Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Forensics of a Live-tweet Event


            
Monica Perez Nevarez 9/3/2013

Adventures in tweeting

Tweeting is a universe onto itself, and businessmen as well as journalists are still trying to make sense of it. It’s not necessarily about letting your followers know what you are up to; it’ s about building trust and engagement with your followers and finding new ones. Best way to do that? Follow people with many followers, and live-tweet events that have a large following. The first is self-explanatory; the second less so. Below you will find a forensic dissection of a “live-tweet” event, to see what we can learn about that particular form of communication, and how you could harness that power. 

On 8/31/2013, President Obama gave a ten minute statement regarding his decisions on what actions the US should take against Syria for illegally and immorally using WMD gas to kill over 1,000 people in Damascus during their ongoing civil war (he is determined and ready to act with a limited military response, but wants Congress to debate and vote on the actions the US should take).

I live-tweeted the event as a way to study the mechanics and uses of tweeter (and made all sorts of newbie mistakes for illustration purposes), as a case study of what live-tweeting looks like, its possible uses, risks, benefits, and best practices, and to highlight any shining examples of excellence under pressure.

I learned of the event exactly three minutes before it was set to start (as it turned out, the President would be late, but no one knew that at the time). [For a basic summary of live-tweeting from the horse’s mouth, read “Live Tweeting Best Practices” by Twitter https://dev.twitter.com/media/live-tweeting; to read a well-known twitterer’s tips, see “How to tweet like a Pro” http://moz.com/blog/how-to-live-tweet-like-a-pro); for the best ways to make twitter work for your company read the misleadingly named “20 ways to tweet like a Pro” http://www.ragan.com/Main/Articles/20_ways_to_tweet_like_a_pro_45133.aspx#), and for expert tips on social media follow Sree Sreenavasin as @sree on twitter or visit his webpages http://www.sreetips.com/ and http://sree.net/.]

Since twitter is a fledgling communications tool, taking a forensic look at what happened in a relatively small amount of time on a broadly covered event will give readers a sense of how others use this tool, for what purposes it is used, and the skills needed to use it to effect. A short but weighty statement by the President that was covered widely by the mainstream media and on the twitter-sphere is a perfect choice because it was guaranteed to have the broadest kind of followers tweeting the event (and therefore the best examples of live-tweeting).

Globally, of the hundreds of millions of people watching the President on TV, and the tens of millions that were on Twitter at the time, only about 43 people live-tweeted the President’s statement on Syria (in my circles).

The numbers are small enough to be searched by hand, as opposed to using complicated algorithms. In a not-so-distant future, there will be so many people live-tweeting events that it will be much more difficult to do this kind of artisanal analysis.

The Set-up

The first thing I learned: research your subject before you live-tweet. (After the fact, I found AP had published a copy of the President’s speech at 12:30pm, which I could have used to follow and quote the President more accurately).

It is very hard to take notes or tweet and analyze what is being said at the same time, so the more you know in advance, the better your tweets will be. Gather as much information as possible before you start.
The second thing I learned was that live-tweeting is best done by people that are adept at the short-hand language of tweeter (let’s call it “tweetese” for now, with posts of less than 140 characters, use of the “@” or “at” symbol to message followers and the “#” or “hashtag” symbol to index posts for future search), and are experienced at tweeting while the event is happening.

It is a learned skill to be able to listen, quote the important points, and write in “tweetese” at the same time. It very much feels like a mashup of doing three things at once: transcription (writing what is being said, listening), translation (digesting the information, putting it into tweetese), and micro-blogging (publishing information, typing correctly and quickly).
There is a certain amount of preparation that goes on before the event starts (preparing your followers for the live-tweet event) and much commentary afterward, but tweeting live, while the event is happening, is writing history as you experience it.

Later commentary and analysis will bring color and depth to the discussion, as well as many more perspectives, but it will be spatially dispersed, and the tweets harder to find (although with http://topsy.com, searching twitter will be easier).

Event Watch

I started my “event-watch” at 1:12pm for a scheduled 1:15 presidential statement by looking for TV channels that were covering the statement, as I was going to cover the event from home. CNN was carrying the event, as well as CNBC (who added distractions like cut-aways to infomercials during the half-hour wait – Note: there will always be a lot going on (or nothing going on), and you’ll find a lot of extraneous ‘noise’ when you live-tweet, so concentrate on what you are doing!). Also, make sure you don’t create extraneous ‘noise’ yourself by cutting distractions if you are at home: shutting off your cell phone, walking the dogs beforehand, and giving the children something engrossing to play with - if any of these situations apply to you.

There were more sites on the internet live-streaming the event than broadcasting it on TV. Broadcast media have ceded control of this type of reporting over to social media, the more nimble of the two forms of communication; and TV mostly focuses on analysis after the fact.

This live-streaming is a smart adaptation, because TV is better at planned, longer-form analysis than unscheduled (or off-schedule) events that can be ‘telegraphed’ with short messages (we’ve gone from soundbites to twitterbites).

