We all have our own opinions about politics. Some of us are more involved and interested in the political process than others are. While we rave and shout at the television screen, we sometimes find our family and friends bored, startled or lost. We political junkies need to interact with like minds or at least with those who are excited about politics whether we agree with them or not.
For example, I clicked to one political forum and go to the topic that was interested for me, it’s named: Arab Hitler member of Israeli House of Parliament – major investigation by the Walid. Also, POLITICAL FORUM – this very active group discusses current affairs and world news as well as politics. They have ongoing opinion polls and sections on just about every social issue you can think of. There is an interesting thread about conspiracy theories that you won’t want to miss. Political Forum has over 50,000 members and over 2 million posts. In this video, the Walid Shoebat organization has done a major investigation into an Arab member of the Israeli Parliament (the Knesset). His Name is is Ibrahim Sarsur. In the following link Walid translates an Arabic speech in which Sarsur MK supports Hezbollah, the Islamic Caliphate, the destruction of Israel and the Jews. His speeches in Hebrew and English are “moderate.” This is the usual double speak that our leaders in the West choose to ignore.
This is a link of video: http://shoebat.com/videos/sarsur.php
“Ra’am-Ta’al” is a seditious Arab political party that spouts more rhetoric than any other extremist group in Israel, however they are left unfettered by the Knesset since Arab Islamist parties are considered viable political parties in the country. Ibrahim Sarsur is an Israeli Arab politician and Knesset member, and is currently leader of the United Arab List. These points directly to the fact that Israel is a democracy and the Arab States are not. Pay attention to the class room where the families are in the back while their kids are being indoctrinated by insults to the Jewish State they live in. I think, of course this is a bright example of political communication, because in this video spoke Ibrahim Sarsur, the leader and moderater of the Israeli Arab politician and Knesset member.
Surprising Interview with Eli Pariser, author of the book “The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding From You”
Paul Carvel once said: “Internet: absolute communication, absolute isolation”. Originally, internet was created for people to reach best available information from all over the world. But apparently we’ve been controlled even there; it’s not us anymore who decide which information to read and which facts to believe. Few giant companies that control this process call it “personalization”, since they are trying to customize even search results due to our preferences, likes and dislikes.
In fact, term that Eli Pariser uses – “confirmation bias” – it means the affinity to feel good about information that states or shows what people already believe in. That proofs scientifically, Pariser says people get a dopamine (hormone of happiness) hit in their brain, when they’re being told that they’re right, essentially. And obviously the big companies, such as Google, Yahoo! and Facebook understood this in a best way and created an algorithm that will show people whatever they wanted, because their main mission is to get people to click more and to view more pages. But then, where is the truth? And how far from democracy and freedom of choice and word went the internet? The scariest thing is that it’s done with no visibility and people still believe that this public source is the most open-minded.
From one perspective, it’s a useful tool to have some search engines to be customized upon on your location or business you are in. However to have somebody decided for you what news and facts should you read or not, and with whom to be friends on Facebook or not it’s quite shocking. How to solve this problem and what’s next? These are two main questions that Eli Pariser tries to answer, so we need to help him on that in order to make this particular public space, which is internet to be more transparent and credible.
Youth ArtCamp
Today on 29 of May, I attended the Youth ArtCamp – the first youth [not] conference devoted to the art and young people who created it for draw attention to the problems of society and search effective through art. The conference is divided into four sections, and I listened the Vision section, that is painting, photography, cinema. In each section there are a number of invited speakers, as well as a few sessions, during listerers could speak and have a question to speakers. For example, one odf the spreaker was Einar Kabasov. He presents the “Studio Post-Productin,” and he specializes in the technical part this company. After graduating in Italy cinema University, he returned to Kazakhstan to take his skills to work.
” Many 3D graphics – this is our speciality. 3D graphic was originally prepared for cinematography.” He said, the graphics is an important and emerging trend in the playing a movie overseas as well to implement this method in our country. ” ; ” Tried to create computer graphics like in Hollywood to the viewer could not distinguish the difference in animated graffiti.” For example, the film which is called the “Enchanted forest” is Kazakhstanik film, which a good example of excellent computer graphics. Also, E. Kabasov said that some films were made with professional camera. He said about single-shot processing or retouching. This selection object in the scene. If you need something to insert into the background or the actors, then cut ot trtouched tethers, equipmemnt, crew, etc., if they had not been in the frame. Also, he said about matte painting/ keying. With this slection backgrounds can be completely computerized. or just add some shooting scene RIRs can be combined with a 3D environment and move the camera. Kabasov, adds about correction is artistic process of compensation of flowers, shot at site. Because, the characterestic form can change the atmosphere or add a frame the right mood.
