November 30, 2009
Middle Eastern Women and the Internet
Eleana Gordon, founder of the Center for Liberty in the Middle East, discussed the blossoming role of the Internet in the lives of women in the Middle East.
Ms. Gordon, one of PoliticsOnline's top ten nominees who changed the world of politics and the Internet, attended the 2009 World eDemocracy Forum to discuss her latest initiative, The Online Activism Institute, which "offers leading online culture, training and resources to enable women leaders in the Middle East and North Africa to achieve their goals."
The site is meant to inspire women to achieve change in their community. The pilot program was started in 2009 in Jordan and Egypt to stimulate e-learning. The program taught women how to use computers to further their education and fulfill their dreams. Eleana presented the latest initiatives in this video.
According to the website, "The Institute uses the Internet to create bridges shorten distances, and in this way the Institute provides unique opportunities for women who champion democratic values to learn from experts around the world and get the tools and the inspiration for the crisis to bring about change in their communities."
Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
November 24, 2009
The Arabic Blogosphere
Nawaat.org takes a look at the role of the Internet in politics in the Middle East.
Pulitzer Prize Winning journalist Caryle Murphy contributed the article, Arab Facebook : The Internet’s role in Politics in the Middle East to Nawaat.org.
In the article, Murphy asks and answers the questions, "What impact is this free-wheeling political discussion and debate in digital space having on real life politics? How is the Internet changing actual politics?"
Posted by Buzz Webster at 06:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
November 17, 2009
UN Launched Online Campaign To Fight Starvation
The United Nations launched an online plea to help those facing starvation, calling for one dollar weekly donations from one billion people.
The World Food Programme's "Billion for a Billion" campaign aims to reach one billion individuals to help the almost one billion people who face starvation worldwide. The number of people facing starvation is about 100 million more than last year.
"If a billion Internet users donate a dollar or a euro a week, we can literally transform the lives of a billion hungry people across the world," said Josette Sheeran, executive director of WFP.
To meet the needs, the agency said it has to raise U.S. $6.7 billion. Donations to date stand at U.S. $2.9 billion.
According to the Billion for a Billion web site, "As well as donating, supporters can also help fight hunger by spreading the word, using the multiple tools available to web users today." Supporters could post the Billion for a Billion video on their Facebook page or tweet to a friend the fact that a child dies every 6 seconds of hunger-related causes. Support the cause by joining the Bloggers Against Hunger alliance, create your-own Fight Hunger T-shirt, or enter our Hungerbytes contest to create the raciest short video about hunger.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 03:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
November 16, 2009
In China, Obama Calls for Internet Freedom
During his first trip to China Pres. Obama addressed the sensitive subject of Internet censorship.
The two-part question that sparked the discussion on Internet freedom in China was brought up by Ambassador Jon Huntsman who stated that an anonymous Internet user submitted the question to the American Embassy. “In country with 350 million Internet users and 60 million bloggers, do you know of the firewall?” And second, “Should we be able to use Twitter freely?”
President Obama's full response can be seen here and the beginning of the transcript is below:
"I am a big believer in technology and I’m a big believer in openness when it comes to the flow of information. I think that the more freely information flows, the stronger the society becomes, because then citizens of countries around the world can hold their own governments accountable. They can begin to think for themselves. That generates new ideas. It encourages creativity.
And so I’ve always been a strong supporter of open Internet use. I’m a big supporter of non-censorship. This is part of the tradition of the United States that I discussed before, and I recognize that different countries have different traditions. I can tell you that in the United States, the fact that we have free Internet — or unrestricted Internet access is a source of strength, and I think should be encouraged."
Related Articles:
Obama Addresses Chinese Students
Obama presses China to take global role on big issues _ sharing 'burden of leadership' with US
Obama Walks China’s ‘Great Firewall’
Posted by Buzz Webster at 03:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
November 11, 2009
eDiplomacy and the Berlin Wall
A new online exhibition shares experiences of American diplomats serving in Germany during the Cold War.Monday, November 9th, 2009 marked the 20th anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Memorializing the quest for freedom from Communist oppression, the U.S. Diplomacy Center, Bureau of Public Affairs, has launched the online exhibition Voices of U.S. Diplomacy and the Berlin Wall, offers a moving account of American Diplomats' involvement in the Cold War.
With a much different tool set than is available today, Diplomats from around the world worked to tear down walls of oppression. The exhibition states, "U.S. radio, broadcasting live news segments, warned listeners who might want to escape. Allied protest against the Wall was delayed more than 48 hours, due in part to President Kennedy’s reluctance to provoke confrontation."
What if the Internet existed and East and West Germans were able to communicate online, and not just to each other, but to the rest of the world? What if Twitter was around to spread the word on the construction of the barrier underway during the night, when workers divided Berlin on August 13, 1961?
Diplomacy is to find mutually acceptable solutions to a common challenge, one set of tools being the phrasing of statements in a non-confrontational, or polite manner. Social networking is vigorously redefining what diplomacy means. The door for online civic engagement has been created and the availability of interactive communications technology is forging ahead, but repressive regimes are still active in our world.
John F. Kennedy visited a plaza, later named for him after his death, in 1963 and said these words: "Ich bin ein Berliner." "I am a Berliner." The voice of diplomacy in the past came from our Government and our leaders. Today, citizens are empowered voices online, each making the call for freedom and equality louder. Today, We are Berliners.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
November 10, 2009
Sarkozy Spins A Tale On Facebook
French President Nicolas Sarkozy is being accused of rewriting history by French journalists as to his whereabouts when the Berlin Wall came down.
President Sarkozy posted a story on his Facebook page describing how he "rushed to Berlin on November 9, 1989 and crossed through Checkpoint Charlie on the first day the gates opened." A photograph of Sarkozy taking a pickaxe to the wall is included with the moving account.
Monumental as that may have been, some French journalists are calling it a rewriting of history and said, "The man prepared to make history cannot miss a historic moment. The problem is that the history they are telling us doesn't stand up."
Historians claim that no one even knew that the Berlin Wall was about to fall on November 9th, and that "West Berlin didn't begin to attack the wall until the following day, the 10th."
A further look into archives by pro-Sarkozy newspaper Le Figaro states that Alain Juppe, pictured with the pickaxe-wielding Sarkozy in the Facebook picture supposedly shot on November 9th, was actually in France on November 9th at the annual memorial service for General de Gaulle in France, not arriving in Berlin until November 16th.
If this story unfolds, the repercussions of spinning such a false tale could land Sarkozy in hot water. The picture has already received 1,296 comments and 3,766 peole have chosen the "like" button.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
November 03, 2009
GOP Fights Health Care Reform Online
Republicans are embracing the Web, using social networking site Amplify and conducting online town hall meetings, to fight the Democrats' health care overhaul.
House Republicans have invited citizens to join them online to pour over the 1,990 pages of the health care measure this afternoon and are taking to the Internet to engage their constituents in the fight against the Democrats' major health care overhaul. Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) Webcasted the reading, which took place on Tuesday afternoon.
According to a CBS article, "the Republican caucus is using the social networking site Amplify to highlight portions of the bill with which they take issue. On their page healthcaretruth.amplify.com, Republican users share the actual text of the bill up for discussion and leave a comment. Other users can leave their own comments or share the content using Twitter, Facebook, Digg and other social networking tools."
Will this new communication strategy being embraced by the Republican party halt the Democrats' health care reform bill?
Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
