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nicolet1189

Twitter, terror and free speech: Should Twitter block Islamic snuff videos? | The Economist - 0 views

www.economist.com/...twitter-terror-and-free-speech

ISIS free speech Social Media twitter censorship

shared by nicolet1189 on 10 Nov 14 - No Cached
  • YouTube removed one version of the video, citing a violation of their policy on violent content. On Tuesday, Twitter announced a new policy that it would remove images and video of the deceased at the request of family member
  • g #ISISMediaBlackout
  • The logical incoherence of this statement aside, is disseminating offensive material the same thing as promoting it? It is conceivable that the video could incite potential terrorists and others harboring anti-American sentiments to copycat acts of violence. But it is equally true that content of this kind wakes people up t
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • Should platforms like YouTube and Twitter really have the power to censor what content we can or cannot see? At least in America, the suppression of disturbing or offensive content, if it does not incite violence, is a direct violation of our principles of free speech. Especially in this instance, it seems deeply inappropriate to respond to authoritarianism with authoritarian action.
  • Others have argued that the video shouldn’t be shared because that’s what ISIS wants.
  • Does it matter what ISIS wants?
  • Part of ISIS’s aim is presumably to terrorise us remotely, but most people are just getting angry.
  • intentionality does not factor into censorship decisions anyway. 
  • Twitter is not television. No one is being forced to view the footage.
  • It’s completely understandable that family members don’t want footage of a loved one’s death to spread, but it’s not clear that that’s their decision to make.
  • It’s really not Twitter’s decision either—unless we want to grant tech giants the power to control public knowledge and discourse, a dangerous precedent indeed.
  • Its democratic power derives from the fact that it’s unedited; for better or for worse,
  • nicolet1189 on 10 Nov 14
     
    The author of this article strongly opposes Social Media companies, specifically Twitter censoring ISIS related materials on their website. The author argues it violates free speech and the democratic principles associated with the website, arguing censoring a beheading video would be a slippery slope for future content.
Briana S

Sabrina Jalees' dad made huge sacrifice when she came out to him - 0 views

www.mirror.co.uk/...slim-father-makes-huge-4715464

muslim gay rights

shared by Briana S on 01 Dec 14 - No Cached
  • Briana S on 01 Dec 14
     
    A Muslim father has supported his gay daughter in a way that she never thought he would, turning his back on his entire family who refuse to accept her. Sabrina Jalees had been reluctant to come out to her Pakistani dad, Sayed, unsure of how he would react. This is a really interesting topi considering just how harsh Muslim teachings have been in the past when it came to handling homosexuality or any for of "immodesty." Also highlights the fact that Muslims are totally capable of choosing family over religion regardless of the stereotypes.
wmulnea

BBC News - Falling oil prices: Who are the winners and losers? - 0 views

www.bbc.com/...business-29643612

shared by wmulnea on 13 Feb 15 - No Cached
  • The reasons for this change are twofold - weak demand in many countries due to insipid economic growth, coupled with surging US production. Added to this is the fact that the oil cartel Opec is determined not to cut production as a way to prop up prices.
  • Russia loses about $2bn in revenues for every dollar fall in the oil price,
  • Russia has confirmed it will not cut production to shore up oil prices.
  • ...12 more annotations...
  • Venezuela is one of the world's largest oil exporters, but thanks to economic mismanagement it was already finding it difficult to pay its way even before the oil price started falling.
  • Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter and Opec's most influential member, could support global oil prices by cutting back its own production, but there is little sign it wants to do this.
  • There could be two reasons - to try to instil some discipline among fellow Opec oil producers, and perhaps to put the US's burgeoning shale oil and gas industry under pressure.
  • Saudi Arabia needs oil prices to be around $85 in the longer term, it has deep pockets with a reserve fund of some $700bn - so can withstand lower prices for some time.
  • were to force some higher cost producers
  • In the 1980s the country did cut production significantly in a bid to boost prices, but it had little effect and it also badly affected the Saudi economy.
  • Saudi Arabia, Gulf producers such as the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have also amassed considerable foreign currency reserves, which means that they could run deficits for several years if necessary.
  • Islamic State, capturing oil wells. It is estimated it is making about $3m a day through black market sales - and undercutting market prices by selling at a significant discount - around $30-60 a barrel.
  • "The growth of oil production in North America, particularly in the US, has been staggering," says Columbia University's Jason Bordoff.
  • It has been this growth in US energy production, where gas and oil is extracted from shale formations using hydraulic fracturing or fracking, that has been one of the main drivers of lower oil prices.
  • "Shale has essentially severed the linkage between geopolitical turmoil in the Middle East, and oil price and equities," says Seth Kleinman, head of energy strategy at Citi.
  • With Europe's flagging economies characterised by low inflation and weak growth, any benefits of lower prices would be welcomed by beleaguered governments. A 10% fall in oil prices should lead to a 0.1% increase in economic output, say some. In general consumers benefit through lower energy prices, but eventually low oil prices do erode the conditions that brought them about.
jsawin

