WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2011
TWEET HEAVENS!
Pope blesses the Twitterverse in his first iPad message
BY CARL FRANZEN
Pope Benedict XVI made history by making his presence known on Twitter and laying hands on a tablet that even Moses might have coveted: the iPad.
“Dear Friends, I just launched News.va, Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI,” said the message, in English, which appeared on the Vatican News Service’s Twitter stream around noon.
The tweet included a link to News.va, a new Vatican aggregation website that promises to deliver the latest from the Roman Catholic Church’s many official press outlets.
Also featured on the website: a YouTube video of the 84-year-old pope, flanked by several church officials, tapping on an iPad to post the tweet online.
However, the pope — who is known to still write letters by hand — was not actually shown typing the tweet himself. His spokesman later confirmed to CNN the pope sent it, but it was prepared for him.
While that may be of little consequence to the Twitter-illiterate out there, many social media-savvy Catholics were quick to make the distinction.
“The initial reaction was, ‘Oh, look, there’s the pope’s first tweet, how exciting!’” said Meredith Gould, a Catholic author, critic and social media expert. “Then the second wave was like, ‘What, are you kidding me? The pope didn’t really write the tweet.’”
Debates about Twitter semantics aside, there’s no denying that the Catholic Church has embraced the Web in a very big way ever since John Paul II sent the first papal email in 2001, to apologize for the church’s treatment of indigenous peoples in Australia and the South Pacific.
Under his successor, the Vatican has created a Facebook app and a YouTube channel and endorsed several iPhone apps — the Italian prayer book app iBreviary in 2008 and the Pope2You app in 2009, and briefly, a confessional app. In May, the Vatican hosted its first conference for Catholic bloggers from around the world, which Gould applauded because it included people like her, who are sometimes critical of the Church.
“I think the Vatican is very wise when it comes to that,” Gould said, “They know that this [social media] train has already left the station, so they think, ‘Might as well run down the tracks and catch up to the caboose.’”
But Father James Heft, a professor of religion and Catholic studies at the University of Southern California, told The Daily he thinks the church is moving in the wrong direction.
“When it comes to matters of substance ... we may be trading immediate sound bites for thoughtful analysis, and it is the latter that the church should be most devoted to,” he said.
__________
Misery in Minot
Floodwaters are slowing receding in Minot, N.D., but not before claiming thousands of homes. This exclusive video was shot by The Daily's drone camera over the flood zone.
__________
If you ask us, this looks like a giant piece of pink broccoli. But it’s actually a piece of Umbellulifera coral, which is found only in deep, deep water and stands as high as a foot and a half tall. It’s one of the 300 new species scientists have discovered in the Philippines.
__________
Coquette: Don’t you dare referee your parents’ marriage
Dear Coquette,
I think my dad is cheating on my mum.
I know this kind of thing happens all the time, but it’s pretty gutting nevertheless.
I found out when I borrowed my dad’s laptop. He forgot to delete his history and log out of some swingers website. His phone constantly beeps with new messages. So, nosy bitch that I am, I had a look through his “profile” and messages on this website. Well, ignorance is indeed bliss.
What I need help on is, what do I do? I’m very close to my mum, but she’s coming out of a very rough year of mental health problems which boiled down to low self-esteem and suppressed emotions from a previous bad relationship. The family as a whole is going through a tough time as it is because my younger brother is in Afghanistan. I feel that if I was to share any information with her, it would bring her right back down at a time where she needs to stay positive.
I don’t know whom to talk to about this. If a girl can’t trust her daddy, whom can she trust?
Before you earn yourself a lifetime subscription to a pile of useless daddy issues, I highly recommend you talk to a therapist about this.
It sounds like your mom already has a shrink or two on speed-dial, so have her set you up an appointment as soon as possible. Don’t tell her why. In fact, don’t confront either of your parents about this until you’ve started sorting it out in your own head with the help of a professional.
Just tell your folks that you want to talk with someone about things at school and your brother being in Afghanistan. Hell, you’re a teenager. You don’t need much more of an excuse than that.
Once you’re in a therapeutic environment, take your time with this. You are not obligated to do anything, and whatever else happens, don’t feel like suddenly having this information is somehow forcing you to make a choice between your mother and your father.