Live-tweeting opens up opportunities for people to weigh in with their opinions instantly; for experts and specialists in their fields to broaden their reach, their visibility, and their reputation by tweeting live events and attaching their expert opinions as added value and needed perspective; as well as for ‘trolls’ (cyber-bullies), snark-addicts and spin-doctors. 'Lurkers' are those that read everything but don't engage or interact, and make up the majority of followers.

So for a non-violence activist, this Presidential statement was a time to weigh in on alternative options and the costs of war; for a defense contractor, it was a good time to analyze the military situation; for a political scientist, it was a good time to parse out the political and economic fallout of all the choices; and for a journalist, it was a good time to show their writing chops to the world, and link to in-depth articles on the subject.

This was a political event, but the mechanics of tweeting are the same for business conferences and social events.

 Please note: being there is better than seeing it second-hand on TV, as some of the tweets made clear (there were anti-war protesters outside the White House chanting, and they were moved away by police before the President started his statement, so they were not heard on TV). But seeing it on TV is better than not tweeting about it at all; just let your audience know where you are when you start.

 The President was over 30 minutes late to the podium. I used the wait time to check my twitter feed for comments on the upcoming statement and to retweet posts for later study. Copy-pasting the thread to a Word document helps by archiving the event and creating a list of who else was live-tweeting the event (twitter streams constantly, so threads are lost unless they are copied to a document quickly).

[Note: Every twitter feed is made up of people in your ‘circles’, i.e., people whom you ‘follow’ or who ‘follow’ you. This means my thread is different from anyone else’s thread and my thread will be shaped by the filters of who I ‘follow’.]

If you ever want to create immortal tweets, tie them to a big event, an event that future historians will want to look into (and present followers are interested in), and be sure to include indexing tools (the use of hashtags - # - before a name, {as in #Syria in this case} to make your tweets easily searchable).

  Methodology

 Since I knew very little about the event I was about to cover, I decided to simply quote the President, as best as I could, as a way of practicing my live-tweeting. About 20 minutes after the end of the speech, I copied my thread to a Word document and started to dissect it. There were 617 posts in total between 1:12pm and 2:20pm (average of 103 tweets every ten minutes). During the actual Presidential Statement (10 minutes, 1:54pm to 2:04pm) there were 157 tweets of which 106 were about the President’s statement. There were 86 people from my circles tweeting at the time, with 43 live-tweeting the President’s statement exclusively.

 Here’s the breakdown: Part 1 – Pre-event: 1:12pm to 1:54pm. In total, 253 tweets by 150 twitterers; just discussing the President’s statement on Syria: 78 tweets by 44 twitterers, with 40 twitterers tweeting more than once.

 Part 2 – Actual Event: 1:54pm to 2:04pm. In total, 159 tweets by 86 twitterers; just discussing the President’s statement on Syria: 107 tweets by 43 twitterers, with 18 twitterers tweeting more than twice, and two tweeting more than 8 times.

 Part 3 – Post-event: 2:04pm to 2:23pm. 156 tweets by 112 twitterers; discussing the President’s statement on Syria: 55 tweets by 41 twitterers. Edited thread for ‘only Syria’ comments here. Content analysis: uses, risks, benefits, best practices, and examples of excellence. For the sake of brevity, I will only analyze the actual live-tweet event (Part 2).

Please note: being there is better than seeing it second-hand on TV, as some of the tweets made clear (there were anti-war protesters outside the White House chanting, and they were moved away by police before the President started his statement, so they were not heard on TV). But seeing it on TV is better than not tweeting about it at all; just let your audience know where you are when you start.

The President was over 30 minutes late to the podium. I used the wait time to check my twitter feed for comments on the upcoming statement and to retweet posts for later study (you can see an unedited copy of my entire live-tweet thread here, from 1:12pm to 2:20pm, and a three-part breakdown of the ‘before, during and after’ here, here and here respectively). Copy-pasting the thread to a Word document helps by archiving the event and creating a list of who else was live-tweeting the event (twitter streams constantly, so threads are lost unless they are copied to a document quickly).

[Every twitter feed is made up of people in your ‘circles’, i.e., people whom you ‘follow’ or who ‘follow’ you. This means my thread is different from anyone else’s thread and my thread will be shaped by the filters of who I ‘follow’.]

If you ever want to create immortal tweets, tie them to a big event, an event that future historians will want to look into (and present followers are interested in), and be sure to include indexing tools (the use of hashtags - # - before a name, {as in #Syria in this case} to make your tweets easily searchable).

Methodology

Since I knew very little about the event I was about to cover, I decided to simply quote the President, as best as I could, as a way of practicing my live-tweeting. About 20 minutes after the end of the speech, I copied my thread to a document, and started to dissect it. There were 617 posts in total between 1:12pm and 2:20pm (average of 103 tweets every ten minutes). During the actual Presidential Statement (10 minutes, 1:54pm to 2:04pm) there were 157 tweets of which 106 were about the President’s statement. There were 86 people from my circles tweeting at the time, with 43 live-tweeting the President’s statement exclusively.

Here’s the breakdown:

Part 1 – Pre-event: 1:12pm to 1:54pm. In total, 253 tweets by 150 twitterers; just discussing the President’s statement on Syria: 78 tweets by 44 twitterers, with 40 twitterers tweeting more than once. Edited thread for ‘only Syria’ comments here.