IMF Fact Sheet - 1 views

www.google.com/...edit

shared by jsawin on 16 Feb 15 - No Cached
  • jsawin on 16 Feb 15
     
    The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank were both created at an international conference convened in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United States in July 1944. The goal of the conference was to establish a framework for economic cooperation and development that would lead to a more stable and prosperous global economy. While this goal remains central to both institutions, their work is constantly evolving in response to new economic developments and challenges.
tdford333

41 men targeted but 1,147 people killed: US drone strikes - the facts on the ground | US news | The Guardian - 0 views

www.theguardian.com/...-sp-us-drone-strikes-kill-1147

drones Yemen civillians

shared by tdford333 on 27 Mar 15 - No Cached
  • 41 men targeted but 1,147 people killed
  • tdford333 on 27 Mar 15
     
    A new analysis of the data available to the public about drone strikes, conducted by the human-rights group Reprieve, indicates that even when operators target specific individuals - the most focused effort of what Barack Obama calls "targeted killing" - they kill vastly more people than their targets, often needing to strike multiple times. Attempts to kill 41 men resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1,147 people, as of 24 November.
fcastro2

Syria's Assad says West wants to weaken Russia | Reuters - 0 views

www.reuters.com/...d-russia-idUSKBN0MN0GQ20150327

syria russia the west politics

shared by fcastro2 on 30 Mar 15 - No Cached
  • Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has accused the West of trying to weaken Russia by turning Ukraine into a puppet state, a tactic he said had also been used against his own country.
  • keep coming back to the fact that there is a connection between the Syrian crisis and what is happening in Ukraine
  • "Firstly because both countries are important for Russia, and secondly because the goal in both cases is to weaken Russia
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • The United States and the European Union have imposed economic sanctions on Russia over its role in the crisis in Ukraine.
  • Russia, a long-standing ally of Assad, denies sending troops and weapons to support separatists fighting government forces in east Ukraine
  • Assad will not attend, the president said those taking part should not lose sight of the main goal, clearly meaning restoring peace
  • Many Syrian opposition figures shunned the January talks, saying they would appear only at meetings that led to Assad's removal from power.
  • fcastro2 on 30 Mar 15
     
    Syria's President Assad claims that Western powers are trying to "weaken" Russia. Russia and Syria have been long time allies and so it is unclear what Russia will say to this. 
aacosta8

Bouazizi: The Man Who Set Himself and Tunisia on Fire - 0 views

content.time.com/...0,9171,2044723,00.html

Tunisia Mohammed Bouazizi Revolutions in Tunisia Ben Ali

shared by aacosta8 on 26 Jan 16 - No Cached
  • aacosta8 on 26 Jan 16
     
    He is now famous throughout Tunisia and the Arab world - a legend, in fact. But Mohammed Bouazizi never set out to be a byword. His aunt Radia Bouazizi says his dream was to save enough money to be able to rent or buy a pickup truck.
mcooka

Saudi Arabia's education system in the spotlight again - Al Arabiya English - 0 views

english.alarabiya.net/...em-in-the-spotlight-again.html

#Middle East #Education #Saudi Arabia

shared by mcooka on 27 Jan 16 - No Cached
  • Education in Saudi Arabia is in the spotlight again with the appointment of a new minister for this famously problematic ministry. In fact, education has always been a main concern for Saudi officials involved in public affairs and they were about to lose hope that the ministry, and the education sector as a whole, could be fixed. Whenever unemployment, labor and terrorism issues are brought up, education becomes the main concern of parliament and the media.
  • The report only covers 13 Arab countries where statistical information was available. Among those countries is Saudi Arabia whose statistics reveal that about half of the male students did not succeed in acquiring basic education after four years of primary school. Girls, however, were better because one third were able to acquire the basic requirements in education and thus they recorded the highest difference between boys and girls in the Arab world.
  • . This is the crisis tackled by the Brookings report, a crisis manifested through protests and anger in the streets of the Arab Spring countries.
  • mcooka on 27 Jan 16
     
    Education in Saudi Arabia. While this article is a year old, it shows the beginning of a hopeful future in Saudi education which has been lacking. 
blantonjack

Israel's Arab Alliance: A Counter to ISIS and Iran? - 3 views

www.thecipherbrief.com/...alliance-counter-isis-and-iran

Iran Isis Isreal

shared by blantonjack on 10 Feb 16 - No Cached
  • blantonjack on 10 Feb 16
     
    With the Middle East ablaze, new opportunities have emerged for regional cooperation. In fact, partnerships have formed in the most unlikely of places, as Israel and some of its Arab neighbors have joined together to combat regional enemies, such as ISIS and Iran.
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