Rolling coverage of the results of the Rochester and Strood byelection, where Mark Reckless is widely expected to become Ukip's second MP elected to parliament
Sterling suffers sell-off on Asian markets amid fears that yes vote could send the currency plunging by up to 10%
There's certainly something to be said about the assumptions, say, Civilization builds into its simulations. Look at its winstates and what they value - technological progress, military conquest, economic superiority, and cultural domination. You don't win by eliminating hunger or poverty or by nuclear deproliferation or by having a particularly high standard of living. You get it for, for lack of a better way to phrase this, very American goals.
- Chris Franklin, from a post entitled "Keep Your Politics Out of My Video Games"
China's censorship is in overdrive after a former high-ranking official Bo Xilai was charged today with bribery, embezzlement and power abuse, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Censors have reportedly been taking down unfavorable comments on China's Twitter-like microblogging platform, Sina Weibo, that criticize the Communist Party or express sympathy for Bo. Many of the deleted posts are shown on the Free Weibo site. The WSJ report also mentions that a note of support from a microblogger in Dalian, the city where Bo started his political career, was later deleted.
It is possible too that some of the posts may have been deleted by Sina Weibo's "rumor control" team - which aims to dispel false news and information, though in some cases, its hand appears to be forced by the government.
Bo, a former Communist Party politician, captured the attention of Chinese citizens and people from all over the world as details of his allegedly corrupt life surfaced last year - which included links to the mysterious death of a 41-year-old British businessman in a Chongqing hotel room that was declared a murder.
His downfall caused a huge political shockwave that reverberated to the online world, and most comments went through Sina Weibo, with the WSJ noting that back then plenty of posts debated on whether Bo was a criminal or a sacrificial lamb.
Last year, this led to three of China's most influential Internet companies - Baidu, Sina and Tencent - pledging to "firmly support and cooperate with relevant government departments in cracking down and probing web rumors."
Subsequently, this time round the comments on Sina Weibo in response to Bo's news are largely supportive of the government. Several comments say that the Communist Party has made the right decision to charge Bo, and that Bo's indictment proves the government's determination to stamp out corruption and that they believe in the Party.
The one-dimensional tone of these comments leaves one to believe that China's censors have been hard at work. The WSJ report notes that this could be the work of so-called trolls or the "Water Army" - real people who use so-called zombie accounts to post comments online to influence public opinion.
Among other social media services, Twitter is blocked in China. On the other hand, Sina Weibo has more than 400 million registered users and the service enjoys a large profile in China, becoming a force to be reckoned with. This has resulted in Sina Weibo having to walk a fine line between exerting control on the service and letting it operate organically as a forum for dissent and "free"(er) speech. This time round, it seems the government has the upper hand.
Headline image via Mobile Monday Bangkok
They are far more servants to political power than adversarial watchdogs over it, and what provokes their rage most is not corruption on the part of those in power (they don't care about that) but rather those who expose that corruption, especially when the ones bringing transparency are outside of, even hostile to, their incestuous media circles.
- Glenn Greenwald
Everywhere you turn, when the mainstream media is examined in terms of audience, we see a precipitous decline in the size of the audience. Newspapers, news magazines, cable news, broadcast news... you name it.
One wonders how the MSM is staying in business; it is not unreasonable to suggest that it is being secretly subsidized by the government. Advertising is not paying the bills - at least my understanding suggests that is the case.
But why would the government subsidize the MSM?
The answer leads us down the rabbit hole. The MSM serves those in power; Chris Hedges called the MSM "courtiers of power." For an example, look at how the NSA story is being handled.
Rather than really digging in on the substance of the NSA snooping/spying/violations (and collusion with the private sector), the story that is covered endlessly is whether Snowden is a whistleblower or traitor. The real story has been diverted.
As long as the MSM serves political and economic powers, it will be subsidized. It is charged with framing the acceptable boundaries of discourse. Its function is to divert attention and define what we are supposed to talk about at the water cooler. But, by and large, it is not working!
A year ago, I wrote about how the MSM continues to decline. The pabulum served by the MSM is not sustainable. The NSA scandal and how the MSM - from Fox to MSNBC and everything in between - handles it insists on making Snowden the story. The real issues concerning the NSA are left to online, alternative media sources. And while they may not be subsidized and have questionable business models, alternative media is covering the real story unabated.
Read the full story at ComputerWorld.
Read the full story at The Next Web.
Iceland is a very small country with a big "brand" influence in a state of recovery, discovery and evolution.
"Few countries blew up more spectacularly than Iceland in the 2008 financial crisis. The local stock market plunged 90 percent; unemployment rose ninefold; inflation shot to more than 18 percent; the country's biggest banks all failed.
This was no post-Lehman Brothers recession: It was a depression."
Bloomberg, Sep 26, 2012
The collapse was profound, as was the response of Icelanders known for their tech savvy connectivity and fierce independence. The citizens didn't wait for politicians to act or for banks to repossess their homes. True to their nature, these quirky and decisive people took to the streets with humble pots and pans, protesting at the doors of Parliament. In one show of solidarity after another, the masses refused to bear the burden of the failed policies of the lawmakers and money lenders. They demanded protection, accountability, resignations, transparency, and they called for a new constitution.
Which is exactly what they got. Iceland jailed its bankers, bailed out its people and ousted the "old boys" from office. It has reduced its unemployment to 5 percent, has repaid its loans ahead of schedule and is recovering economically at an enviable rate. All of which is impressive.