Part 2 – Actual Event: 1:54pm to 2:04pm. In total, 159 tweets by 86 twitterers; just discussing the President’s statement on Syria: 107 tweets by 43 twitterers, with 18 twitterers tweeting more than twice, and two tweeting more than 8 times. Edited thread for ‘only Syria’ comments here.

Part 3 – Post-event: 2:04pm to 2:23pm. 156 tweets by 112 twitterers; discussing the President’s statement on Syria: 55 tweets by 41 twitterers. Edited thread for ‘only Syria’ comments here.

Content analysis: uses, risks, benefits, best practices, and examples of excellence

For the sake of brevity, I will only analyze the actual live-tweet event (Part 2).

Text of Obama's statement on Syria as provided by AP via the White House (with highlights on important points):

(with tweets in red, and highlights in yellow)

[Editorial license was taken when physically separating the minutes of the speech for this article so that sentences were kept together even if the minute actually ended in mid-sentence. The tweets are also in reverse order for easier reading and analysis.]

[1:54pm, minute 37]

Monica Perez Nevarez ‏@guayaba 37m

It's starting

[When the President walked up to the podium, I tweeted this short message as a starting marker. I should have used a hashtag to index my tweets.]

POLITICO ‏@politico 37m

WATCH LIVE: Obama remarks on Syria http://politico.com/live 

President Obama:

Minute 1 (minute 37 on timeline)

Good afternoon, everybody. Ten days ago, the world watched in horror as men, women and children were massacred in Syria in the worst chemical weapons attack of the 21st century. Yesterday the United States presented a powerful case that the Syrian government was responsible for this attack on its own people.

Our intelligence shows the Assad regime and its forces preparing to use chemical weapons, launching rockets in the highly populated suburbs of Damascus, and acknowledging that a chemical weapons attack took place. And all of this corroborates what the world can plainly see - hospitals overflowing with victims; terrible images of the dead. All told, well over 1,000 people were murdered. Several hundred of them were children - young girls and boys gassed to death by their own government.

This attack is an assault on human dignity. It also presents a serious danger to our national security. It risks making a mockery of the global prohibition on the use of chemical weapons.

 

Mother Jones ‏@MotherJones 37m

Obama has begun speaking about the situation Syria. WATCH LIVE: http://1.usa.gov/b2uIyI  pic.twitter.com/rkKUum5U3l

BI: Markets ‏@themoneygame 37m

BREAKING: Obama To Seek Congressional Authorization For Strike On Syria http://read.bi/197LZnc 

NewsHour ‏@NewsHour 37m                                     

LIVE: Obama steps up to podium to speak on #Syria http://to.pbs.org/15oCanR 

GottaLaff ‏@GottaLaff 38m [notice that I left the minutes timestamp by Twitter as a reference point, because tweets sometimes show up out of order on your timeline, like this one. All future out of order timestamps are highlighted.]

PRES OBAMA SPEAKING NOW. LIVE FEED: http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/2013/08/31/live-streaming-video-president-obama-speaks-on-syria-115p-edt/ … #Syria

 Retweeted by lafloran hussein P,

The New York Times ‏@nytimes 37m

Watch President Obama's statement on Syria via @nbcnews: http://nyti.ms/19W2tzI 

Reuters Live ‏@ReutersLive 37m

Now live: Obama delivers statement on Syria. Watch here --> http://reut.rs/14jsGrg 

 Retweeted by Reuters Top News

[The professional outlets, Mother Jones magazine, Business Insider Markets magazine, PBS Newshour, the New York Times and Reuters, all placed their beginning markers with links to live feeds of the event or to longer articles. Alternative media Political Carnival had its ‘correspondent’ “Gottalaff” do the same. Everyone was driving followers to their coverage. No one quoted what the President actually said during his exposition.]

Minute 2 (minute 36 on timeline)

It endangers our friends and our partners along Syria's borders, including Israel, Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq. It could lead to escalating use of chemical weapons, or their proliferation to terrorist groups who would do our people harm.

In a world with many dangers, this menace must be confronted.

Now, after careful deliberation, I have decided that the United States should take military action against Syrian regime targets. This would not be an open-ended intervention. We would not put boots on the ground. Instead, our action would be designed to be limited in duration and scope. But I'm confident we can hold the Assad regime accountable for their use of chemical weapons, deter this kind of behavior, and degrade their capacity to carry it out.

Our military has positioned assets in the region. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs has informed me that we are prepared to strike whenever we choose. Moreover, the chairman has indicated to me that our capacity to execute this mission is not time-sensitive; it will be effective tomorrow, or next week, or one month from now. And I'm prepared to give that order.

David Corn ‏@DavidCornDC 36m

Biden is next to him. Looking somber.

West Wing Reports ‏@WestWingReport 36m

President to ask Congress to approve Syrian strikes

Peter Baker ‏@peterbakernyt 37m

Obama starts out by making case Kerry made yesterday, arguing in more forceful terms that Syria govt responsible for massacre.

