of gratitude to the folks who sent healing vibes my way. Y'all the reason why I occasionally get cool free stuff thrown in my direction. More about that next post, neh? Mwah.

Think Out Loud: An Online Experiment

Folks, life dealt me a bit of a bad hand about ten days ago which means that I am currently confined to the couch/bed until I can heal some broken bones. I had all these plans to spend the time thinking and writing and being productive- because that's what Capricorns do, obsess about work- but this hasn't materialized. Thing is, having learned the hard way that sometimes life wants you to stop and change directions, I listened this morning to The Quietness and It said to me: "Hey, blogging is about dialogue, right?" Right..." I answered. "Well then," said That Inner Voice Which Sounds A Lot Like Morgan Freeman*, "Stop being a one-woman showboat and try to get some dialogue rolling why don't you?"

Okay.

As I said on Mgahawa** this past weekend, one of the challenges of blogging is the near-lack of reaction or feedback from the readership- which makes the dialogue aspect of this work somewhat one-sided. I have had about four years to think on this issue and I understand some of the limitations. Some of them are mine, most assuredly: blogging in Engrish-is-not-Home isn't conducive to a broad discussion in Bongo. That said, this blog has benefited immensely from those who have reached out and written or reached out and spoken on various topics covered herein***.

So I would like to try something with your help, folks. I want to throw a question out there for you to answer whichever way you want to do it. It's a question whose answers might touch on issues of technology or globalization or policy or even political ideology. Email, video, graphics, audiofile, fingerpainting, anything is allowed. I will even put up a polling thingy on the right side of the blog for the week's experimental question. You can use the comments section or you can email me direct at elsieeyakuze at gmail dot com with instructions (do you want to be edited or not, posted or not, that kind of thing). Let's see how this goes, eh?

I have free speech in mind. To bring up Mgahawa again, one of the questions Omar posed was whether or not we should explore a way to control how people enter public dialogues online. This was particularly relevant in the Olympics this year, and affected the performance and in some cases the careers of several athletes. I want to hear from you: should we or should we not censor or attempt to control for the quality of public dialogues online using popular platforms?

*Listen, if you're going to hear voices in your head you can do worse than Morgan Freeman. And before you ask, my CT scan came out clear. :)

** A weekly program hosted by Omar Mohamed who is (finally!) on his way to becoming the broadcaster the universe intended him to be. Check it out, it's a good show.

*** Oh ye Facebook stalkers, you orators, you email correspondents of note whom I have so underserved: can I please, pretty please, post some of your excellent, humorous and thought-provoking musings on the blog? Please write. You know you want to.

The Weekly Sneak: Bare Naked Lady, Almost.

Using the benefit of experience, cashing in on our cultural practice of revering mother-figures and employing the Tanzanian gift of the gab, Ananilea Nkya managed to tongue-tie some big tough policemen by threatening to bare her breasts at them. Well, she didn't put it quite like that but she did say that if they were going to search her she would strip down and get nekkid right there in public to make their job easier. Since this was a good-cop-bad-cop routine, her colleague Helen Kijo-Bisimba "cajoled" her out of it, telling her to be reasonable. Listening to the recording of the encounter on radio, I couldn't stop laughing.

Weapons of the weak can be so terribly effective. The Righteous African Boob-Flash is one of the most feared weapons in a Bantu woman's arsenal, one against which there is no known defense. To be the cause of a mother-figure baring herself at you is to implicitly insult your own mother and all mothers by gazing upon her nakedness and despair. It calls into question your manhood, your Utu, your ability to function in polite society. Basically, it makes you a creep of the creepiest order. The policemen could hardly contain the panic in their voices as Ms. Nyka verbally routed them, escalating to drive home the humiliation of their actions in trying to arrest her. I wasn't the only one who found this amusing, clearly, seeing as the radio stations have been playing the recorded arguments over, and over, and over again... :)

And so ended the doctors' strike and the mini-protest that could. Yes, activists were arrested. They knew what they were doing. They were released on bail. We're all happy that Mizengo Pinda did his Pinda thing and talked the doctors off the ledge. With all these developments, perhaps the article coming to an East African near you is no longer as fresh as it was on the day I sent it. I am glad.

"Anyone watching that evening's news could pick up on the complicity of the policemen and women who were supposedly breaking up what was clearly an illegal gathering. It took all of one hour and involved handwritten signs, a few chants and the obligatory screaming into journalists' microphones, and that was it. Those watching that night's news broadcasts would also have picked up the strong whiff of desperation with which Prime Minister Pinda was “inviting” all doctors and medical staff for a meeting at Muhimbili National Hospital for a sit-down at 9:00 am sharp the following morning."

While we celebrate this small victory, I want to keep in mind those who lost loved ones and those who suffered untold pain due to the doctor's strike. Someone always pays the price.