Similar to Ashley Browning's video game minimalism images, this set of posters employs simple vector designs and familiar color palettes to create a close-up shot of a game character that almost immediately identifies the hero, all without showing his or her face.

Artist Justin Russo says he envisioned these images as he fell asleep one night, then put them together in Illustrator and Photoshop the next morning. Each poster also includes a quote from the subject character (which reminds me of another simplified video game poster set).

I've included several of Russo's images below, but you can see the full collection, which includes minimalist representations of Uncharted's Nathan Drake, Left 4 Dead's Louis, and several other game characters on his Behance profile.

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FASHION DILEMMA

Who are fashion's most successful husband and wife team?

Well fashion swots? Would you perhaps hazard a guess at print specialists Mark Eley and Wakako Kishimoto of Eley Kishimoto? Or maybe you'd go for Inacio Ribeiro and Suzanne Clements of Clements Ribiero?

Sorry, wrong answer. Take a detention and come back when you've done your homework properly.

The correct answer can only be Patrizio Bertelli and Miuccia Prada. Yes, the owners of a global fashion conglomerate with $2.4 billion in sales are a very special couple indeed, as a recent interview in the Wall Street Journal revealed. But while Prada is one of the most influential designers in the world (not to mention Fashion Statement's office, where we are rocking the Land Girls look from her Autumn/Winter 2010 show) it seems the real force (and we really do mean force) behind the business is her husband Bertelli.

Creative genius though she may be, it seems Miuccia Prada would be ill-advised to get on the wrong side of her husband: when overseeing the decor of a new Miu Miu store in 1997, he had a bit of a problem with a mirror. But while your average business mogul might just have demanded a refund from the manufacturer, not Bertelli. Oh no. He smashed it. "It made people look too fat," he said of the incident. And could there possibly be a worse fashion crime than that? His ire is not just reserved for unflattering mirrors though - he famously broke the rear lights of several cars parked in the wrong spaces of Prada's carpark. "I enjoyed that," he remarked afterwards. Quite.

Getting the impression he might quite like letting loose now and then? Yes, us too. Prada, though, seems to have taken those incidents in her stride: "I always tell Bertelli: You like this reputation, or you'd change it," she says, while Bertelli maintains that his anger is only triggered by things that are banal, or for people who just don't cut it. "My behavior is always correct, and I always try to motivate people" he said. Strangest of all, in Fashion Statement's book, is the the fact that Prada refers only to her husband by his surname. Just your average couple, no?

So there you go fashion fans. Please ensure that, should you meet the power pair, your mirrors are suitably flattering, your cars are correctly parked and - god forbid - your conversation is not banal.

BANG ON TREND

Pick 'n' Mix prints

Not literally the sweet treats you get at the cinema you understand, rather the whole gamut of prints that were seen on catwalks such as Jaeger, Dolce and Gabbana and Moschino. This season it's okay to mix animal with floral, graphic with geometric - heck, you can get away with practically anything, so make the most of it.

These vintage-looking floral shorts from Miss Selfridge for £30 are a pretty purchase with a flatteringly wide waistband. They'll be perfect worn with a plain white vest and and a pair of sandals.

If shorts are going to be your thing this summer, then we've also seen these See by Chloe ones (£110) with a cute blue bow-tie motif.

French Connection's ivy dress sports a gorgeous burst of rich colour, is a flattering shape and has been reduced in the sale to a mere £29.50.

This printed cami by Amana is made with organic silk, produced by fairly paid artisans and would look rather fetching with boyfriend jeans. At £59.08, it's also a good bargain.

People Tree's Leilani floral print dress (£65) is another ethical buy that will have you looking gorgeous for spring. It has a retro print and we suggest styling it with the wide leather belt that they've used for the model on People Tree's website.

Komodo's Lola dress (£67) is a sweet summery option suitable for strolling city streets in the sunshine, and their tribal printed tulip skirt (£45) with fierce black and red colours is good for those who like to stand out from the crowd.

Liberty's designs for Target have some rather bargainous deals. We especially like this sunflower print duffel bag for £22

For its beefed up animal print we've got to mention Topshop's body-con skirt (£25). Yes, it's VERY 80s, but in a good way, honest.

FASHION GRAVEYARD

In case anyone doesn't remember, Matt Goss used to be in Bros, Mel B used to be in the Spice Girls, and Leona Lewis used to have better friends. Leona's face says it all in this photo, and we don't think it's necessary to explain to Fashion Statement followers (Mel B we assume you're not a subscriber ...) that shaving half your head and wearing a neon blue dress do not a Rihanna make.

FASHIONISTA OF THE WEEK

Maybe it's just the fact that this week spring seems finally to have sprung, but this picture of Nicola Roberts in her picnic blanket-bright Vivienne Westwood dress just makes us feel happy. Not only does she look great, she's also flying the flag for being pale and interesting (and her hair's not quite as mumsy as usual).

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Q: What was the first designer piece you owned?

A; I remember because I used to go to school with my collection of Fendi bags - wallet, bag, umbrella. Everything matching. It's never raining in my country - it's so hot! All the people in my class used to make a joke about me, say, you know, "Where you going with umbrella?! No rain outside?!" I said, "I know, but it's part of the look!" I was, I think, 12.

NYMag interviews notorious clotheshorse Anna Dello Russo, the Italian-born fashion director of Vogue Nippon. What do you mean your wardrobe wasn't full of Fendi when you were 12? Tsk, get with the programme, people.

OUT AND ABOUT

An exhbition by jewellery artist Jacqueline Ryan alongside works by metal work artists Junko Mori opens in Cumbia at the end of the month. Beauty in Repetition: Metalwork and Jewellery is on show from 27 March, at the Blackwell, The Arts and Crafts House

SHOPPING NEWS

British brand Fullcircle have launched a brand new shopping website and to celebrate are offering Fashion Statement's lucky readers a 10% discount. Don't say we never treat you. Just enter the code Guardian10 at checkout. Snap up their spring/summer collection now - we particularly like this splash print skirt. Wear with a white T-shirt to play it down or if you're feeling daring, a contrasting print. The offer is valid uintil the 17th April.

Desperate for a pair of Jimmy Choos or Louboutins but just can't justify the cost? Cinderella-me.co.uk is the site for you. You can hire a pair of designer shoes from £40 a week. Each pair will be hired no more than eight times to ensure they stay in tip top shape.

Urban brand specialist Republic has opened an eagerly awaited first store in Ireland, in Belfast's Castle Court shopping centre on March 15th. Get there for your fix of Diesel, Firetrap, Bench and other youthful favourites.

OFFCUTS

Kira Cochrane asks why models are still so thin.

Jess Cartner-Morley and Simon Chilvers tackle the tricky issue of wearing double denim.

Learn how to get the backstage model look in the fashion briefing.

For all the latest fashion news, visit guardian.co.uk/fashion

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Three Great Reads for Easter - Earlier this week I suggested a few books that are suitable for Good Friday reading. Here's the natural follow-up: three books to read before Easter. One, two and three.

Son of Hamas - GQ (of all publications) has an interview with Mosab Yousef, the Christian author of Son of Hamas.

Heavenward - Scotty Smith has moved his blog, which is almost entirely prayers, to Gospel Coalition.

Kindle for Mac - At long last, Amazon has released their Kindle for Mac software. Unfortunately it's like the PC version in that you can view notes you've made using your other devices, but you can't actually take notes or highlight using the software.

My Daughter Abby and Me - James MacDonald shares a difficult but joyous occasion from his family. My favorite quote from the article: “Well James, when you pray, ‘whatever it takes,’ you need to take whatever it took.”

ESV App - You'll want to check out the new (and free) ESV app for iPhone.

Top 100 Church Blogs - Church Relevance offers the updated list of the top 100 Church Blogs. (I almost didn't link to this because it seemed somehow arrogant, but I do respect the amount of work CR has put into the list and thought it would be good to acknowledge it)

Reporter Amy Wallace wrote an article late last year for Wired Magazine about the extremely heated and somewhat controversial debate over child vaccinations. In the course of the article, she quotes people from both sides. At one point, when one of the main doctors who supports vaccinations discusses the woman who has become the face (and voice) of the anti-vaccination crew, he responds to some of her claims by noting "she lies." Apparently, those two words resulted in her filing a defamation lawsuit against the doctor and the reporter, Amy Wallace. Thankfully, the court was quick to totally reject this argument (pdf): Several Fourth Circuit cases make clear that including a remark by one of the key participants in a heated public-health debate stating that his adversary "lies" is not an actionable defamation. Indeed, both the nature of the statement -- including that it was quoting an advocate with a particular scientific viewpoint and policy position -- and the statement's context -- a very brief passage in a lengthy description of an ongoing, heated public health controversy -- confirm that this is a protected expression of opinion. The ruling goes on to discuss this in much more detail, pointing out that "she lies" is not the sort of statement that the court should be spending its time on, to determine its veracity. Instead, for there to be libel, there needs to be an actual statement of fact that is provable one way or the other. Looks like another lawsuit that appears to have been filed more to silence a critic than for any legitimate reason has been quickly shot down by the courts. Good for them.

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Taiwan-based makers of crystalline silicon solar cells, foreseeing that global demand will continue to be strong and solar wafer costs will rise in the second quarter, plan to raise their contract quotes for the second quarter from US$1.2-1.25/watt currently to about US$1.3/watt, according to industry sources.