 Retweeted by The New York Times

Pew Research Center ‏@pewresearch 36m

Obama now making #Syria statement; See Bruce Stokes analysis: Does public care about UN blessing over Syria? http://pewrsr.ch/15cuZsT 

CaribNews/PuertoRico ‏@caribnews 36m

Obama: "All told well over 1,000 people were murdered…hundreds of them were children." #Syria

Leigh Munsil ‏@leighmunsil 36m

Obama: I have decided that the U.S. should take military action against Syrian regime targets

[Note: The minutes on my twitter feed are in descending order, and I am writing this piece chronologically.]

Minute 3 (minute 35 on timeline)

But having made my decision as commander in chief based on what I am convinced is our national security interests, I'm also mindful that I'm the president of the world's oldest constitutional democracy. I've long believed that our power is rooted not just in our military might, but in our example as a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. And that's why I've made a second decision: I will seek authorization for the use of force from the American people's representatives in Congress.

Over the last several days, we've heard from members of Congress who want their voices to be heard. I absolutely agree. So this morning, I spoke with all four congressional leaders, and they've agreed to schedule a debate and then a vote as soon as Congress comes back into session.

BI: Markets ‏@themoneygame 35m

OBAMA: The U.S. 'should' take military action in Syria http://read.bi/197LZnc 

West Wing Reports ‏@WestWingReport 35m

President says "children gassed to death by their own govt" - adds "this menace must be contained"

Mother Jones ‏@MotherJones 35m

“The United States should take military action against Syrian regime military targets” -- President Obama

David Leonhardt ‏@DLeonhardt 35m

Obama using conditional voice to describe attack.

Monica Perez Nevarez ‏@guayaba 35m                                  

Exposition of problem. US should take military action, no boots on ground, hold Assad accountable. [Mistakes: No attribution – should have put the word Obama in front, and quotes around what he said; should also have used a hashtag.]

Huffington Post ‏@HuffingtonPost 35m

Obama: "I have decided the United States should take military action against Syrian regime military targets"

NewsHour ‏@NewsHour 35m

OBAMA: This menace must be confronted http://to.pbs.org/15oCanR 

CNBC ‏@CNBC 35m

BREAKING: Pres. Obama says he has decided that the United States should take military action against Syria.

 HuffPost Politics ‏@HuffPostPol 36m

Obama: "This attack is an assault on human dignity"

CaribNews/PuertoRico ‏@caribnews 35m

Obama: "The United States should take military action"

POLITICO ‏@politico 35m

Obama: The U.S. should take military action against Syrian regime targets http://politico.com/live 

Mother Jones ‏@MotherJones 35m

“We are prepared to strike whenever we choose” -- President Obama #Syria

NewsHour ‏@NewsHour 35m                                     

OBAMA: I have decided the US should take military action http://to.pbs.org/15oCanR  #Syria

Andrew Katz ‏@katz 35m

Obama: We are prepared to strike whenever we choose. This is not time-sensitive. Could be tomorrow, next week or one month from now

 Retweeted by CaribNews/PuertoRico

Independent.ie ‏@Independent_ie 35m

UN rejects Syria pullout to allow strikes, Obama says will be 'limited' action http://indo.ie/orCTx 

Monica Perez Nevarez ‏@guayaba 35m

We are prepared to strike any time @POTUS [same mistakes as above]

 Minute 4 (minute 34 on timeline)

In the coming days, my administration stands ready to provide every member with the information they need to understand what happened in Syria and why it has such profound implications for America's national security. And all of us should be accountable as we move forward, and that can only be accomplished with a vote.

I'm confident in the case our government has made without waiting for U.N. inspectors. I'm comfortable going forward without the approval of a United Nations Security Council that, so far, has been completely paralyzed and unwilling to hold Assad accountable. As a consequence, many people have advised against taking this decision to Congress, and undoubtedly, they were impacted by what we saw happen in the United Kingdom this week when the Parliament of our closest ally failed to pass a resolution with a similar goal, even as the prime minister supported taking action.

 

Pew Research Center ‏@pewresearch 34m

Obama says he has decided US should take military action against #Syria, but doesn't say when

Peter Baker ‏@peterbakernyt 35m

Obama: "I have decided that the United States should take military action against Syrian targets."

 Retweeted by The New York Times

David Corn ‏@DavidCornDC 34m

Obama: we should take action, no need to rush, and Congress should have a say.

GottaLaff ‏@GottaLaff 35m

PBO: I'm confident we can hold them acct'able, degrade. We're prepared to strike whenver we choose LIVE FEED: http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/2013/08/31/live-streaming-video-president-obama-speaks-on-syria-115p-edt/ … #Syria

 Retweeted by lafloran hussein P,

Leigh Munsil ‏@leighmunsil 34m

Obama: U.S. prepared to strike whenever we choose, not time-sensitive. Will seek authorization from Congress

West Wing Reports ‏@WestWingReport 34m

"I have concluded that military action" is necessary, President says - we strike "whenever we choose" and "I am prepared to give that order"

Jonathan Capehart ‏@CapehartJ 35m

POTUS sounds like he means business. #awaitingaction

 Retweeted by lafloran hussein P,

NewsHour ‏@NewsHour 34m

OBAMA: There will be no boots on the ground and will be limited in scope http://to.pbs.org/15oCanR  #Syria

Monica Perez Nevarez ‏@guayaba 34m

Seek authorization from Congess @POTUS [another lesson: correct your tweets for grammar and spelling before you publish them.]

