Feeding a supercomputer with news stories could help predict major world events, according to US research.
A study, based on millions of articles, charted deteriorating national sentiment ahead of the recent revolutions in Libya and Egypt.
While the analysis was carried out retrospectively, scientists say the same processes could be used to anticipate upcoming conflict.
Based on specific queries, Nautilus generated graphs for different countries which experienced the “Arab Spring”.
In each case, the aggregated results of thousands of news stories showed a notable dip in sentiment ahead of time – both inside the country, and as reported from outside.
Media “sentiment” around Egypt fell dramatically in early 2011, just before the resignation of President Mubarak.
For Egypt, the tone of media coverage in the month before President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation had fallen to a low only seen twice before in the preceding 30 years.
According to Kalev Leetaru, such a system could easily be adapted to work in real time, giving an element of foresight.
“That’s the next stage,” said Mr Leetaru, who is already working on developing the technology.
love and rage: life after the collapse of capitalism
Greetings to all, especially you FoFees (friend of the Free) hope you’re enjoying the book
Set in the Collapse of Capitalism our heroes escape their School and Family and fall in with the squatters, anarchists and gays, who are busy getting ready for the final confrontation and the Dawn of a co-op Money Free world.. It’s a thriller as well..
Just to say it is selling well..Not a surprise as it’s FREE (lol). It also makes a very economical present.
Abuse of power being consistent in our culture, where fear colludes with the bully, it is cheering to see victims organising and supporting each other . This will appeal to a great many young people. You give us moments of delight:… rolling her big eyes back to us girls … such scandal would zoom round and round the area – like a bee in a jar … Then her daffodil moment of glory: dancing and swirling, waving the flowers at the grey building … the golden snow. I’ve never heard of ‘testerical laughter’, but it kind of hits the mood of the moment.I really like your book and back it with pleasure. Pia (Course of Mirrors)
Wow; I can’t stop reading! I’ve just finished chapter 8, and I’m only stopping because it’s 1AM! It seems to remind me a little of ‘A Clockwork Orange’, combined with ‘A Child Called It’. I cannot wait to read on. I’m still not entirely sure about a lot of things (such as the political situation) but everything I’ve read so far has been wonderful. If I get the chance, I will buy this book.
Karen Eisenbrey I read three chapters and the glossary. I like your ideas for remaking society, especially the mix of practical, earnest things with more whimsical ideas of fashion etc. I especially like how in the first chapters, it’s not obvious that the story takes place in (I would guess) the near future in a shifting, alternative society. But there are little clues all over the place that things are falling apart and changing, present but not taking over the story. We start with Linda, a real, relatable character. You’ve nailed the voice here. She’s articulate and smart, but not at all formal; young, angry, scared, beaten down but ready to stand up. Good luck with The Free!…Karen Eisenbrey
Aaron Pattis wrote After three chapters, nothing will stop me from reading the rest of this book! Who couldn’t pull for a kid like this and wonder where she’s going to end up? There are some terms that I have difficulty with sometimes, like “lekky” and such, but soon enough figure it out. But I wouldn’t change that voice for this story because it adds to the richness realism in the characters. Great job and backed with pleasure..Aaron,”80 Grit”
Lmfrenchwrote Wow, what can I say? I love how you capture Linda’s voice. It wasn’t too long ago that I was a fifteen year old girl and…well…wow. I read some of this the other day and wasn’t too
Occupy The Planet. Abolish Debt. For a Co-Op world.
impressed, but I re-read it and trudged on to see what happened beyond the first page and I must say, I am very glad I did. I found myself giggling a bit and read on with a smile. It is a fun story. I am not normally a fan of 1st person POV but you seem to be able to still bring your characters to life. Very nice.