Just as Davenport Lyons lawyers are being sent for disciplinary action over the firm's practice of sending large numbers of "pay up or we sue" pre-settlement letters, ACS:Law, the shady firm that effectively spun out of Davenport Lyons to do the same thing is ramping up its efforts. This isn't a huge surprise. Late last year, the firm said it was preparing to send out 30,000 letters, despite numerous studies showing that these letters regularly target innocent people, but scare many people into just paying to avoid a lawsuit.

The practice is being condemned widely. UK politicians have called it a scam. Even (believe it or not) the record labels are criticizing the practice, saying that it's not productive (most of the firms that use ACS:Law/Davenport Lyons/DigiProtect tend to be porn studios and small software providers). The latest is that O2, the UK ISP is condemning these letters as being pure bullying for money.

What's amusing is how ACS:Law tries to defend itself: "Neither we nor our clients threaten or bully anyone. We send out letters of claim to account holders of internet connections where those internet connections have been identified as being utilised for illegal file-sharing of our clients' copyrighted works.... Our letter makes an enquiry in that regard and invites the recipient of our letter to respond to this evidence. In addition they are invited to enter into a compromise to avoid litigation," This is disingenuous in almost every possible way. Sending a legal letter saying that you've been caught breaking the law, and likely will be taken to court (even though ACS:Law almost never seems to actually follow through on that threat), is absolutely a threat. And notice how he calls it "an enquiry," which is again misleading. It's an accusation, and a typical shakedown offer. It's not a "compromise," and it's not an afterthought as presented in the quote above. It's the key point of the letter, and the entirety of the business model put forth by the companies involved, who describe it as a way to "profit" from people sharing their content.

In responding to the fact that even the record labels (via BPI) have condemned these letters, the guy from ACS:Law responds with more ridiculousness: "I think the BPI is letting its members down. I think they are scared of alienating their customers. My clients don't have the same fear. They take the view that the people they target aren't their customers because they are stealing from them." Of course, if they were "stealing" from his clients, then it's a criminal, not a civil, matter, and as he must know, the proper response is to go to the police. Not demand they pay up via some sort of shakedown letter.

Finally, the guy from ACS:Law basically admits that he's the one getting rich off of this, noting that he gets more money from this than the copyright holders: "After my expenses the copyright owner is the largest single beneficiary." Nice little trick there with the "after my expenses." This is a classic shakedown with a weak attempt at giving it legitimacy by using copyright law as a cover.

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Sony's VP of Realistic Movements Kevin Butler (boy, does that guy have a large business card) is at it again, this time in a video ad for the PlayStation Move. He's back from the future to thank us all for the success of the motion control device, and make a few jabs towards Nintendo and Microsoft for their efforts. Here's a few choice quotes.

• "Because real boxers don't hit like this [flails arms exasperatingly]"
• "It's also got what we in the future call buttons, which turn out to be pretty important to those handful of millions of people who enjoy playing shooters, platformers, well, anything that doesn't involve catching a big red ball."
• "C'mon, who wants to pretend their hand is a gun. What is this, third grade? Pew, pew, pew."

Check out the futuristic -- or now-eristic, rather -- commercial after the break. And if you ask, sorry, we still wouldn't bet on Kansas City in six.

Continue reading PlayStation Move ad pulls no motion-controlled punches against Wii, Project Natal

PlayStation Move ad pulls no motion-controlled punches against Wii, Project Natal originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A WorldNetDaily article distorted a passage from a book by Rev. Jim Wallis to falsely claim that he "previously labeled the U.S. 'the great captor and destroyer of human life.' " In fact, Wallis, a member of President Obama's faith council, referred to "the powers of the world" that "demand unconditional allegiance and obedience" when he wrote that, for the Christian community, "the modern state is the great power, the great seducer, the great captor and destroyer of human life."

WND distortion: Wallis "labeled the U.S. 'the great captor and destroyer of human life' "

WND: "Obama's new controversial pastor" has "labeled the U.S. 'the great captor and destroyer of human life.' " A March 15 article on WorldNetDaily by Aaron Klein was headlined, "Not again! Meet Obama's new controversial pastor: Champion of communism, socialism called U.S. 'destroyer of human life.' " The article reported, "Rev. Jim Wallis, a member of President Obama's 'faith council' who is described as a spiritual adviser to the president, is a socialist activist who has championed communist causes and previously labeled the U.S. 'the great captor and destroyer of human life.' " Klein appeared on the March 16 edition of Radio America's The G. Gordon Liddy Show, where he asserted of Wallis, "Jeremiah Wright is back in a new form." Klein further stated, " I started looking into him earlier this week and I found out that Wallis is a socialist activist who openly champions communist causes, and he's labeled the United States, quote, 'the great captor and great destroyer of human life.' "

Wallis did not label the U.S. "the great captor and destroyer of human life"

Wallis actually wrote that "the modern state" -- not the U.S. -- "is the great power, the great seducer, the great captor and destroyer of human life." Contrary to WorldNetDaily's distortion of his book, Wallis did not label the United States "the great captor and destroyer of human life." From Pages 72-73 of Wallis' 1976 book Agenda for Biblical People:

When the powers of the world demand unconditional allegiance and obedience that assumes human beings should assign them ultimate value, then the worship of God and the assigning of ultimate value of God's kingdom becomes a radical act, a political threat. In fact, worship is where the vitality of the life of the Christian community is most clearly manifest and where the claims and purposes of the idolatrous powers are most clearly threatened. This is contrary to the political "use" and therefore abuse of worship which is so common to ideological religion. Rather, it is the simple, joyous, purely offered worship and praise of God who alone is the source, author, and giver of life that is the single greatest threat to the powers which worship and serve death. Biblically understood, the worship of God is to be the definition of our lives. Worship is not to be conceived as mere ritual and ceremony apart from ethics, politics, and other parts of life. Instead, worship and praise become the style of life for the gathered community living in faithful obedience to the Word of God in the midst of the blasphemy of the fallen powers [emphasis in original].

The Christian community must always be asking which of the powers are now most aggressively seeking to bring human life under their control. Discernment is the spiritual gift employed to understand where and how a particular power is on the offensive in the effort to impose conformity and slavery upon the lives of men and women. For us, the modern state is the great power, the great seducer, the great captor and destroyer of human life, the great master of humanity and history in its totalitarian claims and designs. The state as a power or principality has subsumed and subordinated even other powers of nation, tradition, racial and ethnic cultures, common and constitutional law, local community institutions and groupings, the media, information, education, religion, the professions, movements and causes, the economic system -- other principalities which would rival and compete with the state and, perhaps, inadvertently limit its power in benefit of human life.

Right-wing witch hunt turns to Wallis

WND paints Wallis as a "controversial" figure who is connected to "radicals." As Media Matters for America noted, the right-wing witch hunt against Obama's advisers has turned to Wallis, a member of the president's faith council who has worked with numerous conservative and mainstream religious leaders. The WorldNetDaily article uses a series of falsehoods and distortions to portray Wallis as "Obama's new controversial pastor" and a "champion of communism" whose magazine "has published a slew of radicals."

It’s easy for any library to have a social media presence these days.  Translating that into success with serving a teen population?  Well, that’s another thing…

Be Yourself

The discussion of personal and professional profiles always comes up.  I didn’t want to have two profiles (done it before, hated it) so I had to make a decision: add teens to my own accounts or hide myself far, far away.  I went with what some may consider to be the unpopular route.  I added them to my own accounts.  I feel like it has made a world of difference.

I am happy to share the real Justin with the teens that I serve.  I have nothing bad to hide and all good to share.  Letting them in on my “personal” life has actually allowed me to establish a deeper connection with them.  For example, when one teen found that him and I shared an interest in The Mars Volta, he came running in the library one day in disbelief.  He was excited that I was into the same music as him.  He now comes in a few times each week and we spend a good fifteen minutes or so talking about music.

This is just one of countless examples of how opening up my personal social networking accounts to teens has made it easier for me to connect with them and provide them with quality service.  In the end, it makes you more of a real person to them.  They become your friend and they trust you.  The upside to this?  They’re using the library…and they love it.

Stay Active

There’s nothing that looks sadder than an abandoned profile.  If you’re going to have a public account, make sure you update it with the most relevant information.  Don’t just create the profile and let it fester and rot away.  An up to date profile will show your public that you care about connecting with them.  One of the golden rules I try to always stick to is replying to comments or posts.  Even if it is a simple hello or a comment on a link, say something back!  Conversation and interaction is one of the reasons why we’re all using social media.

Educate Them

Myspace is dead.  It lost its appeal when showing off how (badly) one could customize their page with videos, gifs, and pictures won out over connecting and sharing with others.  We can learn something from this.

Media 21 is a project created by Buffy Hamilton, a school librarian at Creekview High School in Canton, GA.  The goal of the Media 21 Project is to “expand teens’ information literacy skills by introducing them tools for constructing a personal learning network and to posit research as a real world activity for learning, not an isolated unit of study.”

The idea behind Media 21 blows my mind.  Taking a moment or two each day to educate the teens using my library about social media allows me to better serve them as a librarian.  They understand that social media is a real and credible way to interact, share and create.  It helps me be the best librarian I can be for them.  I know what they want, and they know I’m always here to listen.

Buffy further adds: “I wanted to them to learn how to use social media tools for constructing and sharing knowledge as well as to start thinking about ways social media can be an authoritative source of knowledge”

Right on, sister.

You can read more about the Media 21 project here

Many thanks to School Librarian extraordinaire Buffy Hamilton for her quotes and guidance.

