Mute

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© 2009 - Ben Heine
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Silences, Alone

By Peter S. Quinn

A silence comes within us all,
When we with darkness again fall;
A shadow creeping softly stays,
And show its vision many ways.
Everything my brain still knows,
Step by step into silences goes;
Dreams and feelings down it break’s,
Away my visions all it takes.

When I am alone and streets I walk,
Silences to me softly talk;
About the heart that was here before,
But is now gone for ever more.

A lonesome soul just only knows,
The restless silence that never goes;
Sharp and shining like a razor blade,
A forgotten love song now too late.
That echoed once from heart to heart,
With promises to never depart;
But now lies resting on its own,
Like silences that are still alone.
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Interview with Juanito Kalvellido
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(Ben Heine © Cartoons).

“Laugh is a freedom”.

Juan Kalvellido is a cartoonist born in the working class that has never stopped believing in revolution. This Andalusian was born in Cadiz, Spain in 1968 during the student revolts. He lives in Malaga, where he earns his bread and butter working in the hotel and catering business, a euphemism to say that during eight hours (or even more!) of every day, of every month, of every year... he serves giant hamburgers (whoppers, but over there they call them gupers) while imagining thousands of drawings, and then later... when he goes back home, dedicates the rest of the day to making us and his family happy. Read more about Kalvellido.

(The interview below was realized a few weeks ago. Since then Juan has lost his job at Burger King. He courageously tries to sue the international chain of fast food restaurants, because they gave him nothing in return...)

- How did you come to draw professionally?

I am not a professional draftsman. I work in the restaurant B. KING and catering business (hotel management). Drawing is only a hobby that gives me gratification and serves me to relax. I WORK TO SURVIVE AND DRAW TO LIVE!

- Which papers, magazines and Internet sites do you work for?

I collaborate with different press associations that need my work. My works also appear in magazines and papers, such as The Old Mole, The Karma and Diagonal… I also illustrated several books of poetry and short stories.

- What is it in the political language that inspires you the most?

I’m inspired by everything, from a conversation in the street to serious political analysis in the newspapers. My inspiration comes also from a phrase in a book, an anecdote in a movie, television newscasts… EVERYTHING!

- Should there be any limitation to freedom of speech whatsoever?

According to me, there must be no limit in the freedom of expression. For me, there is no specific red line to be imposed and everyone must choose his way. Every responsible person must know their own limit. I, for example, would never draw anything racist or offensive towards women …

- Is there, according to you, one single form of freedom of speech or are there several?

Here total freedom of expression exists while you do not say what they do not want! They can touch neither the basic props of the society NOR KING, NOR MOTHER LAND, NOR GOD!

- Have any of your drawings been censored? If yes, then why and under what circumstances?

Well, not really. There are always anecdotes where people say this or that to you and these commentaries can cause auto censorship afterwards. I do not like empty discussions.

- Are you practicing self-censorship? Which are the most difficult topics to depict?

I have my own red lines. I never draw anything that could offend someone directly. People can feel offended with my work, but my intention is to make laugh first and think later. The humorist always causes tears in people’s eyes but he also put a smile on their lips.

- Do you think the drawing is a political power able to change people’s behaviour?

I think the political texts people read in the news can influence them. Why cartoons couldn’t do the same?

- Do you think that the satirical drawer is an artist or rather a journalist, or even both?

He is a pessimist well informed in art. A troubadour and sometimes a buffoon.

- According to you, is the role of the drawer to make people laugh or to think?

My style is to make laugh and then reflect. The laugh is the best assault. Laugh is a freedom.

- Which situation or person do you think is hardest to draw?

For me the most difficult thing to do is to be humorous while dealing with serious facts and situations and it’s even more complicated to remain impartial.

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--> Visit Kalvellido’s website
--> See Kalvellido’s Flickr page--> Interview and portrait : Ben Heine

Free Speech
.(Ben Heine © Cartoons)
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Threats Increasing to Free Speech
on the Internet
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By Judy Aita
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United Nations -- The Internet is a key component of press freedom in the 21st century, yet Internet journalists and bloggers increasingly are coming under attack by repressive regimes trying to block the free flow of information and expression, say journalists and activists.

