Wanabehuman

Media silence around fate of China's Bo

noreply@blogger.com (Wanabe Human) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 13:12:02 PDT

Since a one-line statement was published in state media on 15 March announcing Bo Xilai's dismissal as party chief of one of China’s biggest cities, Chongqing, there has been no official word on his fate. This silence is ominous compared to attempts over the past few years by the authorities to "guide public opinion" by providing official accounts of any breaking events as soon as possible. Instead, the absence of any official information a number of rumours and hints propagated by the country's informal media outlets have sketched out vague plans of coups d'etat by China’s number nine, security chief Zhou Yongkang; mysterious black Ferraris crashing and burning in the outskirts of Beijing on 18 March; and gunshots at the heart of the capital. In particular, the crashed black Ferrari story as reported by the Beijing Evening News on 19 March gathered over 118,000 followers on Sina Weibo, a popular Chinese-language micro-blogging website; but was deleted early the same...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Putin and corruption in Russia

noreply@blogger.com (Wanabe Human) — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 10:41:17 PST

Russia's Vladimir Putin, currently prime minister, is widely expected to become president in the elections on 4 March, making it his third term in office. His first two terms were from 2000 to 2008, but the Russian constitution prohibits more than two consecutive terms. However, the emerging middle classes and other more marginalised segments of Russian society have recently risen up to protest against what they view as Russia’s system of authoritarian kleptocracy. A few of the drivers of the anti-corruption protests have included a creeping sense of disillusion with a state that has been unable to deliver on promised socio-economic reforms, which claims that its critics are agents of the so-called West, and a narrative landscape that is deeply divided over fundamental questions about what Russian governance and leadership mean in the post-Soviet era. Questions which Putin, following his legacy, must consider as well. Russia racketeering Essentially, corruption describes...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Politics: Yemen’s new president to face challenges over Al-Qaeda

noreply@blogger.com (Wanabe Human) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 02:48:15 PST

Unlike ousted Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Salih, Yemen’s new president-elect Abd-Rabbuh Mansur Hadi has “no tribal, familial, regional, or partisan base and has no real experience in power,” according to diplomats.This has been welcomed by some, who have argued that his standing goes beyond such rivalries, giving him greater legitimacy to rule a unified Yemen than his predecessor.An astute political player, President Salih used his family and tribal links to build relationships between tribal confederations, such as the powerful Bakil and Hashid groups, and through his patronage network, to “buy” the support of tribal leaders’ in his fight against northern Huthi separatists, the Southern Movement, and Al-Qaeda (AQ) in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).Power and legitimacyIn Yemen political power and political legitimacy are two different things.While incoming president Hadi clearly has political legitimacy, it remains to be seen whether he can maintain the delicate balance...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Media/Technology: Predicting the popularity of news in the Information Age

noreply@blogger.com (Wanabe Human) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:57:18 PST

Media/Technology article. The internet has given birth to digital citizen journalism and user-generated content that propagates information around the world even before any traditional news agency has had the time to verify it's own sources (although, comparatively this remains the traditional media's strength - accuracy and accountability) Writing in the London-based Observer in February 2011, Aleks Krotoski, quoted Yves Eudes, a reporter with French broadsheet Le Monde, as saying that although the hyper local reporting by citizen journalists has moved forward news reporting, the fundamentals of news-gathering have not been transformed by the web. Krotoski wrote that "part of that learning process for newshounds, it seems, involves leaving the web and pounding the pavement for stories." Meanwhile, the propagation of news and information on the internet has been studied extensively. The latest research by Palo Alto-based Hewlett Packard's Social Computing Lab...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Comment: Urdu media in the UK - the radical within?

noreply@blogger.com (Wanabe Human) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:42:59 PST