The Associated Press ‏@AP 34m

BREAKING: Obama: U.S. should take military action against Syria.

Mother Jones ‏@MotherJones 34m

“I will seek authorization for the use of force from the American people’s representatives in Congress” -- President Obama #Syria

Peter Baker ‏@peterbakernyt 34m                                           

Obama: "I will seek authorization for the use of force from the American people's representatives in congress."

 Retweeted by The New York Times

Huffington Post ‏@HuffingtonPost  34m

Obama: "I will seek authorization for the use of force from the American people's representatives in Congress." #Syria

Minute 5 (minute 33 on timeline)

Yet, while I believe I have the authority to carry out this military action without specific congressional authorization, I know that the country will be stronger if we take this course, and our actions will be even more effective. We should have this debate, because the issues are too big for business as usual. And this morning, John Boehner, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell agreed that this is the right thing to do for our democracy.

A country faces few decisions as grave as using military force, even when that force is limited. I respect the views of those who call for caution, particularly as our country emerges from a time of war that I was elected in part to end. But if we really do want to turn away from taking appropriate action in the face of such an unspeakable outrage, then we must acknowledge the costs of doing nothing.

Here's my question for every member of Congress and every member of the global community:

POLITICO ‏@politico 33m

Obama says he'll seek authorization for use of force from Congress http://politico.com/live 

David Corn ‏@DavidCornDC 33m

There will be a debate and vote when Congress gets back to town. "All of us should be accountable."

CaribNews/PuertoRico ‏@caribnews 33m

AHORA: Obama pedira autorización al Congreso para atacar el gobierno en Siria

Pew Research Center ‏@pewresearch 33m

Obama says he will seek congressional approval for military action against #Syria

NewsHour ‏@NewsHour 33m

OBAMA: I will seek authorization for use of force from American people's representatives http://to.pbs.org/15oCanR  #Syria

West Wing Reports ‏@WestWingReport 33m

POTUS: "I have decided the United States should take limited military action" against Syria - will provide Congress w/what it needs

Leigh Munsil ‏@leighmunsil 33m                               

Predicted a vote on Syria would fail in House -> RT @repjustinamash: Thank you, Mr President.

NewsHour ‏@NewsHour 33m

Obama says Congress to debate and vote once back from session http://to.pbs.org/15oCanR  #Syria

6 minutes (minute 32 on timeline)

What message will we send if a dictator can gas hundreds of children to death in plain sight and pay no price? What's the purpose of the international system that we've built if a prohibition on the use of chemical weapons that has been agreed to by the governments of 98 percent of the world's people and approved overwhelmingly by the Congress of the United States is not enforced?

Make no mistake - this has implications beyond chemical warfare. If we won't enforce accountability in the face of this heinous act, what does it say about our resolve to stand up to others who flout fundamental international rules? To governments who would choose to build nuclear arms? To terrorist who would spread biological weapons? To armies who carry out genocide?

We cannot raise our children in a world where we will not follow through on the things we say, the accords we sign, the values that define us.

So just as I will take this case to Congress, I will also deliver this message to the world.

Independent.ie ‏@Independent_ie 32m

Breaking: Obama says has decided to seek authorisation for use of force from congress. More to follow on Independent.ie

Chuck Todd ‏@chucktodd 34m

POTUS will seek authorization from Congress. But will NOT call Congress back early. So debate is not for another 9 or 10 days

 Retweeted by lafloran hussein P,

The New York Times ‏@nytimes 32m

Breaking News: Obama Will Strike Syria, But Will Seek Congressional Authorization http://nyti.ms/Zf40cq 

David Corn ‏@DavidCornDC 32m

Obama: "We should have this debate."

Huffington Post ‏@HuffingtonPost 32m

HAPPENING NOW: Obama delivering statement on #Syria http://huff.to/1dw2LS4 

 View summary

Peter Baker ‏@peterbakernyt 34m

Obama: Talked with four leaders in Congress and they agreed to schedule debate and vote when Congress comes back to town.

 Retweeted by David Leonhardt

Monica Perez Nevarez ‏@guayaba 32m

We should have this debate. It is too important @POTUS [same mistakes as above, and mis-use of the “@” symbol]

David Rothkopf ‏@djrothkopf 33m

Obama trading paralysis and impotence of UN for paralysis and impotence of US Congress.

 Retweeted by Nicholas Kristof

Pew Research Center ‏@pewresearch 32m

UN approval before using military force lacks widespread global agreement http://pewrsr.ch/17nXuaF 

TIME.com ‏@TIME 32m

Obama will seek congressional authorization for military strike against Syria | http://ti.me/17mGy2G 

 View summary

NewsHour ‏@NewsHour 32m

OBAMA: We should have this debate because the issues are too big for business as usual http://to.pbs.org/15oCanR  #Syria

David Corn ‏@DavidCornDC 32m

Rand Paul, your move.