This isn’t your burden. It’s not your job to referee your parents’ marriage, and the point here isn’t to address the infidelity. The point here is to make sure that you get through this in as healthy a way as possible.
This is about you, not them. You’re at the tail end of your adolescence, and you’re neck deep in the phase when you start recognizing how flawed your parents really are. How you process this stuff plays a huge role in how you will eventually form relationships as an adult.
You’re having to come to terms with the reality that your parents’ marriage is a complicated and messy thing. That’s tough even in the shiniest of sitcom families. It will be an exercise in patience and forgiveness, but you can get through it.
Just remember, sweetheart, you can still trust. You can trust that regardless of their flaws, your parents want the best for you. You can trust that no matter what, both your mom and your dad will always love you very much.
__________
__________
COURT HEADS OFF VIDEO GAME BAN
Supreme kill law forbidding sale of violent material to kids
BY JOSHUA HERSH
Mortal Kombat may not seem to have a lot in common with beloved fairy tales, but when it comes to the First Amendment, it has the same protections as any other work of art.
That’s what the Supreme Court ruled yesterday, in a case striking down a California law that would ban the sale of violent video games to minors.
The colorful ruling, written by Justice Antonin Scalia, cited numerous examples of violence in the works of art often presented to children, arguing there is little precedent for laws preventing young people access to violent ideas.
“Certainly the books we give children to read — or read to them when they are younger — contain no shortage of gore,” Scalia wrote. “Grimm’s Fairy Tales, for example, are grim indeed ... And Hansel and Gretel kill their captor by baking her in an oven.”
The Supreme Court has permitted regulation of art and other speech only under narrow circumstances, mainly concerning obscenity, but this is the first time it’s established that video games merit such considerations.
Free-speech advocates hailed the decision.
“The Supreme Court got it right — video games are protected speech,” said Rebecca Jeschke, a spokesman for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which filed a brief against the California law.
“This is an important ruling protecting free speech rights for ... the 21st century.”
The distinction between obscenity, which can be regulated, and violence, which cannot, has long been enshrined in the Supreme Court.
Last year, the court ruled that a law banning dogfighting videos and depictions of animal cruelty were not permissible under the First Amendment.
“California approaches this as if it’s an obscenity case, but it’s not,” says Christine A. Corcos, a professor of law at LSU who writes on media and free speech. “Violence is not obscene. You cannot redefine it.”
The ruling also brought massive relief for the video-game industry, which was poised to lose millions if the law was upheld.
According to data released in 2010 by the Entertainment Software Rating Board, which regulates video game sales, a quarter of video game players are under the age of 18, and 17 percent of the industry’s $10.5 billion in sales, were for games rated “mature.”
The ratings released by the board, like those for films and music, are not affected by the ruling because they are part of a voluntary system not enforceable by law.
“In striking this law, the court has made clear that the video game industry effectively empowers parents to be the ones to decide which games are right for their children,” said rating board president Patricia Vance.
__________
PHOTO OF THE DAY: President Obama speaks during a news conference in the East Room of the White House on Wednesday. Obama started the news conference by discussing the economy, before fielding questions about the War Powers Act and his authority to continue military support in the NATO-led offensive against forces in Libya and the ongoing budget negotiations with Congress. (PHOTO: ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES)
__________
__________
Exclusive video unveils the life of the last NFL draft pick
Final pick of the NFL draft gets first-class treatment at "Irrelevant Week"
__________
Next Wave with Gary Vaynerchuk: Big Hype, Small Value
Gary V. explains why the IPO fever is all hype and predicts which big-name tech companies are on the road to lower valuations. —Video by Alvin Patrick and Cat LoBuono
__________
360 Photo in Action: "Swan Lake"
It's an enduring tale of good and evil. This week, the acclaimed American Ballet Theatre is performing the classic "Swan Lake" at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. Set to Tchaikovsky's first ballet score, it debuted in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1877, and since has become one of the world's most beloved ballets. Here, in the second act, a group of swan maidens and their queen, Odette (danced by Gillian Murphy), float around a moonlit lake while a young prince looks on.