Give Stuff Away

I love what they’re doing over at the Darien Library with FourSquare.  As a matter a fact, it got me thinking.  With the tips  feature, we’re able to create our own little mini scavenger hunts for teens.  I learned just how excited teens get whyen it comes to scavenger hunts when I hosted an all night teen lock in at my library last year.  The scavenger hunt was one of the biggest events of the night.  By offering daily scavenger hunts with rewards, teens will have more reason to come into the library, check in, and complete the daily tip.  You’ve got them inside the library and they’re actively participating in a library program.  Win!

(On a related note, I highly suggest checking out this excellent post by David Lee King.  “Personal Accounts, Work Accounts – What To Do?”)

I consider myself a pretty good internet searcher. If it's out there I can usually find it one way or another. However, there's one site in particular that always defeats me. I know the information is there, it's got a great reputation, it's jam packed full of newsy goodness, and it's also very poor. The BBC, for a world renowned news and information organisation is woeful when it comes to search. At the top of every page we've got a search option:

That's good as far as it goes, but it doesn't go very far. No advanced search option. No 'search help' option, no suggestions on what I can search for or how I can search for it. The BBC has highly complicated data sets - we've got archive type information going back years, news reports, current news, content from television and radio programmes, information that's available for a short period of time via iplayer, photographs and a wealth of other content. None of that is reflected in the search box that we're all shown.

Running a search really shows the limitations of their system. As you can see from the above illustration I wanted to find out more about the little boy who had been kidnapped, and had apparently been released. I looked on the BBC home page and there was no information at all, which surprised me, given that it's a new twist in the event, so I went looking for it. 'Pakistan kidnap' probably isn't the best search I could have done - perhaps adding in 'boy' or 'child' would have helped, but let's see what we got.

The first news item is 6 days old. 6 days! The next is 13 days. Further down the page I'm getting information that's dated 2007, 2004, and my favourite is 1st April 1998. For a 'news' site that's worse than bad, it's virtually criminal. The tragic thing is that the information that I want is actually on the page, but cunningly hidden away on the BBC iPlayer section to the right under 5 live breakfast. However, if and when iPlayer is updated to the next day, that information is essentially lost. What you can't see however is that further down the same page, in the 'news and sports clips' is this:

This states, quite categorically, that he's not been released. Moreover, it states that reports that he has are unfounded. As a searcher, what am I to do? Of course, looking at the dates is helpful, but is everyone going to do that? I have my doubts. However, I now have the childs name, and a second search does bring up much better information, and this time in the 'news and sports' section there's a useful news story I can listen to. As an aside, why on earth have news and sports information so closely linked? It's just not helpful. If Pakistan had been playing in a cricket match, which story would have got top billing?

BBC search has clearly never heard about Boolean operators. A search for the child's name and -kidnap returns exactly the same results. NOT kidnap is the same as well.

Let's look at another example. I was invited onto a couple of radio shows recently to talk about the sad case of the child murdered by a man she met via Facebook. I recall vaguely that the Government was introducing some initiative late last year to make children safer online, and it was widely reported on the BBC. I wanted to find out more about this, so turned to the BBC. I thought my search for "government guidelines internet child safety" was pretty good until the first result that turned up was "News - Technology - Net Industry must fight paedophiles" dated 6th January 2003. The nice little content boxes at the side for BBC iPlayer, News and Sport, Elsewhere on the web all showed no content. Really? A subject that is right in the middle of the news, with the Government talking about what can and should be done, and what they've done in the past - nothing recent at all?  Let's look at the dates on the results I do have - 4 Feb 2003, 16 Oct 2007, 6 Jan 2003, 18 Nov 2008, 6 Jan 2003, Undated (Don't ask me what's going on there!), 11 Jan 2002, 13 Oct 2000. So the most recent thing I can find is 16 months ago.

This wouldn't be so bad if I could re-rank my search based on date, but I can't. I'm stuck with what the BBC gives me - which in this case is outdated, useless information. You may say 'well, add in 2009, since you know the Government initiative started then'. I'm way ahead of you my wiley friend - I tried that, and the first result that came up with was "News - Technology - Net Industry must fight paedophiles" dated 6th January 2003. Yes - the very same result. In the end, I couldn't find what I wanted, so tried other resources instead, at which point I found what I was after (the 'zip it, block it, bin it' campaign) quickly.

One more example - there has recently, very recently in fact, been a cyclone in Fiji. I wanted to see how the BBC handled that. I threw in a slight curved ball at this point and tried my first search as 'Figi'. I got results as well, worryingly. 5 of them, all talking about the country of Figi. Most of these were however undated. Quite how that is useful to anyone, I'm not entirely sure. Also, no 'did you mean?' suggestion either. So I went back and did the search properly. This time I got a three panel approach - it's something new the BBC is trying. Columns and boxes for News, Sport, About, Weather, IPlayer, Blogs, Knowledge and Around the Web. This time I did get some information about the cyclone, and it was 10 hours old. There were also links to other news stories, and some video as well. It's a new search system that the BBC is trying out, and it's better than the previous version. If anyone from the BBC responds to this - which I doubt - they'll try and use this to counter my criticisms. Before they so however, I would suggest that they take a look at other news sites - Silobreaker comes to mind. When I ran my search there, the engine immediately gave me a dozen suggestions to focus my search. First news result was dated 46 minutes ago. I was then presented with other news stories, tweets, 'In focus' pieces, content volume by date, networks, hotspots, blogs, audio visual, quotes and 'more content'. THAT is how you run a news resource. 

Trying an external resource to search the BBC doesn't work either. Limiting both Google and Bing to the BBC site and running my searches again simply returns the same tired results. It's only when I go into the Google options and choose 'last 24 hours' do I find the information that I was after. This should not be necessary. Bing wasn't able to be any better either.

The BBC has great resources - why can't I use them? Why can't I limit a search and focus using the most basic of search operators, things that have been around for 15 years or more? Why can't I just get content in a specific form? Why can't I re-rank on date, which when you're dealing with a news site is the bare minimum you want, given the state of their search results. Why isn't there a proper search help function installed? Finally, and let's echo this loudly 'WHY IS BBC SEARCH SO BAD?' If you need to find news, don't bother with the BBC; they simply have no clue.

In an unfortunately-forgotten bit of 70s academic bloodsport, Marvin Harris and Marshall Sahlins battled it out in the pages of the New York Review of Books over the origin Aztec cannibalism: was it, as Harris argued, something Aztecs were driven to as a result of a protein deficiency? No, Sahlins answered, but even if it was all of the symbolism and institutions surrounding it would still have to be explained as a result of culture, not nutrition. Sahlins’s argument was devastatingly convincing because it explained two phenomenon with a single maneuver: Aztec cannibalism was a result of culture, not nutritional needs, just as Harris’s belief in it was motivated not by facts, but by his own (American) cultural tendency to see human behavior as shaped by biological factors.

A disagreement with similar contours is afoot today. The latest skirmish in the Jared Diamond wars deals not only with issues of scholarly accuracy, but also the cultural/personal motivation of the protagonists as well as the social effects of their arguments. The main protagonists are the authors of Questioning Collapse, an edited volume in which expert scholars take issue with Jared Diamond’s reading of their specialty topics: the Rapa Nui (Easter Island) specialist discusses Diamond’s use of the Rapa Nui data, the Incan specialist discusses Diamond on Pizzaro and Atahualpa, and so forth. The book is critical of Diamond, who has responded with a review in Nature that is none too friendly itself.

The Usual Denunciations are already issuing from Stinky Journalism.org, which mostly focus on how unethical it was for Diamond to write a review of a book that criticized his book without explicitly telling readers the book he was criticizing criticized him. You can check it out if you want, but I think its much more interesting to see how the back and forth between Questioning Collapse and Diamond exemplified some of the issues that played out twenty years earlier in the Sahlins/Harris debate. How do we tack between the social effects of our work and its accuracy? How can we address the cultural underpinnings that motivate an author’s writing without falling back into ad hominem attacks? How well does Collapse stand up to scholarly scrutiny? And how good a job does Questioning Collapse do of reaching out to Diamond’s popular audience? These questions are worth asking — even if you are a little burned out on the Jared Diamond wars.

In this piece I want to review Questioning Collapse through the lens of these issues. I’ll start by working backwards from Diamond’s review in Nature to the book itself. In the end, I find Questioning Collapse’s critique of Diamond extremely compelling, particularly for the way it highlights the theoretical difficulties of Diamond’s position. That said, however, Questioning Collapse’s (henceforth ‘QC’) authors often don’t do the readers any favors — as a piece of public anthropology I feel it has a long way to go.

Diamond’s piece is actually a review of two books, Questioning Collapse and The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age. In the event, however, only about 400 of its 1300 words focus on the later volume. In the review, Diamond pulls a classic Sahlins maneuver, arguing that the authors are driven by a tendentious preference for a “positive message about human behavior” is “laudable” but, unfortunately, does not mesh well with the facts. The result is a “naively optimistic redefinition” of the data which “inevitably forces one to distort history and to avoid trying to explain what really happened.” Indeed, Diamond even claims that although they take issue with his work the authors of QC “do not offer a substitute thesis” for facts which “cry out for explanation, even if one relabels them as something other than collapse”. Political correctness, it seems, blinds Questioning Collapse to The Facts. Or, as the subtitle of the review puts it, ‘realism’ (i.e. Diamond) must trump ‘positivity’ (i.e. QC).