West Wing Reports ‏@WestWingReport 32m                                      

Pres. critical of "paralyzed" UN, says he'll bypass if needed; says he can carry out attack on his own - but wants Congressional vote

Eco-Friendly Home ‏@ecofhp 32m

#Congress is so strange. A man gets up to speak & says nothing. Nobody listens, then everybody disagrees.- Boris Marshalov #quotes

Minute 7 (minute 31 on timeline)

While the U.N. investigation has some time to report on its findings, we will insist that an atrocity committed with chemical weapons is not simply investigated, it must be confronted.

I don't expect every nation to agree with the decision we have made. Privately we've heard many expressions of support from our friends. But I will ask those who care about the writ of the international community to stand publicly behind our action.

And finally, let me say this to the American people: I know well that we are weary of war. We've ended one war in Iraq. We're ending another in Afghanistan. And the American people have the good sense to know we cannot resolve the underlying conflict in Syria with our military. In that part of the world, there are ancient sectarian differences, and the hopes of the Arab Spring have unleashed forces of change that are going to take many years to resolve. And that's why we're not contemplating putting our troops in the middle of someone else's war.

Pew Research Center ‏@pewresearch 31m

Even before chemical weapons furor, Assad had little support among publics in the region http://pewrsr.ch/146rcwS 

Monica Perez Nevarez ‏@guayaba 31m

Question what message we send if dictator gases people and there is no reaction?

Anonymous ‏@YourAnonNews 31m

Breaking: Obama will seek congressional approval before any military strikes against #Syria. Congress not in session until Sept. 9th.

Mother Jones ‏@MotherJones 31m

“What message will we send if a dictator can gas hundreds of kids to death in plain sight and pay no price?” -- President Obama #Syria

The Associated Press ‏@AP 31m

BREAKING: Obama will seek authorization from Congress for taking military action against Syria

Oliver Darcy ‏@oliverdarcy 31m

OBAMA: "Make no mistake, this has implications beyond chemical warfare."

 Retweeted by Leigh Munsil

West Wing Reports ‏@WestWingReport 31m

President not indicating he'll call Congress back early; it returns on Sept. 9; any hostilities against Syria appear weeks away - if any

david m aka sixoone ‏@sixoone_31m

'No attack on Syria' anti-war rally in central London​. @Demotix News http://www.demotix.com/news/2542107/no-attack-syria-demonstration-central-london … @CNDuk #HandsOffSyria @TheGreenParty

 Retweeted by The Green Party

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No attack on Syria demonstration in central London

Monica Perez Nevarez ‏@guayaba 31m

This has implications beyond WMD... To genocide, bullying, ...

Reuters Top News ‏@Reuters 31m

Obama to seek U.S. congressional debate and vote to consider approving limited military action against Syria gov't http://reut.rs/14jsGrg 

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Minute 8 (minute 30 on timeline)

Instead, we'll continue to support the Syrian people through our pressure on the Assad regime, our commitment to the opposition, our care for the displaced, and our pursuit of a political resolution that achieves a government that respects the dignity of its people.

But we are the United States of America, and we cannot and must not turn a blind eye to what happened in Damascus. Out of the ashes of world war, we built an international order and enforced the rules that gave it meaning. And we did so because we believe that the right of individuals to live in peace and dignity depends on the responsibilities of nations. We aren't perfect, but this nation more than any other has been willing to meet those responsibilities.

So to all members of Congress of both parties, I ask you to take this vote for our national security. I am looking forward to the debate. And in doing so, I ask you, members of Congress, to consider that some things are more important than partisan differences or the politics of the moment.

Caroline Ghosn ‏@carolineghosn 30m

Listening to President Obama on the radio

Mother Jones ‏@MotherJones 30m

“We cannot raise our children in a world where we do not follow through on the things we say” -- President Obama #Syria

HuffPost Politics ‏@HuffPostPol 33m

Obama: "While I believe I have the authority…I know the country will be stronger if we take this course…we should have this debate."

 Retweeted by Huffington Post

Peter Baker ‏@peterbakernyt 31m

Obama: "What message will we send if a dictator can gas hundreds of children to death in plain sight and pay no price?"

 Retweeted by The New York Times

NewsHour ‏@NewsHour 30m

OBAMA: This has implications beyond chemical warfare http://to.pbs.org/15oCanR  #Syria

Lois Romano ‏@loisromano 32m

Obama says no troops will be sent into Syria. Willing to go in without UN security council which he called "paralyzed"

 Retweeted by POLITICO

Christiane Amanpour ‏@camanpour 30m

Pres says he's made decision to strike soon, next week or next month, like UK he'll seek congressional approval ....rolling the dice? ...

Leigh Munsil ‏@leighmunsil 30m

Makes U.S. look like aggressor? RT @EasonJordan: Surprising that Syrian state TV would televise Obama's remarks live. pic.twitter.com/VQcSCSRKaF

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David Corn ‏@DavidCornDC 30m

Obama: this is not lonely-at-the-top time; it's time for people's reps to make a hard decision.