” I am glad, that now cinematography in Kazakhtan growing, truthly I’m very sorry that it makes only ‘Kazakhfilm’ industry. I am suporter of commercial films, the main thing that films brings pleasure to the audience in vivid and memorable paints, and of course income or self-profiting no less important.” He said, that in general, each talanted perosn has the opportunity succesfully realized as good director. For instanse, a successful Kazakhstan director for his opinion as Achan Sataev. Also, he said one of the major development challenges of cinematography is the lack of the experienced professionals. But, he hopes that soon this problem will change in the opposite side. So, I am very glad, that I visited this youth [not] coference, it was very interesting and useful for me!
Public sphere
From the article of “The Public Sphere: An Encyclopedia Article, ” I understood the term of public sphere as communicative process, where each individuals participate in public discussion or conversation. I understand this, how each person developed his spiritual and material principles, the ideas and etc., which he/she espoused in the life and believe in their rightness.
According to this article today, newspapers and magazines, radio and television are the media of public sphere. And, I completely agree with it. As all this media channels are send a massages or ideas to citizens and also directly affect in people’s mind.
Also, I want to give an example of definition of public sphere is . . . a metaphor which keeps us focused on the distinction between individual, personal forms of representation–over which we have a large degree of control–and shared, consensual representations–which are never exactly what we would like to see precisely because they are shared (public).”
(Alan McKee, The Public Sphere: An Introduction. Cambridge Univ. Press, http://grammar.about.com/od/pq/g/publicsphereterm.htm
Public sphere – it is the virtual space where the citizens of a country exchange ideas and discuss issues, in order to reach agreement about ‘matters of general interest’ ([Jurgen] Habermas, 1997: 105). . . .
Insight Development Conference
Today, on 23d of May was “Insight Development Conference” at KIMEP University. At the beggining of conference Meruert Makhmutova, PhD. spoke about civil society index in Kazakhstan. She presents Center of Research on Public Policy. She talked about strength and opportunities of civic society. For example, civic society operates within a relatively well developed framework of infrastructure and resources. Also, another opportunity is that CSOs members are slightly more trusting, than non members, suggesting there is a good values base with civic society.
In spite of it, she mentioned about weaknesses of civil society. It includes, low levels of political engagement and general tendency among citizens towards political apathy. The second challenges is a constraining and limited framework for political competitiveness. Unfortunately, she said, that now young people do not receive education equally. Also, another important weakness of civic society is low levels of trust within society and it could limit the development of civic society. “So,we can enumerate a lot of weaknesses and problems relates to civic society organization in Kazakhstan, says Meruert Makhmutova.” In my opinion, that topic is very important for whole society in general, includes both the government and citizents, like elder people and young generation too.
Brief introduction
Hello everybody!
My name is Aigerim Shurayeva. I am student of Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics and Strategic Research. My major is Public Relations and I’m a 3d year baij student. I like drawing, singing, swimming and reading. I selected this class, because I am interesting on communication and it will be new topic for me to studing a politics, especially political communication. I think , politics is a complex system associated with public issues, tasks and challenges. I hope, this course will help me to get knowledge and feedbacks too.
Human rights and Internet freedom
The author of article ‘Liberation technology: dreams, politics, and history’, Armine Ishkanian explores some of the potentials of new information technologies for democracy and development. The doctrinal commitment to new cyber and social technologies as a means of solving political problems needs to learn from the past and take a more realistic view, says Armine Ishkanian.
Today, the topic of human rights and ‘Internet freedom’ now is much disputed issue, especially Liberation Technologies. As lying at the intersection of social science, computer science, and engineering, the Program on Liberation Technology seeks to understand how “information technology can be used to defend human rights, improve governance, empower the poor, promote economic development, and pursue a variety of other social goods.” It plans to “evaluate (through experiment and other empirical methods) which technologies and applications are having greatest success, how those successes can be replicated, and how less successful technologies and applications can be improved to deliver real economic, social, and political benefit.” Liberation technology enables citizens to report news, expose wrongdoing, express opinions, mobilize protest, monitor elections, scrutinize government, deepen participation, and expand the horizons of freedom. But authoritarian states such as China, Belarus, and Iran have acquired (and shared) impressive technical capabilities to filter and control the Internet, and to identify and punish dissenters. Democrats and autocrats now compete to master these technologies. According to Larry Diamond (Journal of Democracy) liberation technology is any form of information and communication technology (ICT) that can expand political, social, and economic freedom. In the contemporary era, it means essentially the modern, interrelated forms of digital ICT—the computer, the Internet, the mobile phone, and countless innovative applications for them, including “new social media” such as Facebook and Twitter. Therefore, users are thus not just passive recipients but journalists, commentators, videographers, entertainers, and organizers. Although most of this use is not political, the technology can empower those who wish to become political and to challenge authoritarian rule.