In fact there are four themes in Questioning Collapse: that of resilience (as opposed to collage), of colonialism (‘empire expansion’), of the similarity of current environmental issues to the past, and that of what constitutes an adequate popular anthropology. Diamond deals mostly with the first two topics in his review, and I will skip the third here but I’ll address the rest as well as make a few points about the factual errors each side accuses the other of having.

Resilience versus collapse, or, seven million Mayans can’t be wrong

Is Diamond correct when he says QC’s feel-good agenda prevents it from seeing the truth about collapse? On this first major claim, I think Diamond and QC are talking past one another. At the broadest level, QC takes issue with the three key words in Collapse’s title: ‘collapse’, ’success’, and ‘choose’. What, specifically, counts as collapse? The authors of QC argue that there is more to societal continuity than Diamond’s focus on population size and social complexity. There are, they point out, millions of Mayan people alive today — how then can we say that Mayan culture has disappeared? They also point out that it is hard to tell where one society starts and another begins. Is agriculture in the Netherlands an example of ecological success once we think about the effects their importation of fodder has on countries like Brazil from which they import it? And ‘success’: how long does a society have to be around before it is officially considered to be one? In his excellent article in the QC McNeill points out that Diamond plays fast and loose with dates — the Greenland Norse, for instance, survived longer than all of the modern societies that Diamond lists as successes. And ‘choice’: many of the authors of the volume point out that societies are not people — different parts of them make different decisions for different reasons. Often times ‘choices’ are the emergent property of many individual decisions. And in a world where actions have unintended consequences, even selfish choices might end up being sustainable ones, and vice versa. It is for this reason that the authors tend to focus on ‘resilience’ rather than ‘collapse’ — on the way that populations change over time, but tend overall to endure.

In sum, QC argues that Diamond’s notion of collapse is too simple. Societies are not externally bounded and internally homogeneous. They do not make decisions like humans do. They change through time, making it difficult to identify when they change beyond recognition. Long-term trends are, they argue, mostly for continuity, which is why they use the term ‘resilience’ rather than collapse. Mayans are still around. Easter Islanders are still around — in fact, QC has little boxed-in sections highlighting contemporary descendants of supposedly-collapsed societies.

Diamond is not having any of it. He responds that “It makes no sense to me to redefine as heart-warmingly resilient a society in which everyone ends up dead, or in which most of the population vanishes, or that loses writing, state government and great art for centuries… Even when many people do survive and eventually reestablish a populous complex society, the initial decline is sufficiently important to warrant being honestly called a collapse and studied further.” Diamond’s model of collapse is that familiar to us from the video game Civilization by Sid Meier: civilizations all grow in one direction towards more and more complexity with bigger and bigger cities, and if they go down in size, you lose. The authors of QC have a more anthropological understanding of societies, insisting that they not internally homogeneous or externally bounded, that they persist in time, and that we must understand their ups and downs.

At heart, then, the resilience/collapse debate is a discussion of interpretation, not facts. Many readers will probably find Diamond’s civilization-or-bust definition of collapse compelling, and agree with him that ‘positivity’ leads QC’s authors to a tendentious interpretation of the facts. This is a pity since I think QC takes a principled and satisfying theoretical position on collapse. Still, one can see why popular readers might not be swayed.

It’s the Colonialism, Stupid

Diamond does remarkably less well when it comes to ‘empire expansion’. One of the most egregious howlers from Diamond’s review is his claim that “although the authors of Questioning Collapse may wish it were otherwise, students and laypersons alike know that Europeans did conquer the world” and that “the authors seem uncomfortable with the glaring fact that it is Europeans, not Native Australians or Americans or Africans, who have expanded over the globe in the past 500 years.” The kindest thing one can say about Diamond’s position here is that it is unintelligible, because the alternative options are that a) Diamond’s personal animus against the authors was so intense he could not understand the content of the book or b) he simply did not read the book he is reviewing.

As far as I can tell, Diamond believes the book argues the exact opposite of what it actually says. He appears to think that the authors of QC are arguing that the hand of European rule lay lightly on the colonized world, which never suffered population loss. QC doesn’t admit that there is such a thing as ‘empire expansion’? How about the ending of Michael Wilcox’s essay in the volume (one of my favorites):

Diamond’s tidy explanation of conquest and global poverty is not only factually incorrect; it gives us the sense that its origins lie somewhere out there, beyond the agency of the reader. The implication is that if conquests were situated long ago, somewhere else, then we are powerless over their contemporary manifestations. Conquests are never instantaneous, transformative, or all encompassing. They are enacted, reenacted, and rewritten for each succeeding generation. In this sense Diamond’s narrative of disappearance and marginalization is one of conquest’s most potent instruments. (p 138)

Does this sound like someone who didn’t get the memo that “Europeans did conquer the world”?

Diamond accuses QC of down-playing the role of colonialism in human history, and not offering an alternate explanation for the collapse of indigenous society, when in fact colonialism is their alternate explanation for the collapse of nonwestern societies. Wilcox writes “a more appropriate troika of destruction [than guns, germs, and steel] would be ‘lawyers, god, and money’”. Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo write that “ancient deforestation was not the cause of population collapse. If we are to apply a modern term to the tragedy of Rapa Nui, it is not ecocide but genocide.”

In sum, QC attempts to take the moral high-ground out from underneath Diamond when it comes to colonialism, arguing that he underplays the horrors of colonialism because his cultural blinkers prevent him from seeing the truth. Indeed, one of the major arguments of the book is that Diamond (and other social scientists) aid and abet on-going oppression of indigenous people. The proper response from Diamond — had he noticed — would have been to cast the authors of QC as a bunch of lefty radicals who have given up on Scientific Accuracy in the name of advocacy. Except of course he didn’t notice.

Some readers may find Wilcox’s invective overheated, and find the anti-colonial agenda of QC too ‘pc’ in their denunciation of the book’s social effects. That is why it is so gratifying that the volume also takes up the issue of accuracy and never lets go: Diamond is not just tendentious, he is also wrong. The fact that Diamond simply missed this major part of their argument really detracts from his credibility.

Fact Checking

Beyond these overarching themes there are a number of particular factual disputes between Diamond and the authors of QC. In his review, Diamond argues that the Yali he met and the Yali that Gewertz and Errington’s volume is about are different people; he argues against Wilcox that Chaco canyon was deforested; he argued against Berglund that the Greenland Norse died out, rather than emigrating; he argues against Taylor that ecology was a factor in the Rwandan genocide; and he argues against what he calls David Cahill’s “absurd rewriting” of the Spanish conquest of the Inca.

None of Diamond’s factual claims are very convincing. Which Yali was which does not matter, because Gewertz and Errington’s merely use the conversation with Yali as a set piece to raise a series of other claims about colonialism in Papua New Guinea, none of which Diamond addresses. Diamond offers as evidence that overpopulation was a factors for genocide in Rwanda a school teacher’s assertion that “The people whose children had to walk barefoot to school killed the people who could buy shoes for theirs.” Which seems to me to be an argument about inequality rather than population pressure — if it is not just a statement about shoes. Wilcox provides two citations to back up his claim that Chaco canyon was forested, while Diamond never cites his sources in the review or in Collapse, and so it is impossible to verify his claims. This also makes his claim that there is archaeological evidence of the death of the Greenland Norse impossible to verify. His claim that David Cahill’s paper is an “absurd rewriting” of Incan-Spanish relations seems to miss Cahill’s careful and, as far as I can tell, uncontroversial point that conquerors often keep local systems of social stratification intact and install themselves on top of them.

Now, it is surely unfair to ask a 1300 word review to exhaustively respond to all of the criticisms made in a 375 page book. Still, one can’t help but notice that the authors of QC make serious claims that throw Diamond’s entire reading of societal collapse into question, and Diamond’s response is to ignore the forest and call out a few trees. When people like Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo argue that Diamond’s claims about Rapa Nui are fundamentally mistaken, you expect such big-issue claims to merit a response.

Of course, Questioning Collapse was not perfect either

That said, the authors of QC do not always make it easy for readers to be swayed to their point of view. The editors claim that “participants committed themselves to setting aside abstruse academic prose and cumbersome in-text references in favor of a more user-friendly text.” Really? Can we blame Diamond for not lingering carefully over, for instance, Cahill’s prose when it contains sentences like this:

It encoded all the familiar generic facts of colonial conquests as seen by Europeans: the mutual incomprehension and marveling at the mirror-image alterities; the chasm between New World and Old World epistemologies, “true” rational knowledge against heathen superstition; clever Castilian against dullard Inca; true believers versus the unevangelized barbarians, at best seen as promising neophytes; asymmetrical technologies manifest in the flash of steel and the thrust of lance against bronze close-combat weapons, slingshot, cotton armor and buckler; European initiative against the kind of unquestioning obeisance associated with “oriental despotism.”

I am guessing the average reader will quit long before they get to the part of the sentence where they miss the Wittfogel reference. While several of the authors write clearly and passionately, on the whole Diamond still wins the contest for clear prose. In fact, many of the essays employ all the apparatus of scholarly prevarication: introductory sections reflecting on what it means to write for a popular audience, wider theoretical issues of contextualization, and so forth. You must wade through all this to get to the point where they actually talk about why they think Diamond is wrong.