Comment by Fayyaz Ahmad. The murder of prominent Pakistani politician and governor of the Punjab Province Salman Taseer in January 2011 over his support for a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy sent shockwaves across Pakistan. What shocked mainstream opinion even more was the praise and huge admiration his killer, police officer Mumtaz Qadri, received from supporters, including hundreds of lawyers, who showered the murderer with roses on every court appearance. Taseer’s tragic assassination at the hands of his own security guard and the subsequent developments highlighted the widening gap between Pakistan’s liberals and its radicals. This division of ideologies in Pakistan has not spared the Pakistani diaspora either. One may try to understand and perhaps, even digest the blatant support for such atrocities in Pakistan, a country plagued by religious extremism since the early 80s, but it is an entirely different experience to see Mumtaz Qadri being praised...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

China political change discourse shows strength of core narratives

noreply@blogger.com (Wanabe Human) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 02:48:50 PST

Discourses on the consequences of China’s social and economic policies are emerging in the Chinese media, as the latest indicators show the country’s economic growth has slowed down in 2012.However, these have not resonated with long-term national narratives in China’s media and political rhetoric that have underpinned the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).“Transition trap”Professor Sun Liping, a sociologist at the Beijing-based Tsinghua University and former doctoral supervisor to vice-president and heir-apparent Xi Jinping, has been publicly vocal in his criticism of the “marriage between capitalism and political power” and the consolidation of political power by ”interest groups” at least since 2009.In February 2009, amid a spate of social unrest, Sun dismissed Western preoccupation at the time with regime change in the country and urged China not to be concerned too much with “social turmoil”, but rather address an internal “social decay”.His latest...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Middle East cyber hacking heats up

noreply@blogger.com (Wanabe Human) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 02:48:50 PST

Middle Eastern internet hacker groups have launched a battle in cyberspace that reflects political tensions between Israel and the Arab countries. Palestinian Islamist group Hamas has described this as "a new form of resistance", while Israel has called the chain of hacking "cyber-terrorism" and vowed to treat it like any other form of terrorism. Background This series of politically motivated attacks was first reported in early January 2012 when a computer hacker identifying himself as ”0xOmar” posted the private details of 400,000 Israeli credit card holders online, followed by another 11,000 a few days later. In a statement posted on the internet on 5 January, 0xOmar claimed to be a member of the Saudi Arabia-based Wahhabi hacker group called ”Group-XP”. "We are anonymous Saudi Arabian hackers. We decided to release first part of our data about Israel," the hacker said. On 15 January, 0xOmar warned in an email to the Israeli daily...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Syria-Iran alliance key topic in Mideast narratives

noreply@blogger.com (Wanabe Human) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 02:48:50 PST

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has blamed a foreign conspiracy for trying to destabilize Syria amid renewed calls by the Arab League for the Syrian government to stop its violence against civilian protesters. Meanwhile, the long-standing alliance between Syria and Iran continues to be of significance to both countries, particularly Syria, and has been a key topic in the region's media narratives since the conflict began in March 2011. Iran-Syria alliance in the media Since early December 2011, the Syrian opposition's traditional and social media outlets have featured reports saying that Iran - as well as Russia - has been sending arms, equipment and advisers to assist the authorities in suppressing civilian protests. Speaking in December 2011, the leader of the main opposition group, the Syrian National Council (SNC), Burhan Ghalyun, said that relations with Iran and the Lebanese Shi’i party Hezbollah - Iran's principal ally in Lebanon - are likely...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Politics/Science: The UK's 'networked riots'

noreply@blogger.com (Wanabe Human) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 12:55:36 PDT

Politics/Science article by Shuvra Mahmud. Some four days after the initial riots in London in early August 2011, around 10,000 additional police officers have been deployed across the city, while trouble has been flaring in other cities across the country. UK Prime Minister David Cameron on 10 August 2011 warned that sustained police measures (including water cannons) would be deployed to curb rioters, looters, and arsonists alike. The August 2011 riots in England can be seen through many lenses and be explained by theories from several disciplines. Some politicians and experts have argued in varying measures that socio-political disenfranchisement from free market, conservative social and economic politics; bereavement at the current state of the domestic economy; anarchism/hooliganism/criminality; and a host of other factors contributed to the spreading riots. However, these sociological, political, and economic factors are not enough to explain the phenomenon that has...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Review: Sitting In A Tree - a bespoke dating service

noreply@blogger.com (Wanabe Human) — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 09:22:36 PDT