But it's the rewriting of the constitution that should give every one of us with a Facebook page in a broken political and financial system cause for pause. Icelanders had lost confidence in their government- they didn't wait for the "conspirators" to resurrect a plan that protected the "establishment." Once again they got involved; the citizens, over 90 percent of whom have access to the web, engaged in an open, iterative, crowd sourced, digital project that ultimately re-framed the nation's constitution. Over half of eligible voters participated simply and conveniently through social media. The referendum passed with 66 percent of the vote.
"... technology is having a greater impact on politics in both small and large communities. What could have taken months to accomplish is now possible in just hours, thanks to mobile phones and the Internet.”
Iceland's President, lafur Ragnar Gr msso
All the world is watching as Iceland recovers, discovers and evolves its sustainable economy, communal values and national identity. Government officials and citizens are engaging, debating and solving real problems with technology driven collaborative tools. Collectively, Iceland has defined policies that protect the stability of the island's natural resources; declaring national control over lucrative fish reserves and the geothermal energy resources that aren't already privatized. Right now the people and the politicians are weighing the social consequences and economic conflicts of restricting access to violent internet pornography in a country that stands to profit as a haven of free expression. Policies on privatization or positions on moral censorship aside, the big takeaway here is that technology has radically democratized how this government governs and how this public takes interest in protecting their shared interests.
It matters little if you and I are leading countries, companies or classrooms. What we need to ask ourselves is: How are we harnessing the true power of social media and the networks that follow? Are we engaged in meaningful discourse; addressing concerns, exchanging knowledge, and assuming responsibility for our shared social, financial and ecological well being? Are we curating cultures that respect and inform our mutual interests? Or are we schlepping products, spinning hype, and dumbing the potential down to the lowest value?
Either way, like me on Facebook!
Demonstrators enraged by rocket attack at refugee facility in Iraq demand transfer of Iranian dissidents to larger camp
Demonstrators protested outside the US embassy in London on Saturday after attackers fired rockets at a refugee camp for an Iranian exile group in Iraq, killing six people and wounding more than 40.
The attack was at a former American military base near Baghdad, known as Camp Liberty, which houses opponents of the regime in Iran.
Members of the Iranian community in Britain gathered outside the US embassy, calling on the US government to facilitate the transfer of the 3,100 Iranian dissidents in the camp back to another camp in Iraq, Camp Ashraf, where they were before.
Lord Carlile QC, spoke on behalf of the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom, a 120-strong cross-party group of MPs and peers which supports the Iranian opposition.
He said: "We should demand that the UK government takes immediate action to bring this matter to the UN security council and takes steps to ensure that the residents of Camp Liberty are given humanitarian aid and returned to Camp Ashraf.
"It is time for weakness to cease in the diplomatic approach to Camp Liberty. The Iraqi ambassador should be summoned to the Foreign Office immediately."
Camp Ashraf was home to Iranian dissidents in Iraq for 26 years and is said to be 80 times bigger than Camp Liberty.
Scotland Yard said the protest at the embassy was peaceful.
Amnesty International said the attack was "a despicable crime", and authorities in Iraq should urgently investigate it and ensure all those wounded receive appropriate medical care.
The investigation should also look into the conduct of Iraqi security forces before and during the attack and whether they failed to prevent it, a spokesman said.
"The attack against Camp Liberty is a despicable crime," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, deputy director of the organisation's Middle East and North Africa programme.
"Authorities in Iraq must ensure not only that those responsible for this attack are brought to justice but that those living in the camp are protected."
The UN high commissioner for refugees, Antonio Guterres, expressed his shock at what had happened.
"I strongly condemn this attack," he said, noting that the residents of Camp Liberty are asylum seekers undergoing the refugee status determination process and thus entitled to international protection.
He added: "This is a despicable act of violence. I call on the Iraqi government to do everything it can to guarantee security to the residents. The perpetrators must be found and brought to justice without delay."
If you believe in the power of voting, chances are you're going to head to a polling place sometime between now and the end of the day to cast your ballot. You'll probably be waiting a few minutes as well. With that in mind, we tossed together 10 election day pieces for you to save to Instagram/Pocket/Readability to distract you.
Curious what Obama and Romney are like away from the cameras? We got you covered. Skeptical of electronic voting? There's a link for that. Want to revisit the specters of elections past? Let me help you out.
But these are just a few to get you started. What are you reading while in line? Are you reading anything at all? Are you even in line?
“A Romney win would hurt Apple and General Motors very badly,” Nigam Arora writes for Forbes.
“Both of these companies are highly dependent on China for their growth,” Arora writes. “Romney has repeatedly stated that he will declare China a currency manipulator on his first day in office. Such a declaration would likely lead to a trade war.”
Arora writes, “Chinese consumers are nationalistic... Apple will find itself in a much worse position than General Motors. Apple will be hit with a double whammy, falling sales and falling margins... In my analysis, a trade war would result in Apple stock falling under $400.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
How Romney and/or Obama should have answered Candy Crowley's Apple assembly question – October 17, 2012
U.S presidential candidate Romney vows to get tough with China, tackle unfair Chinese trade practices – August 28, 2012
Mitt Romney: Does President Obama think Steve Jobs didn't build Apple? – July 18, 2012
Photos of Mitt Romney with his Apple iPhone and iPad at his Lake Winnipesaukee home – July 15, 2012