Or you may not. One of the strangest things about this otherwise very ballsy collection is that many — maybe even most — of the articles do not actually quote Jared Diamond. Sometimes I think the authors are so immersed in the topic that they forget to leave signposts to the reader about what they are doing. Joel Berglund’s piece, for instance, appears to be a valuable detailed commentary on Diamond’s chapters on Norse Greenland, but only if you put the two books next to one another. For many readers it will seem like a tour of various facts about Norse Greenland which mentions Diamond at the start. Cahill’s paper often takes aim at “standard colonial tropes” of “indegnous dullards who ‘didn’t know what hit them’” or views in which “Andean civilization… becomes a kind of ‘unenlightened’ primitive polity”. The positions he put in scare quotes are certainly worth criticizing — but are they Diamonds? A close reading — and actual citation — of Diamond’s argument would have made the essay stronger, especially since Cahill’s data so obviously gainsays the claims Diamond actually does make. The best pieces — Hunt and Lipo’s and Wilcox’s, McNeil’s, and so forth — are very strong (disclosure: I share a department with Hunt) and other pieces could have profited by being as tightly written.

Above all, a central argument of QC is that the world is ‘complex’ and it would be better if popular audiences did not need to have it ’simplified’. As Thomas Hylland Eriksen reminds us, however, this simply will not fly. Public anthropology is, I’ve argued, the bar at the conference — when people tell you straight up and without hedging what they think is really going on in their papers. It is in the nature of the game to “dare to be reductive”. I think QC would have done better to explore how to reduce effectively, rather than lament the fact that such a move was necessary — or attempt to avoid making it at all.

Taking the fight to the streets?

Regardless of what you think about the particulars of Questioning Collapse, it establishes once and for all that mainstream academic authors consider Diamond’s work to be problematic. Coming from a major major press (Cambridge) with a roster of quality specialists, Questioning Collapse is undoubtedly Ivory Tower. If anything, it could have let down its hair a bit more. If only there were some way to reach a popular audience… to take the fight to the streets… in like… say… a blog…? Luckily, they have one, although it has not been updated regularly.

It seems to me QC’s blog could serve two purposes. First, it would also be an excellent place to begin a long and exceedingly detailed analysis of some of the particular factual claims Diamond makes — particularly those in the Nature review. This is the sort of intellectual spadework that publishers are not keen on, which should be made available to the public, and works well in small sub-essay size units which can be clearly written and do not take forever to read. Blog posts, in other words.

Second, Questioning Collapse is relatively expensive (US$30) and formally written — not ideal for spreading the word. The website could become a great location for remixed versions of the articles: piece available for download as teaching resources, or for the casual reader, where the authors cut right to the chase, free and open access, for anyone who is interested in reading them.

Conclusion

In sum, QC excels in empirical accuracy, not public outreach. While I find their arguments persuasive — in most cases, completely persuasive — I think they could have done a better job reaching a broader audience. There is a danger that their accounts of the social effects of Diamond’s work, and his personal/cultural motivations for writing could turn into ad hominem, which would be a shame. Because Diamond is a public figure, the proper course would be to be even more scrupulous in adhering to standards of professionalism and impartiality than a scholar normally would, even though the impulse is (I imagine) to go in rather the other dimension. From my point of view, the central issue has got to be the empirical adequacy of his claims.

As for Diamond, the impression I get of him is of a scholar who increasingly refuses to adhere to the best practices of the university, and who can get away with it because of the power and influence that comes from being in the public eye. Of course, there is nothing wrong with going AWOL from the academy if one wants to become a free-floating intellectual. But Diamond is not Carlos Castaneda, and his audience gives him credence because of his situation within the academy and his role as a translator of technical discourse. It is easy to become complacent when you’re, you know, an ultra-rich Pulitzer Prize-winning author (or so I imagine!). But one must resist the temptation to relax one’s standards. Both lay readers and his colleagues deserve better work than we see in Nature review.

In the seventies, Sahlins and Harris didn’t have the Internet to fall back on. Today, we are blessed with a means of communication that allow incensed scholars to argue endlessly in front of the entire planet! Now that the book is published, I look forward to seeing the authors of Questioning Collapse – and perhaps even Diamond himself? — move these issues forward.

Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz recently reported that some "Fox journalists" believe that colleague Glenn Beck "uses distorted or inflammatory rhetoric that undermines their credibility." Nevertheless, Fox News' reporters and "news" programs have routinely promoted and echoed Beck on stories such as the 9-12 Project, tea party protests, ACORN and former White House officials Van Jones and Anita Dunn.

Kurtz: Some "Fox journalists" worried Beck "undermines their credibility"

From Kurtz's March 15 Washington Post column:

In just over a year, Glenn Beck's blinding burst of stardom has often seemed to overshadow the rest of Fox News.

And that may not be a good thing for the top-rated cable news channel, as many of its staffers are acutely aware.

With his celebrity fueled by a Time cover story, best-selling books, cheerleading role at protest rallies and steady stream of divisive remarks, Beck is drawing big ratings. But there is a deep split within Fox between those -- led by Chairman Roger Ailes -- who are supportive, and many journalists who are worried about the prospect that Beck is becoming the face of the network.

By calling President Obama a racist and branding progressivism a "cancer," Beck has achieved a lightning-rod status that is unusual even for the network owned by Rupert Murdoch. And that, in turn, has complicated the channel's efforts to neutralize White House criticism that Fox is not really a news organization. Beck has become a constant topic of conversation among Fox journalists, some of whom say they believe he uses distorted or inflammatory rhetoric that undermines their credibility.

[...]

Friction between opinionated cable personalities and journalists has also flared occasionally at MSNBC. But Beck has caused such anguish at Fox that some of its journalists celebrated the failure of last week's interview with embattled ex-congressman Eric Massa, which Beck pronounced a waste of time.

[...]

One thing is beyond debate: Beck provides a strong lead-in for the network's evening lineup. "The significance of Beck to Fox's bottom line cannot be underestimated," says Tyndall, the industry analyst. "Getting an audience that size at 5 p.m. is absolutely unheard of."

But that growth has come at a price, at least for those at Fox who believe that Beck is beginning to define their brand. Glenn Beck is a media phenomenon married to a phenomenally successful network, but away from the cameras, theirs is a troubled relationship.

The New York Times reported on October 11, 2009, that Fox News claims its news hours are objective and defined as "9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. on weekdays." Those weekday hours include America's Newsroom, Happening Now, America Live, Studio B, Special Report, and The Fox Report. America Live replaced Live Desk in early 2010.

"News" division takes cues from Beck on ACORN tapes

Beck brings ACORN videos to Fox. On the September 9, 2009, edition of his Fox News program, Beck previewed an "exclusive" that would air on his program the next day, which he claimed would make "things change a lot for those in power." Beck later aired snippets of a video from James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles in which they entered the Baltimore office of ACORN. Beck suggested the video was the "exclusive stuff" that he predicted the media would be "talking about" instead of health care. On September 10, Beck interviewed Giles and credited Andrew Breitbart with starting the story. On September 15, Beck again hosted O'Keefe for a "one-hour special." Beck continued pushing subsequent ACORN videos from O'Keefe and Giles in the following months. Investigations later found significant problems with the ACORN tapes and cleared ACORN of criminal wrongdoing.

Fox "news" programs follow Beck's lead, seize on ACORN videos. Following Beck's "exclusive" preview, on September 10, 2009, through 7 p.m., Fox News dedicated at least 17 segments to the ACORN video. Fox "news" programs covering the video included: America's Newsroom; Happening Now; Live Desk; and Special Report.

Fox "news" programs hype Beck-promoted San Bernardino ACORN tapes. On September 15 and 16, 2009, Fox "news" programs devoted significant programming to O'Keefe and Giles' video of their interactions with an ACORN worker in San Bernardino, CA, who claimed that she murdered her husband and gave advice on how to run a brothel. The worker stated after the video was released that she hadn't murdered her husband -- which was confirmed by police -- and was attempting to "shock them as much as they were shocking me." Live Desk teased the video, with co-host Martha MacCallum stating: "We can now tell you that you are going to see yet another big development in the ACORN story. Another tape is expected to come out tonight after 5 p.m." -- a reference to Glenn Beck's program. At 5 p.m., Beck devoted a "special program" to the San Bernardino video. Following Beck, Special Report and America's Newsroom ran reports on the video.

Fox News Sunday devoted 18 minutes, over two consecutive broadcasts, to ACORN controversy. In September, Fox News Sunday devoted a total of 18 minutes of programming time on two consecutive broadcasts to covering the ACORN tapes. During his September 20 broadcast, host Chris Wallace conducted an interview with ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) to discuss the story. During the September 27 broadcast of the program, Wallace aired a segment on O'Keefe, in which he advanced several of O'Keefe's claims without noting that they are contradicted by readily available evidence and labeled O'Keefe the "Power Player of the Week."

"News" division follows Beck's lead on bogus Dunn controversy

Beck pushed concocted story that Dunn "worships" and "revere[s]" Mao Zedong. Throughout his October 15, 2009, program, Beck claimed that then-White House communications director Anita Dunn "worships" and "idolizes" "her hero" Mao Zedong. As evidence, Beck aired a video in which Dunn cited two of her "favorite political philosophers," Mao Zedong and Mother Teresa during a speech to high school graduates. However, Dunn offered no endorsement of Mao's ideology or actions -- rather, she spoke of Mao and Mother Teresa as two of her favorite "political philosophers," and based on short quotes from them, she offered the advice that "you don't have to follow other people's choices and paths" or "let external definition define how good you are internally." Indeed, admiration" for Mao and that President Obama has "surrounded himself with Mao supporters."

