Month: February 2011

Babbage reports on "My Boss Is a Robot," an experiment in hiring untrained people (via Mechanical Turk) "to perform the equivalent of journalistic piecework":

To start with, the group has chosen to bash out the kind of article with which Babbage is all too familiar: a write-up of a newly released scientific research paper. Rather than assign the task as a whole to a single person, their system will try to tease apart and outsource different elements of analysis and production.

The effort will not embrace a wiki-like approach, in which drafts are successively (and sometimes simultaneously) revised by unrelated parties who may or may not bring particular expertise to the table, and who can all see the current state of work. Instead, the group will atomise the process of writing an article into multiple steps which can be accomplished in isolation. (Part of the project is to see how reproducible—or not—such tasks really are.) Tasks might include writing a headline, summarising a chart, or providing a conclusion for a subsection of text.

EA:

[A]n opposition coalition — including the Wafd Party, the Nasserist Party, the Tagammu Party, the newly founded al-Wasat Party, the Muslim Brotherhood, and youth representatives — has called for the replacement of Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq’s government with a technocratic government during the transitional period to elections.

Coalition members called on citizens to stage a million-person demonstration in Tahrir Square in Cairo on Friday to press the demand.

The coalition also demanded a new Constitution for a parliamentary state, the dismantling of the state security apparatus, the ending of the state of emergency, the release of all political prisoners, and the dismantling of the National Democratic Party and of corrupt local councils.

Egypt's Constitutional Amendment Committee has said that it will present its recommendations to the Supreme Military Council within the next couple of days. Sources said the committee has agreed to remove an article allowing suspects to be arrested, investigated, and monitored without judicial supervision, approval, or warrants. The committee has also reportedly agreed that an article will be amended to ensure judicial supervision over the voting process.

Egyptian authorities have postponed the start of the second term at universities by one week.

Today on the Dish, we tracked Libya's tenth day of protests, from early morning all the way to tonight, while Qaddafi's own soldiers refused to kill their fellow Libyans. Alexis charted Libya's plummeting oil production, and Abigail Hauslohner confirmed Facebook's central role in their revolution. Tribal structure mattered in Libya, Larison considered the US citizens trapped there, and we examined the list of Qaddafi's dwindling allies. A reader translated a French doctor's account of the mounting carnage in Libya, while another reader gave a deep read to Bahrain's constitution. Andrew kept an eye on the Saudis, Ahmadinejad threw stones while sitting in his glass house, and Iranian television sounded eerily similar to Glenn Beck.

Obama decided to no longer defend DOMA. Ambinder translated what that means, while some prepared for Y2Gay. The full web reax is here.

Walker got pranked, lost Clive Crook, and maintained his "campaign promises" despite facts to the contrary. Nate Silver sifted the Wisconsin polls, Ozimek stood by his stance on unions by citing education reform, and Wilkinson added his voice on what he called the left's Tea Party. Andrew bashed the House Republican budget, John Yoo flashed his chutzpah, Rumsfeld revealed Bush's plans for Iran and was a little too honest about why we went to Afghanistan. Andrew got his Palin fix, she denied her fake Facebook account, but readers pointed to the cunning way she handled it. We weighed Mitch Daniels' merits, Jason Kuznicki linked freedom and spending, China needed water to succeed. Police dogs aimed to please their owners, Andy McCarthy duked it out with Sanchez some more on the Patriot Act, and Seattle Times favored legalization. Crime shows are politically purple, Sarah McLachlan knew how to ruin your day, and bees don't need warrants to search your house.

Quote for the day here, tweet of the day here, dissent of the day here, Tucson relapse watch here, VFYW here, MHB here, and FOTD here.

–Z.P.

Attention Gladwell, Rich, Crook and Rachman: Abigail Hauslohner has an excellent report from inside Libya:

Tobruk is several hundred miles away from Benghazi, the first large epicenter of the revolt, and even farther from Tripoli, the Libyan capital. But local activists felt wired into the revolutions going on far beyond the borders of their nation, even though foreign newspapers were never for sale in Gaddafi's Libya and websites were often blocked, says Gamal Shallouf, a marine biologist who has joined the newly fledged opposition. While the Internet has been down here since the revolution started, the regime's inability to shut down new-media innovations entirely has been key to spreading Libya's revolt.

