staff:

Two days ago, you guys stepped up once again to show the world just how much we care about protecting the Internet. Together, we generated more than 140,000 calls to Senators, spent more than 4,200 hours on the phone with their staffers, and blacked out 650,000 of our blogs to make our point and inspire others to get involved. And what’s more, this was on top of the 90,000 calls we sent to members of the House of Representatives a month ago. Incredible.

It’s now becoming clear just how much impact our action is having. On January 18th, only 31 members of Congress opposed these bills. Just one day later, 101 members of Congress publicly stood with us in opposition. We are being heard.

And as of today, it looks like both the Senate PIPA and House SOPA bills have been shelved, for the moment. It seems pretty likely that the bills won’t pass as written—a big first win. We now hope that Internet companies, the creative community and the content industry join together to innovate and devise new partnerships to combat online piracy. We’re confident there are effective ways to do this without damaging the Internet or diminishing our freedoms.

You’ve made a big difference in keeping the Internet a safe and open place for creators. Thank you again.

futurejournalismproject:

Virginia Police Arrest Photojournalist Documenting Occupy Richmond Crackdown

Ian Graham, who was shooting for RVA Magazine, explains via the magazine’s Web site:

I was there to photograph the police dissemble the occupation, and therefore what many call the trampling of the first and possibly second amendments. The people assembled in a (literal) public square, were paid lip service to by local authorities, and on the last morning of October, the local police were forced into thuggery by an order from on high. Again, I was not at Kanawa Plaza to make a political statement, I wanted to take some pictures… and instead, I got arrested for crossing the fucking street. The official charge is of trespassing. There were people on both sides of the crosswalk where I was arrested, and none of them were arrested. But none of them had cameras, either.

Image: Screenshot from a CBS video of Ian Graham getting arrested.

(Source : futurejournalismproject)

futurejournalismproject:

Networking: Strong Ties Bind Transnational Corporations

A new study analyzing transnational corporations demonstrates the power a core group of 1,318 companies has over the global economy. The most powerful, not surprisingly, are banks.

The study, conducted by researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, explores the network of transnational corporations — including who owns who among other economic relationships — and further discover that a super-connected 147 companies control 40% of the wealth in the total network.

(These “super-connected” companies are represented by the red dots in the image above. The “merely” very connected are in yellow.)

Via New Scientist:

[The study] combines the mathematics long used to model natural systems with comprehensive corporate data to map ownership among the world’s transnational corporations…

…John Driffill of the University of London, a macroeconomics expert, says the value of the analysis is not just to see if a small number of people controls the global economy, but rather its insights into economic stability.

Concentration of power is not good or bad in itself, says the Zurich team, but the core’s tight interconnections could be. As the world learned in 2008, such networks are unstable. “If one [company] suffers distress,” says Glattfelder, “this propagates.”…

…Crucially, by identifying the architecture of global economic power, the analysis could help make it more stable. By finding the vulnerable aspects of the system, economists can suggest measures to prevent future collapses spreading through the entire economy. Glattfelder says we may need global anti-trust rules, which now exist only at national level, to limit over-connection among TNCs. Sugihara says the analysis suggests one possible solution: firms should be taxed for excess interconnectivity to discourage this risk.

One thing won’t chime with some of the protesters’ claims: the super-entity is unlikely to be the intentional result of a conspiracy to rule the world. “Such structures are common in nature,” says Sugihara.

Image: The 1318 transnational corporations that form the core of the global economy. Dot size represents revenue. New Scientist via PLoS One.

Study (PDF). 

(Source : futurejournalismproject)

curate:

Ghada Karmi and Ellen Siegel protesting in front of the Israeli Consulate in London, 1973. stay-human:wellesleyunderground

(via jonathan-cunningham)

bobbycaputo:

An image from TrendsMap showing the #TroyDavis hashtag trending all over the world right now.

(via quelquinfos)

joyengel:

There is that photojournal of Valdimir Putin going around. And it’s click-worthy, trust me. [..]

(Thanks to Will for inspiring some of these questions)

Il manque le “making off” de ces jolies photos qui parlent d’elles-mêmes et valent le détour.

(via soupsoup)

nationalpost:

NDP leader Jack Layton’s letter to Canadians
Before his death, Jack Layton wrote a letter to Canadians. Read the full letter.