SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea, one of the world’s most impenetrable nations, is facing a new threat: networks of its own citizens feeding information about life there to South Korea and its Western allies.
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The networks are the creation of a handful of North Korean defectors and South Korean human rights activists using cellphones to pierce North Korea’s near-total news blackout. To build the networks, recruiters slip into China to woo the few North Koreans allowed to travel there, provide cellphones to smuggle across the border, then post informers’ phoned and texted reports on Web sites.
The work is risky. Recruiters spend months identifying and coaxing potential informants, all the while evading agents from the North and the Chinese police bent on stopping their work. The North Koreans face even greater danger; exposure could lead to imprisonment — or death.
The result has been a news free-for-all, a jumble of sometimes confirmed but often contradictory reports. Some have been important; the Web sites were the first to report the outrage among North Koreans over a drastic currency revaluation late last year. Other articles have been more prosaic, covering topics like whether North Koreans keep pets and their complaints about the price of rice.
But the fact that such news is leaking out at all is something of a revolution for a brutally efficient gulag state that has forcibly cloistered its people for decades even as other closed societies have reluctantly accepted at least some of the intrusions of a more wired world. “In an information vacuum like North Korea, any additional tidbits — even in the swamp of rumors — is helpful,” said Nicholas Eberstadt, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute who has chronicled the country’s economic and population woes for decades.
“You didn’t used to be able to get that kind of information,” he said of the reports on the currency crisis. “It was fascinating to see the pushback from the lower levels” of North Korean society.
To see the whole article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/world/asia/29news.html?pagewanted=1&ref=global-home
Commentary:
North Corea is a hard dictatorship and also one of the world's most closed society. For example, the north Corean cannot have access to the Internet. Therefore, we have very few news about the country, except those of the official government. However, even in "the world's most impenetrable nation", they cannot fully to cut out from the globalized world. Indeed, some North Corean dissidents found a solution to face the censorship. They can communicate with the world and reveal what happens in their country by using a chinese cellphone that works near the border with China.In conclusion, this article reminds us that because of globalization and new technologies it is almost impossible for a country to cut out from the world. We all know new technologies can be usefool tools for military spying, but can new technologies be usefool tools for protestation ? Indeed, they have a potential to both defy the censorship and quickly amass a virtual crowd of supporters.
lundi 29 mars 2010
lundi 22 mars 2010
Quotation of the week
“ It may be that we are puppets -- puppets controlled by the strings of society. But at least we are puppets with perception, with awareness. And perhaps our awareness is the first step to our liberation “ Stanley Milgram
Reality show contestants willing to kill in French experiment (by Lisa de Moraes)
American reality TV has left a trail of corpses, but we can still say this: No one appears to have been executed on any of the U.S. shows.
This Story
That's apparently not the case in France, where, according to a new French documentary series, people would be willing to kill their countrymen for their 15 minutes of fame.
Eighty people who thought they were participating in the shooting of a pilot for a French reality series were willing to deliver potentially lethal electric shocks to a contestant who had incorrectly answered knowledge questions, according to the documentary, "The Game of Death," airing on French TV on Wednesday night.
"Zone Xtreme" seemed to have a pretty standard game-show format, complete with wildly enthusiastic studio audience, a glam well-known TV weatherwoman hostess, gaudy lighting, etc., said the French press reports.
In truth, the would-be reality series participants were part of an experiment that was turned into the documentary.
In "Zone Xtreme," the faux contestants who gave all the wrong answers were actually actors. Each "contestant" was strapped into an electric chair. The 80 wannabe famesters were each asked to punish the contestant, when a wrong answer was given, by administering up to 460 volts of electricity. The majority of them ignored the contestant's screams and obeyed the orders of the weather-chick hostess to ratchet up the jolt. They also obeyed the chant of "Punishment!" from the studio audience -- which did not know the game show was a fake -- until the contestant fell silent and appeared to have died. Only 16 contestants walked away, according to press reports.
The idea for the show came from the work of psychologist Stanley Milgram, who conducted the experiment at Yale University in the 1960s. Milgram found that most people, if pushed by an authority figure, would administer ostensibly dangerous electric shocks to another person. His experiment became famous, having been conducted at the same time as the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann.
As for American reality TV, it's had its share of actual deaths -- though not on air. Among them:
-- Major fame-seeker Ryan Jenkins, star of the VH1 reality series "Megan Wants a Millionaire" and "I Love Money 3," was found dead of apparent suicide after becoming the only person of interest in the slaying of his wife.
-- The producers of MTV's save-an-addict reality series "Gone Too Far" might have gone too far when they had show host Adam Goldstein, a.k.a. DJ AM, go into a bodega to buy a crack pipe because they wanted the footage. Goldstein, a recovering addict who said he'd been clean 11 years, was found dead in his apartment three days after shooting ended on the show. Authorities found a lethal cocktail of crack and prescription drugs in his system and a crack pipe in his apartment.
