AP’s Academic ‘Expert’ Excusing Flash Mob Crime Is An Undisclosed New Media Leftist
August 10, 2011 No CommentFor some reason, Associated Press reporters Eric Tucker and Thomas Watkins, in a story about the wave of flash mob crime in the U.S. this summer, felt compelled to find an “expert” who would express some sympathy for its participants. Well, they supposedly found one. His name is Jonathan Taplin. Here's what he told the AP: Jonathan Taplin, director of the innovation lab at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication, said he was not surprised to see people using social media for organizing flash mob robberies. “You are essentially having a world where you have 25 million people who are underemployed and 2 percent of the population doing better than they ever have,” Taplin said. “Why wouldn't that lead to some sort of social unrest? Why wouldn't people use the latest technologies to effect that?” Initially, it appears odd, to say the least, that Tucker and Watkins would have found their “let's blame our unjust society” quote from a guy like Taplin in the first place. Really, that's a pretty fiery quote coming from a guy at an “innovation lab.” What does Taplin know about what goes on in the hearts and minds of those who, from various accounts nationwide, have appeared to be mostly black and mostly teenagers — to the point where publications like the Chicago Tribune have felt the need to explain their politically incorrect decisions to say as much? It seems even odder when one learns that Taplin holds himself out in his Annenberg job as a specialist “in international communication management and the field of digital media entertainment.” This makes him an expert on class envy and social unrest? Let's look at what the Annenberg Innovation Lab project's ” initial areas of focus ” are: Innovative applications for configuring news content that fully utilize the capabilities of devices such as digital tablets and e-Book readers. Interactive Television applications and widgets for the next generation of fiber optic delivered high definition TV. The evolution of the E-Book into the multimedia realm using video, music and graphics in addition to text. The use of portable digital devices of all sorts in the production, distribution and monetization of news and entertainment content. The use of immersive digital platforms as a journalistic medium. The evolution of social networking as a platform for commerce, entertainment and journalism. Obviously there's nothing wrong with any of this, but AP's reporters either didn't know or didn't care that they were basically talking to someone who could fairly be characterized as just another media guy (though with a much wider background than is often found, as noted here in a sympathetic CBS New piece in February 2009). The AP's use of Taplin as a so-called expert starts to make (propaganda) sense once one sees his favorite news sources at the bottom of this April 2011 interview : “New York Times, Talking Points Memo (TPM), FiveThirtyEight.” Hmm. The latter two indicate more than an average person's interest in politics. Far more important, Tucker and Watkins didn't disclose that Taplin's sympathies unsurprisingly lean far to the left, as evidenced by
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Fossil remains of a bird from the Late Cretaceous suggest it was up to three metres tall and weighed more than 50kg Two slender shafts of bone unearthed in the remote desert of southern Kazakhstan belong to one of the largest birds ever to stalk the Earth. The fossilised remains form two sides of the lower jaw of a bird – at least as big as an ostrich – that lived alongside dinosaurs in central Asia 100m years ago. The size of the bones, more than 27cm-long each, point to a bird that stood two to three metres tall, making it the largest bird known from the Late Cretaceous. Many primitive birds alive at the time were closer in size to chickens. The lack of other remains from the creature has left palaeontologists unable to confirm whether the bird was capable of flight. If it did fly, its wingspan probably topped 4m – wider than that of a large albatross. Details of the bird, named Samrukia nessovi , are reported in the latest issue of the Royal Society journal, Biology Letters . The two lengths of bone were uncovered at a site called Shakh-Shakh about 372 miles (600km) east of the Aral Sea during a Soviet-East German expedition in the 1970s. The fossil was reconstructed using plaster, glue and paint, to make it look like a complete jaw, passed through the hands of a German collector, and later went on display in a Belgian museum. Gareth Dyke, a palaeontologist at University College Dublin , dissolved the plaster and other materials used to reconstruct the fossil with solvents before analysing the bone fragments. Measurements of the remains suggest they belonged to a bird whose skull was 30cm from front to back. The creature, if flightless, almost certainly weighed more than 50kg. “This is one of the largest birds that’s ever been described of any age. We don’t have much of it, but we know the lower jaw is at least as big if not bigger than the ostrich lower jaw. At the age it is, it’s pretty exciting,” Dyke told the Guardian. “We have always assumed that giant size in birds was something that evolved relatively late in the history of the