Great opening. Fast-paced and spirited way of writing. I like the talk about men drooling over Janice (lol); very typical. It’s real! and the “like a pack of randy dogs snifting after her”…This is what happens most of the time, in real life. Good job Mike. This work is so rich and moving, good humored. I can’t stop reading it.GOOD LUCK!! Emma Philips…The Dark Intruder
Well Mikey…a huge HUGE contemporary tale. Brutal and brave..comical and painful. Your style is enviably quirky. The language stripped yet so incredibly weighted. Congratulations, I wish you every success with THE FREE. . Dawn:ARK
Professor Barbara Maher from the Lancaster Environment Centre, Catherine Moore from the University of East Anglia and Dr Juergen Matzka from the Danish Meteorological Institute analysed roadside tree leaves from a dual carriageway with 30,000 vehicles a day. They found that concentrations of lead and iron particles were highest at the height of a small child – 0.3m, posing some health risk at any level of exposure, particularly with regard to brain and kidney damage, hearing impairment and cognitive development in children.
Cheap tests on leaf traces can now show exact local pollution levels, and can prove the the exact source and composition of the invisible toxic chemical cocktail of NOx and SOx we live in.
Soon victims and their families will be able to take Court cases against polluting industries and the oil and vehicle industries.
In the UK about 40,000 people p.a. die as ‘extra deaths’ caused by air pollution, and the WHO gives a figure of 2,400,000 deaths a year world wide.
All these and the countless ill and disabled are due compensation from the greedy capitalists who use this technology KNOWING FULL WELL THAT POLLUTION FREE ALTERNATIVES EXIST (See below).
traducciò Anglès..On September 14 the trial will begin our comrade Tamara. The State demands 16 years imprisonment under
the accusation of trying to assassinate the head of the prison services of the Government..Mr Batlle.
She is accused of sending a package with gunpowder to Battle, and was carried out as part of a campaign to fight for the release of the anarchist prisoner
Amadeu Caselles, at that time on hunger strike.He had endured over twenty years of condemnation being
especially punished for his work of reporting abuse, torture, and murder in the prison system run by the same
Mr. Batlle.
Tamara was arrested on 15 December at her home (Madrid) by members of the Guardia Civil in prison and
Catalonia for 4 months until a judge accepted a defense expert report proving that a purely
intimidating and non-lethal package was sent.
The trial continues against our colleague, in order to publicly punish the audacity of those who faced up to the
powerful’. The message is that people like the prosecution and Batlle have every right to cover up their crimes,
ruining the lives they want. Our message is that despite the threats and punishments, you will never have our complicit silence.
Do not let any single fighter be destroyed!
On 14 September..Lets take to the street against the killers
EN CATALÁ..El proper 14 de setembre començarà el judici contra la nostra companya Tamara. La petició fiscal és de 16 anys de presó, sota
l’acusació d’intentar assassinar el cap dels serveis penitenciaris de la Generalitat Albert Batlle.
L’acció que se li imputa és
l’enviament d’un paquet amb pólvora a en Batlle, i es va dur a terme en el marc d’una campanya de lluita per l’alliberament del pres
Amadeu Caselles, en aquell moment en vaga de fam. Aquest pres portava més de vint anys de condemna a les seves esquenes, sent
especialment castigat per la seva tasca de denúncia dels abusos, tortures, i assassinats inherents al sistema penitenciari dirigit pel
Sr Batlle.
La Tamara va ser detinguda el passat 15 de desembre a casa seva (Madrid) per membres de la Guàrdia Civil, i empresonada a
Catalunya durant 4 mesos, fins que un jutge va acceptar un informe pericial de la defensa que provava el caràcter merament
intimidatori i no-letal del paquet enviat.
El procés judicial contra la nostra companya continua, amb l’objectiu de castigar públicament l’atreviment de qui s’encara als
poderosos, de qui toca als ‘intocables’. El missatge de la fiscalia és que persones com en Batlle tenen tot el dret i la cobertura per
arruïnar les vides que vulguin. El nostre missatge és que malgrat els càstigs i les amenaces, mai tindràn el nostre silenci còmplice.
No deixem sola a cap lluitadora perseguida
El 14 de setembre, al carrer contra els botxins
If the 1-in-6 African-American kids with asthma could just hold their breath until 2013, they should be fine.
In his latest attack on the environment, President Barack Obama today announced that he is directing the EPA to withdraw standardsthat would have cut smog pollution from automobiles, power plants, and refineries. Obama might want to consider that wheezing kids, no jobs, and caving to Big Oil do not a reelection make.
The standards Obama blocked could have saved up to 120,000 lives by 2020, and slashed tens of thousands of children’s asthma attacks and other respiratory problems. The environmental justice organization Green for All summed it up when it tweeted (referring to Obama’s delaying action on ozone until at least 2013, when he may be out of office):
More broadly, by blocking the smog standards, Obama is jettisoning one of the few remaining major job creation programs he can create without Congress. Notwithstanding oil industry propaganda, the EPA’s analysis shows that the smog rules would have created a whopping $17 billion in economic benefits — everything from health care savings from avoided asthma attacks to job creation in American-made pollution controls. Continue reading “Obama allows poison air massacre for Big Oil”
The occupiers of the ZAD were facing court last week as the authorities began the eviction process against the anti-airport community. The ZAD -Zone d’Aménagement Differé (dubbed the Zone A Defendre by the activists) is an area of 6 square miles in the French countryside near Nantes due to be flattened in order to make way for a new international airport, high-speed train and motorway (see SchNEWS 750).
Activists held a demonstration of 300 people outside the court last Monday 17th August. The court cases were postponed until September 6th and 15th which allows more time to plan and prepare for eviction attempts……..
This environmentally catastrophic project is inevitably sold to us with the full green wash package, claiming to be ‘the first airport to have a positive energy balance …with the aim of preserving the natural state of the site and protected natural spaces’. The specifics of how they actually plan to do this seemingly impossible task are, unsurprisingly, no-where to be seen.
The corporate face of this is Vinci, an international transport infrastructure company, amongst other things, that also claim to have built France’s first ‘eco-motorway’. They own many of France’s motorways so they are the people who profit every time anyone drives on one of their paege (toll) roads.
Anti-airport activists have taken advantage of this, however, by creating a popular and effective action. They hold the barrier of a pay point open allowing people to travel for free. All drivers get a flyer about what Vinci are up to and many donate money thus raising funds for the campaign whilst at the same time denting the pocket of Vinci.
Activists from the ZAD have made a call out for people to come and get involved and help create ideas for actions and strategies against the forthcoming eviction. Their eviction wish list includes scaffolding, steel cables, barbed wire, nets, fencing, metal cutters / pliers, rope, banner material, fire extinguishers, saws, hammers, nails, gas masks, goggles, helmets, pallets, welding materials, megaphones, paint, blankets, bicycles, monsters…
How to get there: The ZAD is north of Nantes, near the towns of Notre-Dame des Landes and Vigneux Grandchamp des Fontaines. It is made up of many different squats but the best place to head first is les Planchettes, the welcome centre (someone will be there to welcome everyday between 12-2pm) which is on the D28. It’s a big farmhouse with big banners hanging above it.
If you can’t make it to France, Vinci also have their fingers in many pies in the UK including motorway and airport construction as well as offices across Britain which can be visited.
* For more info visit zad.nadir.org or keep an eye on Nantes Indymedia. Email zad@riseup.net
This week, sure feels like the tipping point on public opinion on climate, and so I’m going to stick a fork in it right here, folks. Climate opinion just tipped. Why do I say that? In the last week:
Australia, with huge coal reserves — but rapidly passing the Arctic as ground zero for climate impacts with epic fires, droughts, floods, hurricanes, and dust storms — passed a carbon credit law, with a tax coming up next.
Canada rolled out regulations that will likely phase out coal by mid-century.
Michael Mann’s “hockey stick” research was once and for all vindicated.
Prominent Republicans like Jon Hunstman and Chris Christie agree that climate science is real, and there’s even pressure within the GOP to not become the anti-science party. In fact, when Rick Perry denied climate science, he wasn’t just censured by some Republicans, he was instantly and vigorously debunked by the Washington Post.
Feeding a supercomputer with news stories could help predict major world events, according to US research.
The Free 