Sitting in a Tree is a successful, bespoke matchmaking service. Founder Roya Dabir-Alaϊ realised early in 2007 she had a talent for spotting a good match, after setting up many of her friends. The good news spread through word-of-mouth and singles - looking for something more sincere and personal than your average dating site - formed a queue to catch some of her magic dust. Working with her friends Nicky and Trisha, Roya’s enthusiasm and sense of purpose is clear: “It’s basically online dating for people who wouldn’t normally online date! Our members are young, educated and fun. They expect more from a dating site.” While it is fairly widely accepted today that real relationships can be formed online and successfully moved offline, developing these relationships can involve navigating mechanically through hundreds of thousands of profiles - and a minefield of false advertising, distrust and confusion. Sitting in a Tree has an authenticity and warmth lacking elsewhere,...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Politics: Police reportedly kill 10 in Iran protests

noreply@blogger.com (Wanabe Human) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 03:10:44 PST

Robert F. Worth reported from Beirut, and Nazila Fathi from Toronto, for Reuters news agency on 28 December 2009. Police officers in Iran opened fire into crowds of protesters on Sunday [27 December], killing at least 10 people, witnesses and opposition Web sites said, in a day of chaotic street battles that threatened to deepen the country’s civil unrest. The protests, during the holiday commemorating the death of Imam Hussein, Shiite Islam’s holiest martyr, were the bloodiest and among the largest since the uprisings that followed the disputed presidential election last June, witnesses said. Hundreds of people were reported wounded in cities across the country, and the Tehran police said they had made 300 arrests. News agencies, citing an opposition Web site, said that Ibrahim Yazdi, a former foreign minister and pro-democracy leader, and Emad Baghi, a prominent human rights activist, were arrested early Monday. Mr. Yazdi was an adviser to the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini,...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Full text of Barack Obama's Nobel Lecture December 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Wanabe Human) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:51:23 PST

Nobel Lecture "A Just and Lasting Peace" by Barack H. Obama delivered on 10 December 2009 at the Oslo City Hall, Norway. He was introduced by Thorbjørn Jagland, Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, distinguished members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, citizens of America, and citizens of the world: I receive this honor with deep gratitude and great humility. It is an award that speaks to our highest aspirations – that for all the cruelty and hardship of our world, we are not mere prisoners of fate. Our actions matter, and can bend history in the direction of justice. And yet I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the considerable controversy that your generous decision has generated. (Laughter.) In part, this is because I am at the beginning, and not the end, of my labors on the world stage. Compared to some of the giants of history who've received this prize – Schweitzer and King; Marshall and Mandela – my accomplishments are...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Technology/Politics: ONI study shows censorship rising

noreply@blogger.com (Wanabe Human) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:24:32 PST

In December 2009, the Director of the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, Dr. Ron Deibert, gave to the Googleplex in Mountain View a presentation on the Open Internet Initiative's recent studies on the policies and technologies that repressive governments are using to censor Internet content. The following is a summary of ONI's findings. Every country wishes to share in the prospective benefits of the Internet. However, there are no countries that are completely comfortable with the newfound freedoms of expression and access to information the Internet brings. As a result, there are few countries left in the world today that have not debated, planned, or implemented Internet filtering. In the following eight regional overviews, we provide broad summaries that exhibit the ways in which the countries within each region are grappling with the implications of Internet freedom and the challenges of regulating online content. ONI regional profiles synthesize the findings of...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Economics: Who would pay more to tackle climate change?

noreply@blogger.com (Wanabe Human) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:52:22 PST