"Generally, in Libya before this, there was no media," explains Shallouf. "So if Tobruk made a revolution, [the government] would spend three to five days killing us and finish the revolution. Nobody in [larger nearby communities and cities] al-Baida or Darna or Benghazi would have heard about it. But now with al-Jazeera and Facebook and the media, all of Libya hears about the revolution and is with the revolution. They know about it. They think, 'I am Libyan, this is my family, so I will go to the street to fight for them.' "

(Photo: An ad from the International Society for Human Rights, via Copyranter)

After visiting Venice Beach, California, Reihan reflects on the browning of America:

History tells us that our familiar ethnocultural distinctions will eventually break down. Just as Americans of Irish and Italian and Jewish origin were once considered seditious and unassimilable aliens by native-born Protestants of northern European stock, one gets the strong impression that intermarriage will melt seemingly unmeltable ethnic groups. Asian-Americans, once victims of intense persecution, have by and large been embraced by the larger culture. Perhaps the most vivid illustration of this phenomenon is the fact that a large majority of Japanese-Americans born in the 1980s and 1990s have one non-Japanese parent, usually of European origin.

Alexis passes along the news:

The Financial Times is reporting that half or more of Libya's oil production has been shut down due to the unrest in the country. That's one reason the price of a barrel of Brent crude broke $110, a two-and-a-half year peak.

In recent times, Libya has exported the vast majority of the 1.6 million barrels of oil a day it produces, according to an International Energy Agency report. … To give you some perspective, U.S. oil consumption is over 20,000,000 barrels a day. Given Libya's relatively small contribution to the global oil supply, the turmoil in the energy and stock markets resulting from Libyan unrest lets you know how little slack there is in the oil market.

Chart via another Alexis post.

Another devastating blow to the Libyan dictator:

Nour Al Masmari, former head of Gaddafi protocol, tells Al Jazeera he resigned because it was the "human" thing to do following the Libyan leader's actions, which he called "genocide". Masmari said "it is the end of it" adding:

Now [Gaddafi] is using mercinaries, not because he wants to use them but because he cannot use the army. He cannot use the armed forces of Libya because they are Libyans and they are faithful and honest people. They cannot kill themselves, and killing their cousins and uncles and friends means they are killing themselves. So he doesnt trust them. He doesnt even trust his own guard.

Marwan Bishara begins an AJE op-ed, "The Libyan leader has lost all three pillars of his rule - tribal, military and diplomatic."

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld talks about his new memoir, "Known and Unknown," at The Heritage Foundation on February 22, 2011 in Washington, DC. Rumsfeld said the book took four years to write and talks about his relationships with former colleagues in the Bush administration. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

Nikolas Krozloff – who Greg Weeks says has "written fairly favorably of Chávez in the past" – calls out Chavez for being a longtime ally of Qaddafi, a relationship made clearer by new a Wiki leak:

With revolution now sweeping away the most autocratic rulers across the African continent, Chávez now has a unique opportunity to redraw his political priorities. Will the Venezuelan leader see the error of his ways or continue to embrace phony Third World liberation in the guise of autocratic despotism?

So far the Nicaraguan leader is the only friendly leader to embrace Qaddafi; Daniel Ortega "has called several times this week because Gadhafi 'is again waging a great battle' to defend the unity of his nation." But there are reports suggesting that Zimbabwe has sent commandos. Muammar's old pal Silvio, however, is slowly backing away. And another is AWOL:

Though Castro has suggested NATO might be planning an invasion of Libya, neither he nor Chavez has gone as far as Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega and offered actual support for Gaddafi.

Morning round-up here. Scott Lucas captions the above Youtube:

Very graphic video has been posted which claims to be of Libyan soldiers bound and shot for refusing to attack protesters.