group, so to find a specimen so early is remarkable. This is a giant of a bird with no teeth from the Late Cretaceous.” The bird earned its forename from Samruk, the mythological Kazakh phoenix. The latter part of its name honours Lev Nessov, an eccentric Russian palaeontologist who used to take the bus or train from St Petersburg into Central Asia to embark on long hikes into the desert to hunt for fossils. He killed himself in 1995 at the age of 48 after the breakup of the Soviet Union restricted his travels. Another large bird, named Gargantuavis , that lived in southern France 70m years ago was discovered in the late 1990s. ” Samrukia adds another giant bird to the Cretaceous roster. Arguably, in fact, it increases the significance of Gargantuavis , since it shows that it wasn’t a one-off,” said co-author Darren Naish at Portsmouth University . Fossils Evolution Biology Ian Sample guardian.co.uk
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Ran Yunfei, who was charged with inciting subversion of state power, put under ‘residential surveillance’ A Chinese blogger and writer detained by police and charged with inciting subversion earlier this year has been released after nearly six months, according to his wife. Ran Yunfei was among the first detained amid the government’s recent expansive crackdown on dissent. He returned to his home in Chengdu, the capital of south-western Sichuan province, on Tuesday night, said Wang Wei. She declined to elaborate, indicating that Ran is probably restricted from speaking to the media. “Yes, he has returned, but it’s not convenient right now to accept interviews,” Wang said. Ran was an uncompromising voice for free speech before he was taken away in late February as anonymous online calls circulated for Chinese to imitate the uprisings sweeping through north Africa and the Middle East. Dozens of activists, lawyers and bloggers were questioned, detained or disappeared in the crackdown, including the activist artist Ai Weiwei and rights lawyer Teng Biao, who were later released without criminal charges. In Ran’s case, a court in Chengdu charged him in late March with inciting subversion of state power, but prosecutors recently sent the case back to police, said Ran’s friend Pu Zhiqiang, a prominent rights lawyer who spoke briefly to the blogger on Wednesday. Pu said Ran was released into “residential surveillance” for a six-month period, under which he is not allowed to leave home or meet people without permission, and he may not speak publicly. Still, Pu welcomed Ran’s release as a sign the crackdown could be easing. “Exercising control over these people showed the authorities’ fear of the democratic revolutions in the northern Africa,” Pu said. “Now that they have been released, it could mean that this wave of social control is slowly loosening or gradually receding.” Ran was a presence online for more than a decade. A self-described bookworm, he frequently criticised government policies and called for tolerance for dissenting views. When domestic websites would no longer carry his outspoken views, he moved his blogs and Twitter posts to sites outside China, and many of his readers followed him, circumventing government blocks to read his material. The writer’s release comes at a time when other previously detained high-profile dissidents and activists have taken small steps to emerge from silence. Ai Weiwei has resumed posting on his Twitter page, calling this week for the release of internet activist Wang Lihong, who is set to stand trial on Friday. China Human rights guardian.co.uk
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Peaceful march turns violent as masked demonstrators burn cars and loot shops in Santiago Violence erupted on the streets of Chile’s capital and other cities as tens of thousands of students staged another protest demanding changes in public education. Masked demonstrators burned cars and barricades, looted shops and threw furniture at police in Santiago on Tuesday. Some attacked an apartment building, throwing rocks and breaking windows. Riot police used tear gas and tanks with water cannons to push them back. By nightfall, at least 273 protesters were detained, including 73 in Santiago, and 23 police officers were injured, said Rodrigo Ubilla, a deputy interior minister. Five days after a banned march ended in nearly 900 arrests, students and teachers marched peacefully in Santiago and elsewhere in Chile on Tuesday, calling for the government to increase spending on schooling and provide “free and equal” public education. As in previous demonstrations, protesters danced, sang, wore costumes and waved signs. But then groups of masked protesters split off and tried to break through police barricades blocking the way to the presidential palace. University of Chile student president Camila Vallejos said 150,000 marched on sidestreets in the capital because the government denied them permission to march on the main avenue. Ubilla estimated that between 70,000 and 80,000 marched in Santiago. Vallejos said the huge showing so soon after last Thursday’s confrontations “reaffirms the level of approval we have and that the people keep supporting us. It’s the government that isn’t capable of conceding”. The interior minister, Rodrigo Hinzpeter, said the violence shows student leaders can’t control their demonstrators. As