Around 100 world leaders are set to attend the UN climate-change summit in Copenhagen to discuss a global deal to replace the Kyoto protocol. This will be tough. Scientists estimate that greenhouse-gas emissions from rich countries need to be cut by 25 per cent -40 per cent to keep global warming to a 2ºC rise above pre-industrial levels. The offers at Copenhagen add up to around 15 per cent, with America offering only around 4 per cent. The cost of averting an even bigger rise in temperature is put at a relatively small 1 per cent of global output—a price, it seems, that many people are happy to pay. In a poll for the World Bank, over 40 per cent of people in 13 countries said they would be willing to pay this extra amount for energy and other goods to help tackle climate change. China is the keenest on spending more while Russians were most unwilling to fork out any extra. Source: The Economist, 7 December 2009; here. http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Politics/Technology: How authoritarian states survive the internet

noreply@blogger.com (Wanabe Human) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:53:30 PST

Politics/Technology article by Shuvra Mahmud. By adapting established methods of control, authoritarian and semi-authoritarian states have been able to counter the political impact of the internet within their borders, experts say, with serious implications for digital democracy movements around the world. Despite global enthusiasm for the idea of digital revolutions, some state authorities have manipulated the flexible architecture of internet technology and even guided some of its development in order to promote their own interests and retain the monopoly of power. A false dawn for digital revolutions Since the early 21st Century, world leaders have lauded the ubiquitous and liberal nature of the internet, and ambitiously proclaimed that the information revolution would inevitably lead to the rise of liberal democracies. Although there have been no historically positive cases where the transition from authoritarian rule has been significantly affected by the internet, media...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Economics: The growing political, economic clout of Arctic peoples

noreply@blogger.com (Wanabe Human) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 02:02:42 PDT

Last month Greenland celebrated the devolution of more powers from Denmark but translating nominal political power for the mostly Inuit population into real independence will take a long time, and economic clout. The Inuit of Canada won some powers a decade ago, while the Sami, Komi and Sakha peoples also have some autonomy. Climate change, oddly, may boost Inuit bargaining power. Thinner sea ice is making it easier to drill for oil and gas in the region: the United States Geological Survey estimates that the Arctic could hold 90 billion barrels of oil and 47 trillion cubic metres of gas, much of it off Greenland (though other surveys are more modest). But would-be extractors will also have to take into account the determination of local people to claim a share of the action, as well as heeding the state interests of Canada, the United States and (for the time being) Denmark. In northern Norway the Sami, having won legal rights to some local resources under a 2005 law, are...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Economics/Politics: Countries with most refugees

noreply@blogger.com (Wanabe Human) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 03:24:10 PDT

Countries with most refugees, and the burden on their populations. At the end of 2008 10.5m refugees were in the direct care of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, down slightly from 11.4m a year earlier. The conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq again caused the largest numbers of refugees to flee to, or remain in, neighbouring countries. Some 2.8m of the world's refugees are from Afghanistan, most of whom are in Pakistan and Iran. Pakistan hosted almost 1.8m people last year, nearly all from Afghanistan, with Syria and Iran each receiving around 1m people. Germany was the most popular destination among rich countries. But as a share of its population Jordan has by far the highest concentration of refugees. Source: The Economist, 17 June 2009. http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Politics/Technology: Iranian elections spark "netwar"

noreply@blogger.com (Wanabe Human) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 08:26:06 PDT

Politics/Technology article by Shuvra Mahmud. Online supporters of the defeated presidential Iranian candidate Mir-Hoseyn Musavi have been engaging in a carefully orchestrated "netwar" against pro-government websites as the Tehran authorities tighten their grip on both the mass media and the internet. Iranians have been actively blogging and posting to Facebook and YouTube images and videos of protests both for and against the re-election of Mahmud Ahmadinezhad for another four-year term. Activists using Twitter accounts have been urging supporters to use simple hacking tools to flood pro-government websites and stop them from loading. Note to hackers Using hacking tools such as BWraep, users can target websites and overload them with requests for images and web pages, which exhausts bandwidth capacity and results in a distributed denial of service (DDoS) error message. Some government ministry websites, including leader.ir, Ahmadinezhad.ir, and iribnews.ir, were reported to...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Politics: Obama's speech in Egypt entitled "A New Beginning"

noreply@blogger.com (Wanabe Human) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 06:27:27 PDT

