Why are all the good names gone...?

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Kyrgystan's flash mobs...?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/24/AR2010042402411_pf.html

Interesting snippet from a Washington Post article chronicling the Kyrgystani protests that pushed the government out of power:

"By midday, the demonstrators were on the march toward the city center. Their ranks swelled as people called friends and relatives to join them, jamming mobile phone networks. Djumanaev said as many as 50,000 filled the streets."

Essentially, the police were unable to organize and mass as quickly as the protestors so the more violent their response to the protests were, the larger the opposition they faced.

Also interesting: Kyrgyz authorities initially arrested leaders of the political opposition in an effort to stop the protest early. The result?

"The night before the uprising, protesters briefly seized control of a state building in the city of Talas and badly beat Bakiyev's interior minister. Bakiyev responded by arresting about a dozen of his most prominent critics. The roundup decapitated the opposition on the eve of protests scheduled across the country but also provoked a backlash and left young crowds without elders who usually restrained them.

"We had always been accused of cowardice because we never let people storm government buildings," said Omurbek Tekebayev, one of those arrested. "But this time, all the opposition leaders were in jail, so there was no one in the streets to stop them."

...probably NOT what the government had in mind. As it turned out, the self-organizing grassroots mob was far more of a threat to the government than the opposition was when its leaders had more control over their followers' actions.

Posted via email from Team Frosick

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

What BRIC would be without China... | David Rothkopf

Without China, the BRICs are just the BRI, a bland, soft cheese that is primarily known for the whine that goes with it.

via rothkopf.foreignpolicy.com

Heh. I still remain curious as to why Russia is included for any reason other than adding another letter. Population shrinking, corruption increasing, manufacturing flat, and wealth poorly distributed. Without oil and gas, where would they be? All three of the others have expanding manufacturing bases and burgeoning high tech industries.

Posted via web from Team Frosick

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Next big thing: reaction to reaction videos?

From the Wahington Post: Emotional reactors and watchers create new video genre on YouTube

"In the first five seconds, he looks perplexed, like a man who is trying to figure out whether the milk has gone bad. This expression is quickly replaced with dry-heaving nausea; then at the 30-second mark, he crosses his eyes and gently sways in place, as if this will make everything disappear. The falsetto screams of abject horror begin after a minute, as he hurdles over a friend sitting nearby to get away from whatever is on the computer screen in front of him."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/16/AR2010041601984.html?nav=rss_artsandliving

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Saturday, April 10, 2010

Interesting....

Reminds me of the shots that show lights in different parts of the world. North America, Europe, parts of East Asia are masses of energy and modern activity and, beyond that, there are individual points that tie in:

Posted via email from Team Frosick

New perspective on an old article

I was going back through my Instapaper account today and checking out old articles when I came back across this one. When I first read it, what struck me the most was the idea that Mexican drug cartels are expanding aggressively into other areas of the "black economy" - in this case selling illegally procured oil.

On my second read, however, I was more interested in the Zetas and their ability to hire away "highly skilled people who have the technical knowledge to extract oil from the pipelines."

At their formation, the Zetas themselves were "highly skilled people who have the technical knowledge" to conduct complex paramiltary operations.

The money generated from drug smuggling now offers drug cartels the opportunity to push into just about any business and quickly achieve a high level of proficency. Through the combination of intimidation and monetary reward, they can easily pull in skilled technicians from just about any field - and use those newly-acquired skills to push more of the Mexican economy into the black.

And, of course, as they pull in more sophisticated professionals, their ability to generate more revenue increases. This creates a virtuous cycle (for them) that spells trouble for both the Mexican government as well as businesses that attempt to operate within the law:

Widespread oil theft by drug traffickers deals major blow to Mexico's government
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/12/AR2009121202888_pf.html

The Zetas often work with former Pemex employees, according to Ramón Pequeño García, chief of anti-drug operations at Mexico’s Public Security Ministry. The former employees “are highly skilled people who have the technical knowledge to extract oil from the pipelines. They are now under the control of the Zetas,” Pequeño said.

(via Instapaper)

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