the day wore on, the violence spread, with hooded and masked activists throwing rocks, paint, furniture and street signs at police backed by armoured vehicles. The unrest has gripped Chile for more than two months. High school and university students have refused to attend class, taken over schools and staged demonstrations to press their demand for fundamental changes in how Chile finances public education. Of particular concern, they say, is that private universities enjoying nonprofit tax status aren’t reinvesting their revenues in educational improvements as required by law. The system also leaves underfunded municipalities in charge of high school education nationwide. This has starved most schools of resources, while leaving some wealthy neighbourhood schools well off. Chile’s small upper class sends its children to private schools or even overseas for their education. Teachers’ union president Jaime Gajardo reiterated the students’ call for a national referendum on their demands, an idea that leaders of the governing center-right coalition have dismissed as unconstitutional and dangerous. Student leaders spread word on social networks for their supporters to engage in more pot-banging displays known as “cacerolazos”, and the clamour of crashing metal rang into the night. Pot-banging during the dark of night was a frequent method of protest during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet in 1973-90. Chile Protest guardian.co.uk
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Stock markets worldwide boosted on news that US interest rates are to be frozen for the next two years Stock markets around the world rallied after the US Federal Reserve said US interest rates would be frozen for the next two years, and hinted at more economic stimulus to stave off a global recession. The FTSE 100 in London climbed 64 points to 5229 in early trading, up 1.25%, This added to Tuesday’s gains, when the index rose 96 points or 1.9%, its first increase in eight days, in anticipation of Fed measures designed to prevent the US economy sliding back into recession. The Dow Jones industrial average surged nearly 430 points to 11239.77, a gain of almost 4%, on Tuesday, a day after suffering its worst point decline since 2008. Asian markets also rose, with Japan’s Nikkei climbing 94.26 points, or 1.05%, to 9038.74 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 495.16 points, or 2.56%, to 19,825.86. The Fed lowered interest rates near zero in response to the financial crisis in 2008. Since then, it had been saying that rates would stay low for an “extended period”. On Tuesday, it modified that statement to say that this would continue until at least mid-2013, as the economy was expected to stay weak for two more years. America’s central bank said it expected “a somewhat slower pace of recovery over coming quarters than it did at the time of the previous meeting”. It added that it had discussed “the range of policy tools” it could use to boost the economy. There is speculation that this could include a fresh round of bond-buying, known as quantitative easing, or QE3. “If there is such a thing as an aggressively dovish approach that’s the route the Fed chose yesterday,” said Gary Jenkins, head of fixed income research at Evolution Securities. Paul Dales, senior US economist at Capital Economics, said: “The US Fed’s decision to pledge to keep interest rates exceptionally low for much longer than previously is largely a symbolic gesture designed to reassure the financial markets rather than boost the real economy. More interesting is that the Fed considered other forms of policy stimulus, perhaps even QE3. The chances of QE3 have increased a bit, but the rebound in core inflation and the growing division at the Fed mean it is more likely to come next year than this year.” US economy Economics Stock markets Quantitative easing Interest rates Financial crisis Global recession Bonds United States Julia Kollewe guardian.co.uk
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Republicans in Wisconsin clung on to control of the state senate after a hotly-contested series of recall elections Republicans snatched a narrow victory in the battleground of Wisconsin politics on Tuesday night, hanging onto four out of six recall elections held as Democrats fought to overturn their majority in the state senate. Six seats were up for re-election after Democrats had successfully organised recall ballots against the group of incumbent Republican state senators, in the wake of the controversial anti-union measures supported by Republican governor Scott Walker. Democrats needed to win at least three of the six seats held by Republicans to take control of the state senate. But after a campaign that saw an estimated $35m spent by both sides – many times above the sums usually spent on local elections – the Democrats could only take two of the seats on offer. The campaign had energised Democrats, who went to great lengths with get-out-the-vote efforts, but the final result came down to a tight race between Republican Alberta Darling of River Hills, who held off Democratic state representative Sandy Pasch of Whitefish Bay by a 5,000 vote margin. Republican senators Sheila Harsdorf of River Falls, Rob Cowles of Allouez and Luther Olsen of Ripon also held on to their seats. Democrats vowed to continue their