Christiane Amanpour ‏@camanpour 30m

.... US credibility and our right NOT to be attacked by WMD on the line.

West Wing Reports ‏@WestWingReport 30m

"An atrocity committed with chemical weapons...must be confronted," president says of #syria

US Reality Check ‏@USRealityCheck 30m

The President Will Explain What's Next for Syria: The President announced a surprise press conference ... http://bit.ly/12XXOLI  taw #US

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Monica Perez Nevarez ‏@guayaba 30m

While UN investigation goes ahead, genocide must be confronted. Asking leaders to stand behind this action @POTUS

Minute 9 (minute 29 on timeline)

Ultimately, this is not about who occupies this office at any given time; it's about who we are as a country. I believe that the people's representatives must be invested in what America does abroad, and now is the time to show the world that America keeps our commitments. We do what we say. And we lead with the belief that right makes might - not the other way around.

We all know there are no easy options. But I wasn't elected to avoid hard decisions. And neither were the members of the House and the Senate. I've told you what I believe, that our security and our values demand that we cannot turn away from the massacre of countless civilians with chemical weapons. And our democracy is stronger when the President and the people's representatives stand together.

I'm ready to act in the face of this outrage.

NewsHour ‏@NewsHour 29m

OBAMA: We cannot raise our children in a world where we do not follow through on the things that we say http://to.pbs.org/15oCanR  #Syria

Huffington Post ‏@HuffingtonPost 29m

Obama: "We cannot raise our children in a world where we do not follow through on things we say" #Syria

Jay Newton-Small ‏@JNSmall 31m

Wow. Congressional approval is going to be a nightmare to get thru the House. Anyone remember the House's disastrous failed votes on Libya?

 Retweeted by TIME.com        

Monica Perez Nevarez ‏@guayaba 29m

Looking for a political solution, while supporting the Syrian people @POTUS

David Freddoso ‏@freddoso 29m

Have we just witnessed the high point of executive power in the U.S.?

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Steve Brusk ‏@stevebruskCNN 29m                                         

Our International Desk says Syrian State TV is carrying President Obama's address live

 Retweeted by Ben Smith

CNN Breaking News ‏@cnnbrk 28m

President Obama: US "should take military action against Syrian targets" but he'll seek Congressional approval. http://on.cnn.com/179eqgU 

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Stuart Millar ‏@stuartmillar159 34m

Obama: "I am prepared to give that order. But...I will seek authorisation for the use of force for the American people's reps in Congress"

 Retweeted by GuardianUS

Vijay Prashad ‏@vijayprashad 28m

Obama puts it in the laps of the US Congress. Good move. Lights are back on in Beirut.

Stuart Millar ‏@stuartmillar159 32m

Obama makes clear he believes he has the authority to launch strikes without authorisation. But says country and decision stronger with it

 Retweeted by GuardianUS

Andy Carvin ‏@acarvin 29m

Obama: We cannot and must not turn a blind eye on what happened in Damascus. #Syria

 Retweeted by Nicholas Kristof

Emile Hokayem ‏@emile_hokayem 29m

So the most limited strike ever will take the longest process ever to happen.

 Retweeted by Nicholas Kristof

Ewen MacAskill ‏@ewenmacaskill 29m

Obama in White House statement delays attack on Syria to give members of Congress a chance to debate.

 Retweeted by GuardianUS

Minute 10 (minute 28 on timeline)

Today I'm asking Congress to send a message to the world that we are ready to move forward together as one nation.

Thanks very much.

West Wing Reports ‏@WestWingReport 28m

President tacitly acknowledging lack of political capital to proceed unilaterally; wants/needs Congressional buy in on #Syria

Monica Perez Nevarez ‏@guayaba 28m

.@POTUS looking forward to debate. We must assure the world that that we keep our commitments. Right makes might, not the other way around

Marnie Glickman ‏@marniemix 27m

Obama will seek authorization from Congress for force through Congress. Will peace prevail? Will we stand up for non-violence? #syria

HuffPost Politics ‏@HuffPostPol 29m

Obama: "We cannot and must not turn a blind eye on what happened in Damascus"

 Retweeted by Huffington Post

Salon.com ‏@Salon 27m

"Your fatwa does not apply here": Muslim artists battle fundamentalism http://slnm.us/lLHVh7d 

NewsHour ‏@NewsHour 27m                                     

OBAMA: Our country is stronger when the president and the people's representatives stand together http://to.pbs.org/15oCanR  #Syria


See the full transcript here.

Friday, June 28, 2013

Soil, Soul, Society


“Soil, Soul, Society” 

By Monica Perez Nevarez, 6/28/2013


Adapting to climate change requires we re-examine how and why we live. And change starts with us, as individuals.

There are few things human beings need to survive: food and water to feed our bodies; homes and clothing to shelter us from inclement weather. Other needs stem from these primary requirements, including energy, waste management, and sanitation which help with efficiency and health. Growing food, water management, tool-making, woodworking, ceramics, glassblowing, and cloth-making were pillars of ancient economies, aside from war plunder. (House-building was a communal activity at first, not a business). Is there a way back to that kind of simplicity? And should we go back to it if we could?