"Free thought, particularly expressed on the Internet is becoming more and more dangerous," says Bridget Johnson, Los Angeles Daily News columnist and blogger. "The Committee to Protect Journalists has been tracking the detention of Internet writers since 1997 and the 2006 figure is the highest the group has ever recorded. Now, one in three jailed journalists is a blogger, online editor, or Web-based reporter." According to CPJ, 134 journalists were jailed in 2006; of that number, 49 worked on the Internet.

U.S. efforts to promote the free flow of information range from monitoring Internet access in countries around the world and including the data in the annual State Department Country Reports on Human Rights to financing Internet projects in developing countries. Since 2004, the United States has given $250 million to projects that include assisting with Web site design, providing computers and training technicians to keep systems operating.

Johnson and other bloggers and activists discussed the growing challenges to free speech on the Internet at a World Press Freedom Day panel May 3 entitled "The Citizen Journalist: The Internet as a Tool for Freedom of Speech." The panel was hosted by the U.S. Mission to the United Nations and included bloggers from countries with press restrictions and representatives of nongovernmental organizations ( NGOs ). The press fosters debate, provides a forum for expressing different points of view and keeps governments accountable for the decisions they make, said Jeffrey Krilla, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor. "The increasing challenges the press face around the world are challenges to democracy and freedom."

One of the great opportunities for spreading freedom of expression is the Internet, Krilla said. "The Internet holds enormous promise particularly for the developing world and efforts to blunt the Internet's transformational power need to be countered by governments, NGOs, and by citizens worldwide."

Tala Dowlatshahi, New York director of the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, said that the ongoing debate among some media representatives and lawmakers over whether bloggers are journalists and to what freedoms bloggers are entitled "is a waste of time." "It is high time we set aside the blogger-versus-journalist polemic and acknowledge that they are there fighting side-by-side in many countries to defend freedom of expression," she said.

"In legal terms, a media professional is not entitled to better protection than a blogger," Dowlatshahi said. "Freedom of expression, at least in theory, is something everyone is entitled to regardless of their status. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights underscores this basic principle."

INTERNET FREEDOM AND REPRESSIVE REGIMES

The Internet has caused major upheavals in countries that do not permit freedom of expression, Dowlatshahi said. Bloggers can be pivotal in repressive environments where the media live in constant fear of the political leadership. In Egypt, she pointed out, it was a blogger who revealed that torture was being carried out in detention centers.

China is the worst place for cyberdissidents, but other countries --including Vietnam, Syria, Tunisia, Libya and Iran -- are not far behind, Dowlatshahi said. Watson Meng, founder of Boxun News, and Drexel University marketing professor Frank Xie, a blogger on Boxun News, talked about the problems facing Chinese bloggers. In China, citizen journalists are important, said Meng. Official information is not reliable and people are looking for good Web sites with reliable information. Since Boxun was founded in 2000, it has been the Number 1 online Chinese news service.

Governments ( including that of China ), NGOs, journalists and ordinary citizens make up the audience for the Boxun Web site, which contains news and 1,400 blogs. But, Meng said, his big problem is "the great firewall" the Chinese government uses to block his site. Xie added that China uses the best technology for its firewall and is exporting it free to Cuba, North Korea and Sudan.

There are about 137 million Internet users in China ( 10.5 percent of the population ), according to Xie. One of the problems is the cost of Internet access, he said. Xie predicted that if the cost of access were reduced, the number of Internet users in China would surpass the 210 million people in the United States who now use the Internet.

Bloggers "need international support at this moment, on International Press Freedom Day," said Nora Younis, an Egyptian blogger and activist. "We need the international support of other bloggers, scholars, journalists, intellectuals and civil society."

With an estimated 8 million Internet users in Egypt, blogging has become an increasingly important means of expression for a country with a young population. Nevertheless, Younis said, new government restrictions are forcing young bloggers to censor their own writings -- which they never had to do before -- or quit altogether.

Echoing the sentiments of the other panelists, Younis said, "We as young people do not want to go to prison. We want to write, we want to engage."

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--> This article originally appeared on media-newswire.com
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Words Don't Kill, Weapons Do

(Ben Heine © Cartoons)