efforts next year, and launch recall efforts against Walker himself, as well other Republican state senators who may be vulnerable after Tuesday night’s results. For Walker – talked of as a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2016 – the result means he can continue unimpeded, with both houses of Wisconsin’s legislature controlled by Republicans. Wisconsin’s bitter political battle caught international attention earlier this year after Democratic senators fled the state for three weeks in an attempt to stop Walker from passing a bill to strip 175,000 government workers of almost all collective bargaining rights. Both Democrats and Republicans regard Wisconsin as a swing state in the 2012 presidential election. Although Obama carried the state easily in 2008, the 2010 midterm elections swept the Republicans back into power and unseated Democratic US senator Russ Feingold. Wisconsin US politics Republicans Democrats United States Richard Adams guardian.co.uk
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Sea trials of former Soviet craft underline China’s naval ambitions and fuel concerns about growing military strength China’s first aircraft carrier swept through fog-shrouded waters on Wednesday to launch open sea trials that underline the country’s big naval ambitions and fuel concerns about its growing military strength amid regional territorial disputes. The ship is a former Soviet craft that China acknowledged a month ago it was rebuilding for research and training, in a strong indication it plans to start building aircraft carriers of its own. China has been investing heavily in modernising its military for at least the last decade, and having its own carrier will add prestige to that expansion, which has accompanied a rise in nationalism in the country. The carrier left Dalian port in north-east Liaoning province early Wednesday, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Xinhua said the first sea trial was in line with the country’s schedule to rebuild the carrier. China has spend the better part of a decade refurbishing the former Soviet aircraft carrier Varyag after it was towed from Ukraine in 1998, the report said, citing unnamed military sources. China’s carrier ambitions have sparked concern among neighbours amid heightened tensions over territorial disputes around Taiwan and in the South China Sea. Over the past year, China has seen a flare-up in territorial spats with Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam and had its relations strained with South Korea – all of which have sought support from Washington, long the pre-eminent naval power in Asia. Xinhua said refitting and test work would continue on the carrier when it returns from its short sea trial. The Varyag, yet to be officially renamed, was towed from Ukraine as an empty shell without engines, weapons systems or other crucial equipment. Defence experts say China plans up to four carriers in all, with preparations under way at a Shanghai shipyard. The Xinhua report did not say how long the sea trial would last. But a statement posted on the website of the Liaoning Maritime Safety Authority said “all vessels will be barred from entering” a small section of the sea off Dalian until 6pm (10am GMT) on Sunday. There had been earlier online reports in China that the test was set to start last weekend, but it may have been delayed by a tropical storm that swept through the area. China US foreign policy guardian.co.uk
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Doctors are failing to identify underlying health issues such as asthma and diabetes, say specialists Increasing numbers of women are dying in
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South Korean forces retaliate after North Korea fires three artillery shells in latest clash in Yellow Sea South Korean forces returned fire after North Korean artillery shells fell into waters near the tense maritime line that separates the two rivals, according to a South Korean official. North Korea fired three shells near the Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea on Wednesday, prompting the South to fire back three shells, said the defense ministry spokesman, Kim Min-seok. South Korean forces have been on high alert in the area since a North Korean artillery attack killed four people in November on South Korea’s Yeonpyeong island . Wednesday’s shooting took place nearby. Violence often erupts in the contested waters there. Boats routinely jostle for position during crab-catching season, and three deadly naval clashes since 1999 have taken dozens of lives. Kim said one North Korean artillery shell is believed to have fallen south of the maritime line, citing a preliminary analysis of the trajectory of the shell. The line separating the countries was drawn at the close of the Korean war in 1953 and is still a fierce point of dispute. The countries remain technically at war. North Korea argues the line should run farther south. Seoul believes accepting such a line would endanger fishing around five South Korean islands and hamper access to its port at Incheon. The November attack marked a new level of hostility along the contested line. Two civilians and two marines died, and many houses were gutted in the shelling. South Korea North Korea guardian.co.uk
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