-- Avid runner Tom Sparks died in November 2009 after participating in the filming of ABC's "Wipeout" when he experienced knee pain, followed by shortness of breath, followed by a stroke.
We reached out to the TV community for their thoughts on "Zone Xtreme." By press time, almost no executive had returned calls to dignify the show with his own comments -- maybe they were too busy wondering how to get the rights.
One brave executive did call back and acknowledged he'd once told a reality-TV exec he thought it would make an interesting reality series to re-create some of the more bizarre social-psychology experiments -- as appears to have been done in France. It never came to anything, said the executive, who asked to remain anonymous for obvious reasons.
This article deals with a new TV reality show broadscat in France. It is inspired by the experiment made by Stanley Milgram in the 1960's. The participants can deliver lethal electric shocks to a contestant who had incorrectly answered knowledge questions. 80% of the participants gave lethal electric shocks. Hopefully the game was a fake, in order to demonstrate to the viewer our submission to authority.
In my opinion, the apparent purpose of the show is to demonstrate under authority we can act against our own values or our own choice. But according to me, the only purpose of the TV show is to make audience by shocking viewers. Stanley Milgram was a social scientist, and he lied to the "killers "only to serve scientific authority and research. But in this show, people are humiliated and it is only for the amusement of the media audience.
Moreover, how a person participating in a TV show, viewed by millions of people, could believe he will really kill those people?
So, according to me TV is sometimes dangerous because we don't know how far we could go in order to gain maximum audience.
This Story
That's apparently not the case in France, where, according to a new French documentary series, people would be willing to kill their countrymen for their 15 minutes of fame.
Eighty people who thought they were participating in the shooting of a pilot for a French reality series were willing to deliver potentially lethal electric shocks to a contestant who had incorrectly answered knowledge questions, according to the documentary, "The Game of Death," airing on French TV on Wednesday night.
"Zone Xtreme" seemed to have a pretty standard game-show format, complete with wildly enthusiastic studio audience, a glam well-known TV weatherwoman hostess, gaudy lighting, etc., said the French press reports.
In truth, the would-be reality series participants were part of an experiment that was turned into the documentary.
In "Zone Xtreme," the faux contestants who gave all the wrong answers were actually actors. Each "contestant" was strapped into an electric chair. The 80 wannabe famesters were each asked to punish the contestant, when a wrong answer was given, by administering up to 460 volts of electricity. The majority of them ignored the contestant's screams and obeyed the orders of the weather-chick hostess to ratchet up the jolt. They also obeyed the chant of "Punishment!" from the studio audience -- which did not know the game show was a fake -- until the contestant fell silent and appeared to have died. Only 16 contestants walked away, according to press reports.
The idea for the show came from the work of psychologist Stanley Milgram, who conducted the experiment at Yale University in the 1960s. Milgram found that most people, if pushed by an authority figure, would administer ostensibly dangerous electric shocks to another person. His experiment became famous, having been conducted at the same time as the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann.
As for American reality TV, it's had its share of actual deaths -- though not on air. Among them:
-- Major fame-seeker Ryan Jenkins, star of the VH1 reality series "Megan Wants a Millionaire" and "I Love Money 3," was found dead of apparent suicide after becoming the only person of interest in the slaying of his wife.
-- The producers of MTV's save-an-addict reality series "Gone Too Far" might have gone too far when they had show host Adam Goldstein, a.k.a. DJ AM, go into a bodega to buy a crack pipe because they wanted the footage. Goldstein, a recovering addict who said he'd been clean 11 years, was found dead in his apartment three days after shooting ended on the show. Authorities found a lethal cocktail of crack and prescription drugs in his system and a crack pipe in his apartment.
-- Avid runner Tom Sparks died in November 2009 after participating in the filming of ABC's "Wipeout" when he experienced knee pain, followed by shortness of breath, followed by a stroke.
We reached out to the TV community for their thoughts on "Zone Xtreme." By press time, almost no executive had returned calls to dignify the show with his own comments -- maybe they were too busy wondering how to get the rights.
One brave executive did call back and acknowledged he'd once told a reality-TV exec he thought it would make an interesting reality series to re-create some of the more bizarre social-psychology experiments -- as appears to have been done in France. It never came to anything, said the executive, who asked to remain anonymous for obvious reasons.
This article deals with a new TV reality show broadscat in France. It is inspired by the experiment made by Stanley Milgram in the 1960's. The participants can deliver lethal electric shocks to a contestant who had incorrectly answered knowledge questions. 80% of the participants gave lethal electric shocks. Hopefully the game was a fake, in order to demonstrate to the viewer our submission to authority.