According to news reports, the U.S. State Department is due to announce a new grants initiative to support Internet activists, particularly in countries where the governments restrict e-mail and social networks such as those offered by Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and etc. For example, the program, which has drawn Republican criticism and budget cuts, has produced software that is spreading widely in Iran and Syria, helping pro-democracy activists avoid detection, said Dan Baer, deputy assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor. Also, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently described web restrictions by more than 40 governments as a “disturbing trend.” Governments can’t escape the impact of today’s social networks and the U.S. is committed to helping people worldwide connect, she said in an April 12 speech. “We will stand with those who exercise their fundamental freedoms of expression and assembly in a peaceful way, whether in person, in print, or in pixels on the Internet,” she said.
Governments have curtailed Internet freedom in two ways. Initially, they’ve blocked foreign news and social networking sites. Facebook, for example, is frequently unavailable in China and Vietnam. Activists use circumvention software to route around these blocks. Second, governments track, harass and arrest activists who meet online. Tunisia, before President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s fall from power on Jan. 14, spoofed Facebook and Gmail login pages to steal passwords. Egypt, before President Hosni Mubarak stepped down, arrested opposition bloggers. But, the political potency of social media has become evident in the current Arab awakening, as protest movements have gone viral through Facebook, Twitter and other on-line networking tools. Even in Syria, where the Ba’athist regime exercised tight control of the Internet and which lacked a cohort of on-line activists, social media has allowed activists to organize domestically and to connect with international supporters.
Most “cyber-utopians” (as Evgeny Morozov calls them) or “liberation technologists” (as some refer to themselves) recognize the obstacles in their way: in particular, that authoritarian regimes are adept at using internet censorship, surveillance and monitoring to blunt the emancipator momentum. I am personally more the supporter of Evgeny Morozov, I think that the democracy could not exist everywhere. Moreover, it could not be reached through Liberation Technologies. Because internet is not a base of improving the quality of people’s life, it is only a tool, which can be helpful, but still, developing countries never become socially, economically, and politically free just because US government try to imply civil society to these poor countries.
BarCamp Central Asia 2011
From 15-17 of April, 2011 passed BarCamp Central Asia for IT [non]conference for New Media specialists, which took place in Almaty Institute of Management Economics ad Strategic Research (KIMEP) in “new building” (inside the campus).
BarCamp 2011 was taken place for the 4th time, and it is the 3d time it is organized in Almaty. This year more than 600 participants from Central Asia, CIS countries, Eastern and Western Europe plan to attend BarCamp Central Asia 2011.
It was amazing how many people are attending this event. More than 1500 participants at the first day of [non]conference have registered to attend the event. According to organizers it is a record for the forum. Compared to last year, the number of participants doubled.
This year IT conference gathered people from different countries. For example, there were participants from Asia, CIS countries, Eastern and Western Europe plan to attend BarCamp Central Asia 2011. All people, who like to communicate and work in network and connect their lives to social network like internet bloggers, users, startuppers, journalists and etc. This was the first type of network which I have noticed and it was unusual and interesting for me. Because, I think that people have their own community and common language which is non-understandable for people from outside. Even their appearance can be different, from people who are not connecting to network.
The most interesting session for me was related to startuppers. Startupper is a person who starts his business online involving all features of Internet. There people asked how to launch the own project on the Internet, which constraints they may have, how much do they have to invest to start up such business, and how much profits they may receive. Also, the previous participants of the BarCamp created the website called literature.kz and “it is a good start up point,” said Elena Djetnisbayeva, one of organizers of the event.
