Tag: politics

LeWeb3 Propaganda

No I am not a part of the so called creative class for any french politician I don’t know and who is talking to me, a European citizen!, in french. I am not here for some catchy newspaper headlines that this guy showed his face at this so so Web2.0 conference to show his support for this new people who are so so open minded and critical. You abuse 1k participants to be part of something they maybe don’t want to be part of!

Got Milk?

A maverick dairyman named Hein Hettinga started bottling his own milk and selling it for as much as 20 cents less than the competition, exercising his right to work outside the rigid system that has controlled US milk production for almost 70 years. Soon the effects were rippling through the state, helping to hold down retail prices at supermarkets and warehouse stores. That was when a coalition of giant milk companies and dairies, along with their congressional allies, decided to crush Hettinga’s initiative. For 4 years, the milk lobby spent millions of dollars on lobbying and campaign contributions and made deals with lawmakers. Last March, Congress passed a law reshaping the Western milk market and essentially ending Hettinga’s experiment — all without a single congressional hearing.

the account of the dairy industry cartel

Infotopia

new research on GFN, information markets and bias amplification. a lot of it seems applicable to ed’s argumentarium, if it ever leaves the utopia it is at now.

if we can choose our own media, it’s possible we will use this power to insulate ourselves in an information cocoon, where we systematically avoid dissenting voices and have increasingly less common experience with our fellow citizens. Sunstein worries that a society of these isolated individuals will have difficulty participating in a democracy because citizens need a) some exposure to materials they would not have sought out and b) some common experience as a precursor for joint decision making.

Handout Republicans

The most solidly red states in the nation tend also to be the most reliant on federal handouts — farm subsidies, water projects and sundry other earmarks. It’s hard to be the party of small government when you represent the communities that benefit most from big government.

the sweet irony of red state republicans. They’re called red states because they’re net beneficiaries.

Saudi Arabia

The Iran war mongers are getting a clear warning from Saudi Arabia. Cheney was “summoned” to Riyadh.

The White House has wanted it to be believed that Cheney went about the Middle East “lining up” the Sunni leaders to support the Zelikow plan for further empowerment of the Shia Arabs against the Sunni Arab insurgents in Iraq.

2007-05-12: The super-giant Ghawar Oilfield in Saudi Arabia has been responsible for over 50% of Saudi Arabia’s crude oil production.

2008-06-21: Saudi oil increase

In the absence of any additional crude supply, for every 1% of crude demand, we will expect a 20% increase in price in order to balance the market.

2013-09-27: You don’t need alcohol to drunk drive

2014-04-02: With the ruler on his deathbed, you gotta wonder what will happen to Saudi Arabia, which isn’t really a historical construct, just held together by crazy (the oil helps too)
2015-01-16: Robb is interesting as always. It seems likely that the end game involves Saudi Arabia, and soon.

Saudi Arabia knows it is in trouble, that’s why the Saudis are trying to buy influence in the west through a cheap oil policy (at the same time, a low price puts the hurt on US frackers and ISIS oil smugglers alike). However, ISIS trumped this effort with Charlie Hebdo. It will be difficult for the Saudis to convince the west they are the real target after the attack in Paris.

2015-02-04: Saudi Arabia Holds All Male Women’s Rights Conference

As is to be expected from Saudi Arabia, a country firmly under the grip of Sharia Law, 0 women attended the event. Perhaps more hypocritically, a single woman is yet to speak at a University of Qassim summit.

2015-08-06: Saudi spending

Social spending is the glue that holds together a medieval Wahhabi regime at a time of fermenting unrest among the Shia minority of the Eastern Province, pin-prick terrorist attacks from ISIS, and blowback from the invasion of Yemen. Diplomatic spending is what underpins the Saudi sphere of influence in a Middle East suffering its own version of Europe’s 30 Year War, and still reeling from the aftershocks of a crushed democratic revolt. We may yet find that the US oil industry has greater staying power than the rickety political edifice behind OPEC.

2018-04-03: Saudis Remake Middle East

But, as sweeping as MBS’s economic and cultural reforms may be, he has expressed no interest in liberalizing the country’s political system. Indeed, the model that seems to best conform to his vision is China, with its dynamic economy, literate population, and authoritarian rule. His efforts are being carried out with 1 overriding goal: to preserve the House of Saud.

Resistant Maps

artistic actions in the interconnected urban territory, a conference and exhibition that investigated the ‘resistant’ practices and theories related to the territory imaginary and how once can inoculate political viruses in the re-thinking of the space.

mapping as it relates to politics, activism, urbanism