In my opinion, the apparent purpose of the show is to demonstrate under authority we can act against our own values or our own choice. But according to me, the only purpose of the TV show is to make audience by shocking viewers. Stanley Milgram was a social scientist, and he lied to the "killers "only to serve scientific authority and research. But in this show, people are humiliated and it is only for the amusement of the media audience.
Moreover, how a person participating in a TV show, viewed by millions of people, could believe he will really kill those people?
So, according to me TV is sometimes dangerous because we don't know how far we could go in order to gain maximum audience.
lundi 15 mars 2010
quote of the week
"Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time." (E. B. White)
China tries to calm Taiwan fears over EFCA
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2010/03/15/2003468064
One of the major political debate in Taiwan this month is concerning the ECFA (economic corporation framework agreement), an economic pact under negotiation between the mainland and Taiwan, a "good deal" to promote cross-Strait economic cooperation and achieve mutual benefits. It is aimed at institutionalizing economic cooperation between the mainland and Taiwan and facilitating and regularizing economic and trade exchanges. President Ma Ying-jeou has said that signing the ECFA was "absolutely necessary" in order to avoid the marginalisation of the country.
However, in Taiwan, there are also voices against the agreement. First, negociating with China is not so easy considering the particular relationship between the two "brothers". The second reason is the impact of the agreement on the economy of Taiwan, especially on agriculture and small industries. The ECFA could flood Taiwan with cheap good and then threaten small industries. Even if China as sais that its agricultural goods will not be involved in the agreement and Taiwan government claimed he will give 95 billions of NT dollars, the fear remains. Thus , TSU (Taiwan solidarity union) has launched a referendum on the issue. The opposition need at least 86000 signators in order to launch the procedure, and they claim they can have 100000.
In conclusion, the debate on this agreement:
1- reflects relationship between Taiwan and China can improve, but are still complicated ( there is a strong opposition)
2- raise the question of the benefits of protectionism vs liberalism
One of the major political debate in Taiwan this month is concerning the ECFA (economic corporation framework agreement), an economic pact under negotiation between the mainland and Taiwan, a "good deal" to promote cross-Strait economic cooperation and achieve mutual benefits. It is aimed at institutionalizing economic cooperation between the mainland and Taiwan and facilitating and regularizing economic and trade exchanges. President Ma Ying-jeou has said that signing the ECFA was "absolutely necessary" in order to avoid the marginalisation of the country.
However, in Taiwan, there are also voices against the agreement. First, negociating with China is not so easy considering the particular relationship between the two "brothers". The second reason is the impact of the agreement on the economy of Taiwan, especially on agriculture and small industries. The ECFA could flood Taiwan with cheap good and then threaten small industries. Even if China as sais that its agricultural goods will not be involved in the agreement and Taiwan government claimed he will give 95 billions of NT dollars, the fear remains. Thus , TSU (Taiwan solidarity union) has launched a referendum on the issue. The opposition need at least 86000 signators in order to launch the procedure, and they claim they can have 100000.
In conclusion, the debate on this agreement:
1- reflects relationship between Taiwan and China can improve, but are still complicated ( there is a strong opposition)
2- raise the question of the benefits of protectionism vs liberalism
lundi 8 mars 2010
There's a new Red Scare. But is China really so scary?
I will comment the article There's a new Red Scare. But is China really so scary? By Steven Mufson and John Pomfret, Sunday, February 28, 2010
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/26/AR2010022602601.html
This article deals with the growth of China and the fear that it implies in the United States. China is becoming powerfull, in terms of education, economy, governance and energy and compete the United States. Therefore we can talk about the new red Scare, coming not from Russia, but from China. For instance, we understand that China is becoming a new green power, investing a lot in green energy, and that scares many American citizens. The journalists try to convince us that China is powerfull but it is not necessary to exaggerate the threat. Indeed, China’economy has also weaknesses. Moreover, it is dangerous for the United States to use this fear in order to implement laws. It is important to create new laws, such as those on green energy, being aware of their good consequences on the society and the future and no only create them in order to compete an other country.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/26/AR2010022602601.html
This article deals with the growth of China and the fear that it implies in the United States. China is becoming powerfull, in terms of education, economy, governance and energy and compete the United States. Therefore we can talk about the new red Scare, coming not from Russia, but from China. For instance, we understand that China is becoming a new green power, investing a lot in green energy, and that scares many American citizens. The journalists try to convince us that China is powerfull but it is not necessary to exaggerate the threat. Indeed, China’economy has also weaknesses. Moreover, it is dangerous for the United States to use this fear in order to implement laws. It is important to create new laws, such as those on green energy, being aware of their good consequences on the society and the future and no only create them in order to compete an other country.
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