Special Report followed Beck's lead in highlighting Dunn's "Mao" comments. On October 19, 2009, Fox News' Special Report aired a truncated clip of Dunn's Mao quote, and Fox News contributor Brit Hume responded: "Well, she also said that this is the two people she turns to most. This doesn't sound like it was a one-off attempt to make a joke and imitate the Republican strategist Lee Atwater."

"News" division follows Beck's campaign against Van Jones

Beck led the charge against Van Jones. Beck repeatedly attacked then-White House green jobs adviser Van Jones. Beck has falsely accused Van Jones of being a "convicted felon," misleadingly stated that Jones' place in the Obama administration "says that the president has an agenda that is radical, revolutionary, and in some cases, Marxist." A September 6, 2009, New York Times article stated that "[c]hief among those keeping the story alive was Glenn Beck, the conservative host of a Fox News Channel program. Mr. Beck began criticizing Mr. Jones in July, first in segments on his syndicated talk radio show and then, on July 23, on his Fox News program, said Christopher Balfe, the president of Mr. Beck's production company."

"News" division picks up Jones "controversy." On September 3, 2009, America's Newsroom, Live Desk, and Special Report ran segments on the "controversy" over Jones. Fox News dispatched at least two reporters, Molly Henneberg and James Rosen, to the Van Jones story. For instance, America's Newsroom's Megyn Kelly said Jones has a "somewhat radical and sometimes racially-charged past," and asked Henneberg if Jones "described himself as a communist." Kelly further wondered how Jones became a "czar." From America's Newsroom:

Live Desk covered Jones' past remarks with Rosen and promoted the results of a non-scientific poll finding that 97 percent of Fox News viewers aren't "satisfied with Van Jones' apology" for past remarks:

On Special Report, host Bret Baier introduced a report by Rosen by stating that there's a "troubling pattern of behavior by one of the president's top advisers [Jones]" and later concluded, "We'll see if the national hoo-rah develops" over Jones.

Van Jones resigns; Beck and Fox "stories" receive credit. On September 6, 2009, Jones resigned, citing that he "cannot in good conscience ask my colleagues to expend precious time and energy defending or explaining my past." The Huffington Post's Ryan Grim noted that "[b]efore Beck mentioned Jones in the last few weeks on his Fox News television show, Jones remained an obscure figure in the administration. After Beck mentioned him, protesters at town hall meetings made Jones a staple of their complaints." In an October 28, 2009, speech (retrieved from the Congressional Record) on the House floor, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) said: "Fox reports the stories that the national media ignore. For example, without Fox News, you might not have heard about the recent ACORN scandal. You might not have heard about the troubling political associations of the President's former green jobs czar, which eventually led to his resignation."

Wallace: It is "certainly the case that Van Jones had a history as a radical, as a self-professed communist." In a panel discussion about Jones' resignation on the September 6, 2009, edition of Fox News Sunday, Wallace stated that "it certainly is the case that Van Jones had a history as a radical, as a self-professed communist, and also, the fact that is -- that he signed a 2004 petition suggesting that there be an investigation of whether or not the government had a role in 9/11."

News division continues to track Jones post-resignation. Fox News' Special Report has continued to discuss Van Jones despite his White House resignation. Since Jones' resignation, according to Nexis, Special Report has mentioned Van Jones on February 25, February 24, October 19, October 6, September 28, September 16, and September 10.

"News" division promotes Beck's 9-12 special and rally

Beck started conservative 9-12 Project, whose members helped organize 9-12 protests. On March 13, 2009, during his "You Are Not Alone" special, Beck announced the launch of his 9-12 Project, whose members helped organize and turn out participants to a protest on September 12, 2009. Beck routinely implored his audience to attend the Washington, D.C. rally on his Fox News show. Beck then aired a special edition of his television show live from 1 to 3 p.m. ET on Fox News on September 12.

Happening Now promotes Beck's original 9-12 Project special. On March 13, 2009, Happening Now hosted Beck to promote his special. From Happening Now:

Live Desk promotes Beck's original special as "the place to be." On the March 13, 2009, edition of Live Desk, co-host Trace Gallagher started a countdown to Beck's special and said Beck's show is "gathering steam across the country." Co-host Martha MacCallum added that Beck's special is "the place to be this Friday night." Gallagher said that Beck's first principle is "America is good and we seemed to have forgotten that." Gallagher interviewed Beck live outside Fox News' offices while he and Fox News graphics repeatedly promoted the special:

Wallace: "I'm a big Glenn Beck fan." On the March 13, 2009, edition of Fox News' Studio B, while discussing Beck's special, Wallace said he sensed that Fox News host Shepard Smith was "begrudging" Glenn Beck and that he himself is a "big Glenn Beck fan" and is "on the Glenn Beck bandwagon."

Fox News heavily promoted the Beck-fueled 9-12 rally. Fox News heavily promoted the 9-12 Tea Party rally and the Tea Party Express tour, whose last stop was on September 12 in Washington. For instance, during the August 23, 2009, edition of America's News HQ, host and reporter Shannon Bream said, "We want to let folks know" the Tea Party Express' schedule so "they can be a part" of the events. And on August 28, 2009, Fox News dispatched reporters Griff Jenkins and William La Jeunesse to the Tea Party Express kickoff in Sacramento, California. Jenkins also reported from the 9-12 rally for Beck's special; a Fox News producer was caught encouraging the crowd to cheer during Jenkins' report.

"News" division heavily promotes April 15 Tea Parties -- featuring Glenn Beck

Beck promotes, hosts a "FNC Tax Day" Tea Party. While discussing the April 15, 2009, Tea Party protests on his April 6, 2009, program, Glenn Beck suggested that viewers could "[c]elebrate with Fox News" by either attending a protest or watching it on Fox News. Beck stated that in addition to himself, hosts Neil Cavuto, Greta Van Susteren, and Sean Hannity would be "live" at different protests. While Beck spoke, on-screen text labeled those protests as "FNC Tax Day Tea Parties." In the lead-up to April 15, Beck repeatedly promoted the tea parties and urged viewers to attend them.

Like Beck, Fox "news" programs repeatedly urged attendance at tea parties. In the lead-up to the April 15, 2009, tea parties, Fox's "news" programs and anchors frequently aired segments publicizing and encouraging viewers to get involved with the protests. For instance, Special Report host Baier noted the URL of TaxDayTeaParty.com and stated that the protests have been "largely ignored by the mainstream media," while America's Newsroom frequently hosted tea party organizers and posted on-screen organizing information, such as protest dates and locations. Host Bill Hemmer also repeatedly directed viewers to the show's section on the Fox News website, which posted a list of tea party protests. The following are some of the graphics America's Newsroom aired to promote the April 15 tea parties:

Hemmer promotes Beck's appearance at the Alamo. While guest-hosting the April 12, 2009, edition of Fox News Watch, news anchor Hemmer promoted Beck's appearance at the Alamo tea party, stating:

HEMMER: While the mainstream is ignoring the tea party movement, here at the Fox News Channel, we're gearing up to bring you special coverage of the events all across the country. Sean Hannity is in Atlanta. Glenn Beck is at the Alamo. Where else would he be? San Antonio. Neil Cavuto is live in Sacramento and Greta is in Washington, D.C.

Can't get to a tea party? Fox Nation hosts a virtual tea party. You can check it out on the site for the location of a tea party in your area. Again, that is Wednesday, the 15th of April.

The right-wing witch hunt against President Obama's advisers has turned to Rev. Jim Wallis, a member of the president's faith council who has worked with numerous conservative and mainstream religious leaders. A WorldNetDaily article uses a series of falsehoods and distortions to portray Wallis as "Obama's new controversial pastor" and a "champion of communism" whose magazine "has published a slew of radicals."

WND and Fox attack Wallis

WND headline: "Not again! Meet Obama's new controversial pastor." The headline and subhead of WorldNetDaily's March 15 article attacking Wallis reads:

Not again! Meet Obama's new controversial pastor

Champion of communism, socialism called U.S. 'destroyer of human life'

 

WND paints Wallis as a "controversial" figure who is connected to "radicals." The March 15 WorldNetDaily article by Aaron Klein stated:

Rev. Jim Wallis, a member of President Obama's "faith council" who is described as a spiritual adviser to the president, is a socialist activist who has championed communist causes and previously labeled the U.S. "the great captor and destroyer of human life."

[...]

Sojourners has published a slew of radicals, including socialist activist Cornel West and James Cone, considered the founder of Black Liberation Theology, which spawned the likes of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's pastor of nearly 20 years.

[...]

Wallis continues to openly support socialism. Along with socialist activist West, Wallis in 1995 founded Call to Renewal, a coalition of religious groups demanding the spread of U.S. wealth to promote "social justice."

Fox Nation links to WorldNetDaily article attacking Wallis. The Fox News website Fox Nation linked to the WorldNetDaily article, repeating its headline: "Not again! Meet Obama's new controversial pastor." From Fox Nation, accessed March 16:

Mainstream and conservative leaders have worked with Wallis and praised his efforts

Despite the WorldNetDaily article's portrayal of Wallis as a "controversial" figure who is connected to "radicals," mainstream and conservative religious groups have participated in numerous programs with Wallis and have praised his efforts.

Evangelicals for Darfur. Wallis joined a number of religious leaders as "initiating endorsers" of the group Evangelicals for Darfur. Other endorsers included Rich Cizik, vice-president for government affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals; Baptist evangelist Tony Campolo; and Joel Hunter, former president of the Christian Coalition of America.