Today's most salient updates from AJE (local times in Libya, GMT+2):

4.17pm: Major General Suleiman Mahmoud, a commander in Libyan army in Tobruk, is now on the side of the Libyan people. He called Gaddafi "a tyrant" and told Al Jazeera "the people in the army are steadfast" in the city. 

4.27pm: A Libyan airforce plane has crashed near Benghazi after the crew bailed out, the country's Quryna Newspaper reports. The newspaper said the crew had orders to bomb Benghazi, but refused to carry them out. 

5.34pm: Italy predicts that some 300,000 Libyans could flee to Europe "if" Gaddafi falls. The country and five other European nations are trying to prepare for that possibility. They are gathered in Rome to work out a consolidated response if Gaddafi falls. On Thursday, all 27 interior ministers and justice ministers from the EU also plan to meet, Al Jazeera's Harry Smith said.

6.34pm: At least 640 people have been killed since the protests began, the International Federation for Human Rights (IFHR) says. This figure is more than double the official Libyan government toll of 300 dead.

Mackey says that the above video "appears to show celebrations on the streets of Benghazi on Tuesday night, complete with fireworks." EA:

1640 GMT: Protesters in Misurata said they have wrested the west Libyan city from government control, and in a statement on the Internet, army officers stationed in the city pledged "total support for the protesters". The development is significant because Misurata would be the first city outside eastern Libya to fall into the hands of the opposition.

1620 GMT: Lots of chatter that the aircraft carrying Aisha Qaddafi, daughter of the Libyan leader, has been denied landing, first in Beirut, Lebanon, and then in Malta. [AJE: "The plane is said to be headed back to Libya, Cal Perry reports from Valletta."]

1615 GMT: The Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister has warned journalists who have entered the country illegally that they face arrest unless they surrender to the authorities. With the regime's guards leaving the border with Egypt, journalists have been crossing into the eastern part of the country over the last 24 hours. Those areas are in the hands of the opposition; however, there are reports of the regime's mercenaries roaming in the area, especially at night.

AJE again:

7.46pm: Key towns and cities in Libya are under protester-control, including Benghazi and Tobruk. International media organisations, including Al Jazeera, are now able to broadcast Live pictures from these cities. Here is a screen shot of footage we were able to get today:

   

8.26pm: Foreign countries continue to evacuate their citizens from Libya using varied modes of transportation. France and Russia have sent planes, the UK has sent a warship and planes, the US has sent a ferry from Malta and China has sent jets, ships and fishing vessels. … Turkey has 25,000 nationals in Libya and the country is launching the biggest evacuation operation in its history.  

9.05pm: The capital Tripoli is said to be in virtual lockdown and there are reportedly pro-Gaddafi militia-men roaming the streets. Meanwhile Benghazi, Tobruk, Derna and other cities now celebrating having liberated themselves from Gaddafi.

On the economic front: 

As much as a quarter of Libyan oil output has been shut down, the Reuters news agency reports. Libya produces almost 2 per cent of the world's oil. …  [Al Jazeera's Harry Smith reports] that the direct oil pipeline between Libya and Italy – the so-called "Green Stream" – has completely "dried up". … US crude oil futures hit $100 a barrel on Wednesday for the first time since 2008.

And the very latest from AJE:

10.54pm: Gaddafi will play a major role in any regime formed in Libya, but new blood will need to take over direct control and introduce reform, Saadi Gaddafi, a son of the embattled leader told the Financial Times (FT). He also said his brother Saif Gaddafi was working on a new constitution and would make an announcement soon; but he gave no further details, the FT said.

12:07am: Barack Obama, the US president, for the first time has spoken on the Libyan crisis. He offered his condolences to the people who have been killed and suffered in the violence during the Libyan uprising. He said that the suffering and bloodshed is "outrageous" and it is "unacceptable". The U.S. president on Wednesday said the violent crackdown in Libya violated international norms and that he had ordered his national security team to prepare the full range of options for dealing with the crisis. … [He said] he would send Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Geneva for a meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council at the weekend and for talks with allied foreign ministers. [Full transcript at The Guardian]

1:14am: Gaddafi vows to fight till his 'last drop of blood,' urges supporters to take to streets.