Remarks of President Barack Obama: "A New Beginning" THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary (Cairo, Egypt - June 4, 2009) I am honored to be in the timeless city of Cairo, and to be hosted by two remarkable institutions. For over a thousand years, Al-Azhar has stood as a beacon of Islamic learning, and for over a century, Cairo University has been a source of Egypt’s advancement. Together, you represent the harmony between tradition and progress. I am grateful for your hospitality, and the hospitality of the people of Egypt. I am also proud to carry with me the goodwill of the American people, and a greeting of peace from Muslim communities in my country: assalaamu alaykum. We meet at a time of tension between the United States and Muslims around the world – tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate. The relationship between Islam and the West includes centuries of co-existence and cooperation, but also conflict and religious wars. More...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

US President Barack Obama's 2009 inaugural speech

noreply@blogger.com (Wanabe Human) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 02:34:24 PST

Barack Obama has been sworn in as the 44th US president. Here is his inauguration speech in full. My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and co-operation he has shown throughout this transition. Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we, the people, have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents. So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans. Serious challenges That we are in the midst of crisis is now well...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

The death toll in Gaza

noreply@blogger.com (Wanabe Human) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 07:08:21 PST

AT LEAST 292 children and 75 women have died as a result of Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip, according to a paper published in the Lancet, a medical journal, which uses data from Gaza's Ministry of Health. The Economist on 14 January also reports that some 13 Israelis, mostly soldiers, have been killed. (Source: The Economist, January 2009)http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

I'm only popular on the internet

noreply@blogger.com (Wanabe Human) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:49:53 PST

Artist: klingatron, December 2005.http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Politics: Obama wins 2008 US election to become first black president

noreply@blogger.com (Wanabe Human) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:08:54 PST

View Obama's victory speech on the BBC website, here. Americans emphatically elected Democrat Barack Obama as their first black president, in a transformational election which will reshape US politics and the US role on the world stage, AFP news agency reported on 5 November. Obama, 47, will be inaugurated the 44th US president on January 20, 2009, and inherit an economy mired in the worst financial crisis since the 1930s, two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and a nuclear showdown with Iran. Bloggers have also reacted to the news, here. Canadian bloggers behind "leftcoast.ca" said: "The most amazing and most statesman-like individual that has graced the world stage in a very long time. Congratulations to the USA for electing an amazing individual as their 44th President. Beautiful." California resident Jennifer Ayala in her blog "College in Canada, eh" said: "I was totally praying for a McCain-shaped victory, but I’m not one to dwell on disappointments. Okay so...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Technology: The DNI looks at virtual worlds - summer 2008 (video)

noreply@blogger.com (Wanabe Human) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 06:50:48 PDT

The final 7-minute video prepared for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in Summer 2008 describing the 3-dimensional Virtual Reality problem, challenges, and opportunities. See conference details, here. Source: Intellink website, October 2008.http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Technology: Cyberterrorism - myths and facts (video)

noreply@blogger.com (Wanabe Human) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 04:17:55 PDT

Video of a panel discussion at Technology in Wartime at Stanford University Law School, entitled "Cyberterrorism: Myths and Facts" on 26 January 2008. Herbert Lin, a software specialist at the US National research Council (NRC), is leading a study sponsored by the NRC, Microsoft and the MacArthur Foundation to tackle the issues of cyberwars: defence, retaliation, and whether cyberweapons can/should be used. See related New Scientist article (February 2008), here. See recent blog posting (September 2008) on Burma's cyberwar against opposition websites, here. http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://wanabehuman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]