Wallis' group's anti-poverty effort included 100,000 congregations from "wide spectrum" of faiths. Call to Renewal's Covenant to Overcome Poverty included participation of the National Council of Churches, an organization of "faith groups ... from a wide spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African American and Living Peace churches" that "includes 45 million persons in more than 100,000 local congregations in communities across the nation."

Colson lauded Wallis for "battling for traditional values." Chuck Colson, founder and chairman of Prison Fellowship Ministries, listed Wallis among evangelical leaders who are "battling for traditional values." Colson further wrote:

We're defending life, pursuing justice, and caring for the poor. Yes, we're beginning to be more involved in environmental issues, thanks to younger evangelicals reminding us that God commanded us to care for his creation. But we do all of this in God's name--which is what sets the secular media's teeth on edge.

WND attacks Wallis with falsehoods and distortions

WND claims Wallis is a "Champion of communism," but he has called communism a "failed" system. Klein's WorldNetDaily article called Wallis a "Champion of communism" and described him as "a socialist activist who has championed communist causes." But in a 1998 interview for PBS' Reaching Out series, Wallis stated that "[o]ur systems have failed the poor and they have failed the earth. ... [B]oth macrosystems, capitalism and communism, have failed."

WND says Sojourners has published a "slew of radicals"; but Sojourners has published a "slew" of conservatives. Klein wrote that "Sojourners has published a slew of radicals, including socialist activist Cornel West and James Cone, considered the founder of Black Liberation Theology, which spawned the likes of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's pastor of nearly 20 years." However, Sojourners has published a number of articles by prominent conservative religious leaders, including Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission; and John DiIulio, President Bush's first director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Sojourners has also published an extensive interview with former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR).

WND claims Sojourners "urges readers to 'refuse to accept [capitalist] structures.' " From the March 15 WorldNetDaily article:

Sojourners' official "statement of faith" urges readers to "refuse to accept [capitalist] structures and assumptions that normalize poverty and segregate the world by class."

But actual text of statement doesn't even mention capitalism. The language that WorldNetDaily quotes is apparently taken from a statement that no longer appears on the Sojourners website. The statement, retrieved from a 2004 version of the site saved in the Internet Archive, contains a preface that reads, in part: "Members of Sojourners Community in Washington, D.C., wrote this 20th anniversary statement of faith in August 1991." The unaltered text of the passage reads: 

We believe in binding up the divisions that the world often creates, especially those based on race, class, gender, or culture. We are called to combat racism in all its forms and to build a more just and pluralistic society where diversity is respected, freedom is secured, and power is shared. We refuse to accept structures and assumptions that normalize poverty and segregate the world by class. We are committed to resisting sexism in all its forms and affirming the integrity and equality of women and men both in the church and in the world.

The word "capitalist" does not appear in the entirety of the statement, nor does the word "capitalism." WorldNetDaily did not explain why it added "capitalist" in brackets.

This is quite literally what happens when you spend the entire week chatting on a videogame-related newspaper blog...

"I'm too full of pizza to do anything constructive this afternoon, so I thought I may as well submit it now." And with those gallant all-too descriptive words Office Pest emailed his Best Of text to me on Friday afternoon, no doubt assuming that nothing of gargantuan importance would hit the Chatterbox past 3pm on the last day of the working week.

Fortunately, plenty happened before hand, including Final Fantasy XIII, great game quotes and how to become a meat-up regular. That sounds wrong, doesn't it?

Final Fantasy XIII – tempted?
On Monday morning, a beautiful weekend had just passed – clear blue skies and lovely bright sunshine. Such a shame that FFXIII didn't arrive on most people's doormats (myself included – hrumph), which meant we couldn't spend the whole sunny 48hr period indoors, in the dark, sat in our underpants, crouched over a controller. Or would that just have been me? [Regretably, I'm thinking, no - Keef]

Tuesday (release day) spawned a few early blogger reviews of FFXIII for those of us lucky enough to get it a day early (w00t!). Plus points seem to be the shiny visuals, impressive cut scenes, frenetic battle system (when you eventually get it). Negative points are the very slow pace (20 hours of linearity for a start) and typical angsty-teen and fluffy-girlie characters. It seems like this one needs time to settle in, but has already done a good job in dividing the blog.

Heavy Spoilers (again)
Despite Heavy Rain only being out for just over a week, many people had already completed it and the blog was resplendent once again with posts headed 'HEAVY RAIN SPOILERS'. This was frustrating to say the least for those waiting for the Qauntic Dreams masterpiece to hit the bargain bins, and it all got too much for Bigworv – "Can you go and talk about Heavy Rain somewhere else. One of you f****rs will forget spoilers and ruin it for me."

Bargain Spotters
In between talk of Modern Warfare 2, football and mugs, PhilosopherK1ng managed to find a great bargain on Valkyria Chronicles – only £19.95 from ShopTo! Chubster2010 later spotted another bargain buy – Chinatown Wars on PSP for £4.99 from play.com. Sadly this one was quickly whacked back up to £24.99, but a couple of people did get their orders sent out at £4.99. Good bargain spotting fellas – keep it up!

What a bunch of mugs...
On Wednesday morning Be4ch expressed a desire to have his own Gamesblog mug, as his company now requires people to bring their own mugs to work for... you know... 'green' reasons. He even mocked up several and has linked them to a Wiki page that he also set up.

What a legend! He clearly has too much time on his hands (as do the rest of us I guess, else we wouldn't be on the blog all day).

Great London Pubs and Worst Places to Live
See Wednesday's box for a full list of the best London pubs. As for the worst places to live, honourable mentions go to Feltham, Canary Wharf, St Mary's (Southampton), Hull and Stockport. Apparently PipSickness once found a dead lady on his bonnet when he lived in St Mary's, which led us all to wonder whether he is in fact the famous Southampton Ripper.

Favourite game quotes
On Wednesday we got to discussing the best gaming quotes of all time, including such beauts as "You were nearly a Jill sandwich!" from Resident Evil (actually, it was "almost, a Jill sandwich" - Keef), the synthesized voice that said "Good luck!" as you exited the tunnel in Starwing, the garbled voice that says "Treasure Island Dizzy!" in the game with the same name and the all-time classics "Rise from your grave!" and "Welcome to your doom!" from Altered Beast. (I would add "Another visitor, stay a while, stay FOREVER", "Welcome to the stage of history" and "Game over, yeah!" though the latter is technically a song lyric - Keef)

Get bitten by the bug...or dog
On Thursday our resident abstainer timthemonkey regaled us with his story of the night prior:

"Gaming – None, as I went for a nice jog in the evening sunshine in an effort to get slighter fitter before Cricket season starts. This, however, turned out to be a poor plan as it lead to me getting savagely bitten by a dog on the back of the calf. 12 stitches and a three hour wait in A&E and the fitness kick had lost its appeal. Looked at it this morning and the surrounding area has gone a wonderful shade of purple as well. Feet up tonight!"

Cue jokes over purple, swollen limbs. There was of course plenty of advice on how to sue the owner. Or take revenge on the dog.

Let's meat up...
On Thursday morning, as people trickled onto the blog, there were some confessions of feeling rather ropey after the previous night's blog meat up. Somebody chundered but nobody seemed to want to 'fess up to it. Worryingly, these nights seem to be becoming a regular occurrence. What have I done?!

If you want to join up to one of the London-based blog meat ups – generally a night to sit, drink and chat games (and war dollies if you want) – speak to resident organiser CunningStunt.

Friday Ranting – adverts
The usual Friday vitriol was reserved for the terrible adverts we see on TV nowadays. Here are some examples:

"Moonpig. Think it's the only way I can get a card to my mother before Sunday. However, their constant looping of the same annoying advert for years has built up my lava pit of hatred for them."
SuperSmashIn voices his wrath at the personalised greetings card industry

"Adverts. Go compare, We buy any car/gold, Moonpig - take a back seat. Has anyone seen the new Dove for men advert? Good. F*****g. Lord."
Uncle3en lets loose

"I've always reserved a special hatred for the poorly dubbed Glade adverts. If your products that good, why haven't you shelled out the money for decent advertising instead of getting the receptionist to speak over the smug German woman?"
Timthemonkey goes ape (see what I did there...?)

"Those Ray Winstone Radio Adverts for Volkswagen Veeeeaaaaans. '20 poun' a mumf' 'Vowkswagin Transpowtah.' Get out."
KayJayM quotes an advert I've never seen, but sounds very annoying.

This went on for some time and eventually evolved into hatred of Sunday morning show 'Something for the Weekend'. The language was such that it cannot be repeated here. (Thank goodness, my delete finger is getting tired - keef)

Quotes of the week

"Cashback - Went to the cashpoint at lunchtime and got out twenty quid, and it gave me four fivers! Incredible scenes. Had to check I wasn't in 1987 by mistake."
An exciting afternoon for Limni.

"@Whoever mentioned it was Chuck Norris' Birthday. He shares his birthday with Osama Bin Laden. Coincidence or something more sinister...?"
Robotron2000 goes all 'conspiracy theory' on us.

"Has Cunning died? Or is he still going up and down the Northern Line?"
Henrypootle's worried concern after Wednesday night's meat up.

Also discussed

Games: Battlefield Bad Company 2, Heavy Rain, Final Fantasy XIII,

Films & TV: Avatar, Hurt Locker, District 9

Welcome to: Albatri, CobraOB

Keith Stuartguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

When the federal government spends more than a year developing a 300+ page report on national broadband policy, perhaps the last thing one expects to find in it is a quote from Shakespeare's Henry IV.

