I just LOVE this cartoon, better known in Lebanon as caricature.
It is Sunday morning here in Amrika and as usual, I'm reading all my newspapers and blogs with the regular morning espresso (minus the habitual cigarette, as I stopped a month ago) and I came across this hilarious cartoon by Armand Homsi from Annahar daily.
So, two Lebanese, presumably husband and wife are sitting down watching TV, most likely the news. TV announces the discovery of 3 cases of swine flu at Beirut's airport. That prompted the guy to say: we were expecting electors, but we got "mrashahin", which in Arabic translates both into people running for elections, or people with the flu. I think it's genius. I love it.
Obviously a play on words there, but also a clear reference to the fact that candidates and parties are flying people in to come vote in the elections (although no evidence has surfaced as of yet implicating anyone, I know, I know, plenty of reports). However, this has actually created a real concern for Lebanese officials. No it's not what you think, they are not worried about corruption and vote buying or vote rigging. They are actually concerned with the possibility that a lot of the voters that will be coming in to vote might actually be exposed to the virus and thus carry the risk of infecting other people in Lebanon, possibly triggering an endemic situation. Especially so since North American countries who have been so far the hardest hit with this virus (US, Canada, Mexico) have huge numbers of Lebanese immigrants.
So, could we possibly be on the verge of a Swine Flu (eh, I mean Mexican Flu) endemic/pandemic situation??
I think not, but remains to be seen.
BG
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