The lecturer mentioned that mostly the founders of companies, for example Microsoft, Google, Dell, etc. And the main workers are engineer and technicians are very stubborn guys, and they will continue developing their idea. For instance, their venture capital of “gold streak” is the seller. Techies do to their work until winning – 45% from the foreign media. That is why these companies are so successful. Also, we can say that great companies are also network, because their founders are involved in one network of people who graduated technological faculties thus is very important.
Another issue that was discussed the lecturer of presentation – investing. Nowadays, there are no sites bearing money. Managers need to invest themselves in the development of the company as each idea on the beginning of its way needs money. Because, now online shopping of growth is increasing and it just good business!
Also, presenter claimed, there is three system of investing: fools, friends, family. “Fools” mean people who directly go to company or unfamiliar people and ask for investing. So, it is better to use friends or family like system of investing. Lecturer said: “The best investors are friends which are connected to each other by many other ties, except work”. He said that we need to speak at the same language as investors. For example, there are two friends and colleges – Steven Ballmer and Bill Gates. They have interesting relationships, because Ballmer is soul of the company, but Gates is brain of the company, and this became the basis of their friendship which grew up until the Microsoft Corporation. Another example – Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Corporation. He is an individualist, he is leader, but he like works alone. After he was kicked out of Apple, he was a head of Macintosh, than Pixar, and than again Apple. So, he has not got a team, a network of close relationship that is why his position was not as stable as Microsoft’s. Therefore, friends is better systen of investing, how is mentioned from reality.
So, I can conclude that the audience, presenters, organizers and sponsors of BarCamp Central Asia 2011 is a network of people who somehow related and interested to new media and new technologies. This means that network has large opportunities for discussion of social life or the work, or simply chatting with friends and colleges. And people may be part of various networks simultaneously. But in each network they are participating in something, they should have something common with other participants like common interests, goals, or other relations that connects them.
The Immigrant Rights Movement on the Net
This article is about the surging strength of the migrant right movement, that was built through the hard work of hundred of organizations. Citizens that work to organize the base directly,those that interfere in policy debates, those that function as regional or national coordianting hubs and Spanish language media that support them, including locuters or radio hosts. The rapid growth of this movement was by slogan “The sleeping giant is now awake!” and power briefly caught the political class off guard. The mass base of talk radio up through the national news, that was spearheaded by racist and anti-immigrant talking heads of Fox News and by LouDobbs in CNN. The Macarthur Park had gained a media reputation as dangerous and violent place near to the West of Los Angeles. This park was the danger zone of drug dealers, sex workers and general racialized urban chaos.
I study some aspects of the author’s ideas about the internet and social movements. Firstly, Garmen Gonzalez found a survey that ratio was in fact the key media which was used to inform people about the marches in los Angeles. Secondly, role of popular communication online, especially grassroots video activists, immigrant rights organizers and every day people participating in the mobilizations who later post video documentation to the Internet. This discussion were grounded in authors experience as an active videomaker within the Independent Media Center network.
Also, all we know that online video and networking sites are big business and they replicate the inequalities of class, race and gender through the media industry as awhole, both in representation and employment practices. Article posted that the “social media” sites can be an effective visibility strategy, but activists need to understand their participation. And one of the most important and interesting things is that useful framings for the immigrants rights movement is alternative media, grassroots media, community media and communication popular media.
Evgeny Morozov & Clay Shirkey.
Evgeny Morozov and Clay Shirkey, in their speeches discuss the topic about Internet freedom. And it is very interesting, because both of them have absolutely different opinions about Internet freedom.
Morozov considered himself like a pessimist and he think that this is idea about the Internet Freedom is not good, as when Shirkey supports Internet Freedom. Evgeny Morozov thinks, that the Internet’s impact on democratization has never been about social media only. Also as a result of the fact that Morozov, grew up in the USSR country, everything was censored very strictly. Moreover, the media also was under the government. Therefore, there was no democracy. So, Evgeny Morozov has grown up in such environment, that based his opinion about Internet freedom.
Clay Shirkey said that the Internet is the first medium in history that has native support for conversations and for groups. The Internet is a public form for almost twenty years now. Nowadays, media is increasingly social, so, innovation happen anywhere and anytime that people can take for granted the idea. So, Clay Shirkey seems to be supporter of Internet freedom idea. Shirkey is sure that Internet brings freedom, because he was behaved in the “atmosphere” of democracy. Therefore, Clay Shirkey supports the Interet Freedom.
They have both provocative views and opposing each other, but they are two different person, with different mentality and education, hence have different opininions and I think it’s right, and it should be in this way.
aigerash 