As two rebels plot their assault on the English king, the Welsh leader Owen Glendower brags that he can "call spirits from the vasty deep." The English Hotspur retorts, "Why, so can I, or so can any man; but will they come when you do call for them?"

Anyone can talk a good game about conjuring broadband policy from the vasty deep of the FCC—but can those people actually implement their visions? The National Broadband Plan, released today, drops this bit of Shakespeare on readers at the bottom of page 11 to make a simple point: this Plan is about the art of the possible.

Perhaps a better quote from Henry IV might be from the lips of the famous comic figure Falstaff: "The better part of valor is discretion."

Read the comments on this post

I recently read the report published by IMLS, Museums, Libraries, and 21st Century Skills which is a part of an outstanding initiative which “underscores the critical role our nation’s museums and libraries play in helping citizens build such 21st century skills as information, communications and technology literacy, critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, civic literacy, and global awareness.”

The initiative includes 3 parts, all available here http://www.imls.gov/about/21stCSkills.shtm:

1. The Online Self-Assessment: a brief interactive survey that quickly analyzes an institution’s 21st century strategies and describes next steps for action.

2. The Report: outlines a vision for the role of libraries and museums in the national dialogue around learning and 21st century skills and includes case studies [be sure to read these case studies!] of innovative audience engagement and 21st century skills practices from across the country.

3. The Self-Assessment Tool: allows museums and libraries to determine where they fit on the continuum of 21st century skills operations and programming.

I found numerous parallels to the efforts of the initiative with those of Project Compass and thought it would be great to start a discussion about the long term goals your library has to support the development of patrons’ 21st Century Skills beyond the current workforce challenged economic climate and on into the future.

The report identifies the differences between 20th and 21st Century skills, and provides a framework including four skills areas:

• Learning and Innovation Skills
• Information, Media, and Technology Skills
• Life and Career Skills
• 21st Century Themes, including: Global Awareness; Financial, Economic, Business, and Entrepreneurial Literacy; Civic Literacy; Health Literacy; Environmental Literacy

You can see the skill sets cover many of the areas we have traditionally focused on. I’m very excited to see how this framework might help libraries clarify our role and forge potential community partnerships to build 21st C. skills in our communities.

I found these 3 quotes to be particularly powerful:

First an overall call to collaboration:

All libraries and museums—and the people they serve—stand to benefit from becoming more intentional and purposeful about accommodating the lifelong learning needs of people in the 21st century, and doing this work collaboratively in alignment with community needs.

And then more focused on learning, specifically the role we as libraries can play in informal learning to help our communities…

Skills like critical thinking and problem solving are not only relevant for K-12 students and schools. There are millions of adult learners not in formal education programs looking to refine workplace skills. Even school-aged children spend the overwhelming majority of their waking hours in non-school settings, and increasingly they spend this time in organized out-of-school settings such as afterschool, museum, and library programs. In these settings, they develop important skills—such as problem solving, collaboration, global awareness, and selfdirection—not only for lifelong learning and everyday activities, but also for use back in K-12 schools and college classrooms.

And I loved this one that encourages us to

view learning from an “ecological perspective” that involves “life-long,” “life-wide,” and “life-deep” experiences.

The report itself is loaded with other excellent information that can both guide programming as well as advocacy efforts, with clear articulation of the critical value of libraries. I’ve yet to dive deep into the assessment tools, but kudos to the task force and team member who pulled together the launch of this outstanding initiative!

Read it and tell me what you think!

Donnie Dong (Hao Dong), a Berkman Fellow, is giving a Berkman Tuesday lunchtime talk.

NOTE: Live-blogging. Getting things wrong. Missing points. Omitting key information. Introducing artificial choppiness. Over-emphasizing small matters. Paraphrasing badly. Not running a spellpchecker. Mangling other people’s ideas and words. You are warned, people.

Donnie begins by asking us to play “spot the difference”: Google’s homepage on March 14 (3.14 — the Google pi logo) and Google.cn (Google’s Chinese home page) on that day. Besides not having the pi logo, the link to gmail is missing on China.cn, there’s no sign-in link, therte’s a link to tianya.cn, and the Chinese version has an official government ICP license number.

Tiany.cn is a massively popular social network. At the hot topics in the forums, there can be millions visitors and millions replies. (Donnie shows one topic that has over 4 million replies, and it was only posted in February of this year.) There are hundreds of boards and board masters, organizationally structured in a way similar to the Chinese government: A secretary general, branching powers, judges, appeals judges, etc. The structure works well. The rules say that no posts can be deleted or edited, so people consider carefully what they are writing. You can petition for a change to any edits made by the board master, but that’s embedded in an administrative bureaucracy. This is “decentralization under a super power,” he says.

QQ.com is an instant messenger app with over 1.4 billion accounts. It offers many kinds of services, all based on IM. It is a closed system with an open API.

Douban.com is a Web 2.0 site. (“Douban” is a Chinese dish.) Douban provides links to media (books, DVDs), etc., and enables its 36M people to comment, review, and discuss them. Everything posted at Douban is public. “Douban has a lot of Habermas’ public sphere.” But, Donnie adds, it strongly supports censorship.

Donnie points to common features of Chinese Web sites. First, they accept Web 2.0 ideas, but make user-generated contents controllable. Second, they only comply with Chinese culture. Third, they provide integrated services, not an open API. Fourth, they are driven by instant messaging, with a bulletin board management style. The Chinese Internet is not driven by email but by IM.

Google has never made money in China, Donnie says.

Donnie points out the “music” link on the Google.cn page. Google.cn actually is provided by t0p100.cn [I may not have transcribed accurately]. You can download legal music there. But at mp3.Baidu.com you can search the Internet and download what you find. Baidu has been sued, but it’s been defended by the safe harbor laws. Google has been copying Baidu, but not very successfully, Donnie says.

Until 2005, the Chinese control over the Net was accomplished mainly by technical control. From 2003-9, there was more and more legal enforcement. In 2010, there is a legislative rebooting. There is now a jungle of licenses: domains, commercial websites, webcast website, news website, online games…

The switch from tech to law has increased certainty because the authorities have explained why sites are being shut down. It has also caused important discussions to occur. But, the law is immature and thus enforcement is somewhat arbitrary. And the “clouds of licensing systems” are still difficult to navigate. But, these are temporary.

Hillary Clinton said there is a single Internet, says Donnie. “I do not think it is really true from the cultural, legal, and linguistic aspects.” Tim Wu, in Who Controls the Internet, says that the Internet is splitting, and there are under-appreciated advantages of this. “I agree,” says Donnie. Can we get along with each other in this world if the Net splits? “I think we can,” he says, because the Net consists of autonomous systems connected without hierarchy. We have to look at the Internet as pluralist, he says.

What we should really care about, he says, is that those with wealth, who have more access to the Net, do not replicate the economic/social divide on the Internet. [This is based on a brief conversation with Donnie afterwards.]

Q: The Chinese language itself is a barrier, in both directions, but not with Taiwan. Are the sites accessible?
A: Most of the Taiwanese Web sites are accessible in China, including the official government sites. Some sites that advocate Taiwan’s continuing autonomy are not accessible.

Q: What will be the effect of the announcement that access to the Internet is a basic human right?
A: The BBC had a survey that showed that 80% of people believe that, and that news was published all over the Chinese Web sites without problem. The problem is the law from the 1990s. I believe they will be changed sooner or later.

Q: To what extent does the system of govt bureaucracy account for the siloed nature of their services?
A: I think those structures were based on the notion that the Internet is just like other public media, such as TV.

Q: How does the censorship look from the inside?
A: As Rebecca MacKinnon said, most of the citizens don’t feel the censorship. There’s so much information available, so much news, so many services, so many forums. And if you really want to get some information, you can find a way to. And if you really want to express something, you can. The filtering mechanism can’t work perfectly, and their are many examples of this.
Q: What’s wrong with the system?
A: Because it reflects the old mass media, not on the Internet’s nature. It’s old logic. If we can reform the law so that it fits the Internet better, the question will be less urgent.

Q: You’re optimistic about the future of the split Internet. But there should be a common denominator wherever you go. A core function of the Net is to foster the circulation of info. What about the Chinese attitude toward copyright protection?
A: You can compare the systems of censorship and copyright protection. In China, there is a great deal of “freedom” (in quotes) in using copyrighted materials, even though China’s copyright laws are pretty much the same as everyone’s. The govt could do a campaign to fight piracy just as it does to fight pornography, and it could be very effective.

Q: It’s normal that a medium would be adapted to local needs. But do you think there is something about the Net’s design and essence that is core so that if it were changed, it’s not the Internet?
A: I believe everyone in the world has universal rights that should be complied with. But I’m suggesting that the separated parts of the Net could have universal principles and universal protocols.
Q: What separates the Internets?
A: Infrastructurally, linguistically, culturally, legally. By infrastructure, I mean the physical base of the Net. The protocols are the same.

Q: Can you compare the Chinese Internet to other linguistically isolated cultures? E.g., Would you say that Japan has a different Internet as well?
A: The term “pluralism” itself has many layers.

Q: What’s the effect on the ordinary Chinese citizen on Google’s departure? A Nature poll says that Google is the first choice of scientists in China.
A: Google won’t quit all of China. (This is just a guess, he says.) Resourceful users will be able to get to Google even after it departs.