The classic ballet, with seven nearly sold-out performances, is just part of the repertoire the company dances during its eight-week run at the Met. The world-class dancers of the American Ballet Theatre travel the United States annually and make 15 international tours to 42 countries. The theater, under the artistic direction of Kevin McKenzie, was formed in 1939, and brings music and dance to some of the greatest stages in the world.
__________
Stop being weak, Greeks
GOP’s brinkmanship tactics a lesson in how to win debt concessions
BY MICHAEL MAIELLO
It’s inconceivable that the Republican leadership in Congress would actually force the U.S. Treasury to miss payments on its outstanding bonds by refusing to raise the debt ceiling. These people aren’t James Bond villains willing to destroy the world to make a point. But as the August deadline to default approaches, they sure are acting that way.
Eric Cantor, Jon Kyl and John Boehner know they won’t force concessions with empty threats. Republicans have to convince President Obama and the Democrats that they will activate their economic doomsday device.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou should be watching closely, along with the leaders of Portugal, Ireland, Italy and Spain (collectively, “the PIIGS”). These heavily indebted European countries, buffeted by the global recession, face large debts denominated in a currency they don’t control. They owe hundreds of billions of euros, much of it to European banks located in richer countries like France and Germany. These banks want to be paid on time and in full. Greece, the weakest of the indebted lot, is fast running out of money and will surely default if the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund (known as “the Troika”) don’t send help by the middle of July.
Greece faces a fight much like the U.S. debt ceiling battle, right down to the dog-days-of-summer deadline.
But Greece is rolling over the way Republicans never would. In exchange for help, the Troika has demanded that Greece adopt a second round of strict budget austerity measures, including job, wage and pension cuts for public employees, cuts in vital social services like unemployment benefits and education, and privatization of state-owned industries including utilities and the rail system. These cuts will erode living standards in Greece. Papandreou has accepted the pain remedy foisted on Greece by the Troika, and he has a one-vote majority in Parliament. Most onlookers believe the austerity measures that Greece’s financial rescuers require will pass.
But Papandreou doesn’t have to let the Troika dictate policies that spark riots in the streets of Athens. Greece holds all the cards, because it can default. It can even drop the euro and restart its own currency. Some banks in Europe would surely fail, but that’s the European Central Bank’s problem, not Greece’s. If the EU wants to bail out its banks, then the EU, not the youth of Athens, should pay the bill.
Greece would not be able to access the global credit markets for a while, but the same thing happened to Argentina at the start of the century, and while the result was a painful downturn and a period of high inflation, Argentina is much better off now than it was before it defaulted.
The EU wants to avoid a default by any member, large or small, because there is the chance that the contagion could spread. If Greece defaults, banks in Spain that hold Greek debt might fail, sparking a default there, which could bring down other countries. Papandreou needs to realize that this means the Troika is in no position to make demands.
He has not managed to convince the EU that there are limits to what his people will endure before they break away from their bonds. He might be too scared to play tough, because the consequences of a default might well be worse for Greece than they were for Argentina. The result could be a long period of economic isolation and hyperinflation.
But if the Troika and Greece’s lenders think Papandreou is afraid, they will give up nothing. That’s why wise Republicans have floated the notion that a temporary U.S. default wouldn’t be so bad.
A U.S. default would be a disaster. Moody’s, Standard and Poor’s and Fitch Ratings would have to downgrade U.S. debt from its current “risk-free” level. Large institutions including investment funds, pension funds and banks are required to hold certain portions of their “cash equivalent” capital in the highest-rated investments.
If Treasury bonds are downgraded, these holders would be forced to sell, whether or not they believe it’s just a “temporary default.” A market driven by forced sellers is a market in crisis. Of course, before the U.S. misses a bond payment, it will cut out things like unemployment checks and payments to government contractors, which include some of the largest companies in the Chamber of Commerce. That would force these companies to lay off workers, increasing the jobless rolls and cutting into future tax revenues, further increasing the deficit and killing the economic recovery.
But good for the Republicans. They got Obama’s attention by convincing him they would really let all of that happen. Papandreou has failed to do this for Greece. With the courage to default, he could win IMF grants instead of loans, more time to pay its existing bonds and support for growth-oriented policies aimed at improving Greece’s standard of living right now, instead of austerity. To get there, one little PIIGSy is going to have to grow a trunk.
Credit: The Daily (www.thedaily.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment