Category: Media and Culture,

CO2 levels in atmosphere higher than any point since evolution of humans

On By peanutgallerynhIn Money, Class, and Poverty,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

According to data from the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is over 415 parts per million (ppm), far higher than any point in the last 800,000 years. 

That’s the highest level since homo sapiens came onto the planet, meteorologist Eric Holthaus tweeted, and represents an increase of 15 ppm over just the past three years. 

CO2 levels in atmosphere higher than any point since evolution of humans | abc7chicago.com

agggghhhhhhhhhhhh

 

How Fox News dominates Facebook in the Trump era

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Media and Culture,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

Over the past three years, CrowdTangle estimates that Fox News’ main Facebook page, with 17 million followers, has racked up 80 percent more reactions, comments, and shares than CNN, which has 31 million followers. The Fox page’s engagement rate — the average number of engagements per post per follower — was higher than any major news organization over the same period, and some five times that of The New York Times.

As Facebook continues to grapple with the spread of misinformation and divisive content, causing critics to worry that it could pose threats to democracy, the lead that Fox News has built over less partisan news organizations on the platform strikes some as painfully ironic.

“The way Fox News dominates on Facebook is a good example of the way engagement can distort social media,” said Tara McGowan, CEO of the nonprofit digital organization Acronym and former digital director of Priorities USA, a Democratic political action committee. “The fact they can drive the exact same storyline each and every day across channels — from television to social media — is so much more effective at influencing hearts and minds than political advertising.”

…The influence of Fox on Facebook comes as Trump, Republican lawmakers, and Fox News personalities have repeatedly accused Silicon Valley of bias against conservatives. Rupert Murdoch, the Trump ally who owns Fox parent company Fox Corp., has similarly condemned the tech giant publicly and privately for wreaking havoc on the news industry.

…At a time when many news organizations started tuning out reader comments, if not blocking them altogether, Fox News mined comments for ideas. A former Fox News producer said its social team scoured responses to Facebook posts to see which topics popped and why, using their numbers or intensity to inform future posts.

What they found was a lot of rage, not just toward President Barack Obama but also toward mainstream Republicans.

…What’s more, the person said, the engagement trends suggested a fear of a changing America — fear of immigration, fear of globalization, and changing expressions of national pride — bubbled beneath the criticism. The social team doubled down.

…“We would intentionally post content that would be divisive and elicit a lot of comments,” the former social producer said, adding that high-engagement posts would inform programming decisions on TV. “Fox was all about a numbers game.”

…What’s clear is that Fox News’ rise on Facebook has meant that the GOP has a large and growing advantage as more political content comes users’ way. 2020 campaigns have collectively spent nearly $10 million on Facebook ads so far this year, according to the digital firm Bully Pulpit Interactive, and its analysis of the platform’s publicly available targeting data shows that Team Trump has overwhelmingly honed in on seniors in recent weeks. Fox News’ organic reach on Facebook, coupled with its alignment with Trump’s messaging, is likely to amplify that strategy.

How Fox News dominates Facebook in the Trump era – VICE News

hmmm

Police shooting near Yale exposes complex racial divide

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Local Interest,, Money, Class, and Poverty,, Race,, Schools,Leave a comment

The images from the police bodycam video of two officers firing at an unarmed black couple in their car have reverberated throughout New Haven.

…In January, New Haven officials approved the creation of a Civilian Review Board to monitor and independently investigate alleged police misconduct — an effort more than 20 years in the making.

…The redlining of neighborhoods — in which federal agencies in the 1930s allowed for discriminatory lending practices that disenfranchised black home buyers — created the segregation and racially divisive attitudes prevalent in New Haven and its majority white suburbs.

…New Haven, where about one in four residents live in poverty, and the portion of Hamden that borders the city represent a microcosm of the housing policies and income inequality that persist today throughout the United States.

…”Yale and these other Ivy League schools are in a land grab race, competing for endowment funds and land. They want to buy up properties to build expensive apartments, luxury living with the gyms and coffee houses and yoga studios. They’re arguing that they’re scaling up neighborhoods and gentrifying, but the reality is it’s only for those who can afford it.”

…The shooting near Yale’s campus has also brought up questions about how the university’s police force operates and why an officer fired a weapon in an off-campus encounter.

…The Black Students for Disarmament at Yale said it favors the school’s officers being unarmed and restricted in where they can patrol off campus. 

…A white student called campus police on a black Yale graduate student who had been napping in a common room.

…Upon releasing Eaton’s bodycam footage …State Police Commissioner James Rovella could not detail why the officers opened fire after commanding the driver to open the car door. Witherspoon could be seen on Eaton’s bodycam getting out of his car at that moment.

Eaton only turned on the bodycam after the shooting, and Pollock failed to turn his on at all.

Witherspoon, who was [not armed, was] not charged [with any crimes.]

Police shooting near Yale exposes complex racial divide

sigh….

‘The Problem Of Democracy’ Looks At Personality’s Role In U.S. Leadership

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Media and Culture,Leave a comment

‘The Problem Of Democracy’ Looks At Personality’s Role In U.S. Leadership : NPR

The Peanut Gallery supposes that an accurate representation of the ideal state of things lies not in Adams or Jefferson’s respective versions, but rather somewhere in the middle.

An irony of the debate is that being a Democratic Republic -as opposed to, say, a Democracy- hasn’t seemed to saved us from the cult of personality.

Only The Female Candidates Were Asked About Sexism At CNN’s Presidential Town Hall

On By peanutgallerynhIn Chick Stuff,, Media and Culture,Leave a comment

Only the female presidential candidates were asked questions about sexism in CNN’s marathon town hall event Monday night, offering an inadvertently revealing case study in the subtle ways gender bias infects political campaigning. 

…A mix of male and female college students asked a range of questions at the event, with an all-male lineup of CNN hosts moderating.

But only the women had to grapple with so-called women’s issues. Sen. Klobuchar was up first and was asked what she’d do to close the wage gap, as well as her message to young female voters. Warren, up next, was asked a more personal question about how she’d avoid the sexism that Hillary Clinton faced in her campaign in 2016. Harris, whose town hall was sandwiched between Sanders’ and Buttigieg’s, was asked what she would do to “level the playing field and empower working women.”

…The fact that substantive questions about gender equality were asked at all is progress and credit goes to the young women who raised these issues last night.

The problem is men should have to grapple with this women stuff, too.

 

Only The Female Candidates Were Asked About Sexism At CNN’s Presidential Town Hall | HuffPost

hmmmm