Society progressed and embraced technologies that facilitated farming (the wheel, the hoe, domesticating farm animals), water delivery (the Roman aqueducts), tool-making (fire, bellows, iron, and bronze), and making cloth (spinning wheel, looms, growing flax, cotton and farming silkworms, creating the 'Silk Road' network). Ten thousand years after learning to farm and live in villages, technology and education took a great leap forward with the invention of Guttenberg's paper press, and three centuries later, the Steam engine redefined the economy, and everything changed. The added knowledge in books and the added energy of the steam engine made more work possible in less time, and empowered individuals to do alone what had up to then only been done communally. And thus began the concentration of wealth for those that leveraged that power.

During the Industrial Revolution, the economy boomed: businessmen began to extract natural resources at breakneck speed, without supervision, regulation, or understanding from the government; industry broke up work processes into discrete actions, creating worker dependence and making the production of goods more efficient and cheaper, but destroyed artisanal masters and their ethos of creating a product from start to finish, and building a product to last. Businesses in the Industrial Revolution went global (tea from India, coffee from Kenya, herbs from the Far East), and offered new 'necessities of life' to society at an affordable cost, and society became hooked on the immediacy and comfort of those new products and services. The business model and mindset of siphoning small amounts of money from as many people as possible created an addiction that has only grown more desperate with time. 

Somewhere in the last 100 years, the idea of development was transformed, from an exercise in communal growth to one of individual growth and dehumanizing mechanization; businessmen focused exclusively on getting richer, and their way of thinking spread like a virus. Personal wealth created (read: paid for) the political framework within which our economy is now run, with unjust and tragic consequences.

As those practices grew, an obscene inequality in wealth, education, and opportunity grew with it, as well as rapid and unfair resource depletion; we have been so rapacious we are killing life on Earth, and the cult of the individual and its corresponding myth of ‘free markets’ has corroded unity and continues to dissolve communities, as more people leave rural areas in search of work in larger cities. Most egregiously, society has lost the intimacy every person had with the land and the food they ate, and wealth concentration has created ‘food deserts’ among those that most need nourishing food, ie, the poor.

From the 'Land of Milk and Honey' to the Land of CAFO's and Colony Collapse Disorder

In the last 60 years, the way we do business has consolidated industries and created a society that is dependent on ever-increasing consumption of genetically modified crops and highly processed foods, dangerous extractive practices of natural resources, the use of toxic materials, and petroleum-based synthetic fibers to produce goods, and the consumption of ever-larger amounts of fossil fuels, at a time when environmental priorities demand alternative lifestyles that are completely different than our own. The offshoots of Eisenhower’s 'military-industrial complex' have taken over the economy, politics, and government.

And not only are we dependent on toxic processes for our food and livelihoods, but we have also become a consumer society made up of individuals that no longer know how to be self-sufficient, and our communities are too politically polarized to effectively talk to each other. Add to that the imminent threats of climate change, and you realize humanity is facing the greatest challenge it has ever faced: how to help every living person realize what the real costs of a rich-world lifestyle are, what our collective mistakes have been in our development trajectory, and use the knowledge and technology we have to create a world that allows some comfort and lots of work, health, and happiness for all (including all other living beings). We cannot let a government swayed by business interests decide, we must tell them what we want. To do this, we have to act ethically and wisely as a society, as individuals, as communities, as nations, and as humans. Technology won’t solve our problems, although it might help. At any rate, change must begin at the individual level first.

As Wendell Berry wrote in a recent article “…responsibility for the better economy, the better life belongs to us individually and to our communities. The necessary changes cannot be made on the terms prescribed to us by the industrial economy and the so-called free market. They can be made only on the terms imposed upon us by the nature and the limits of local ecosystems. If we’re serious about these big problems, we’ve got to see that the solutions begin and end with ourselves.”

Are there any role models to learn from? Yes. Aboriginal and Native peoples around the world were perfectly attuned to their environment before the advent of the 'Age of Discovery.' There is much to learn from them. Thousands of books have been written on ecology, environment, economy, and climate change since the ’60s; they are a good resource. We can also look to our recent ancestors, who, although the Industrial Revolution had well engulfed them, still lived close to the land and in tune with it. We need to learn how to live and consume the way our grandparents and great-grandparents did, and study how we can adapt our lives to their level of energy consumption, community participation, entrepreneurship, and personal resilience. We need to become interdependent again (not dependent as children are, nor independent self-seekers, but interdependent adults), in order not to depend on corporations for our food, our well-being, or our jobs. We can marry lessons from the past with current knowledge and low-tech and mechanical tools and transition into a sustainable future.

Are there any current examples to follow? Cuba, Transition Towns, and rebirth in crumbling urban centers.

In places where people have little choice, alternatives sprout up: on the economic sidelines, we see a robust trend towards becoming self-sustaining. Cuba, long under Soviet dependence and a crippling US embargo, turned to urban gardening after the fall of the Berlin Wall, which twenty-four years later has evolved into relaxed business laws that allow ‘Home Restaurants’ and other capitalist offshoots to grow, and a nascent entrepreneurial society, to establish itself, which would have been unheard of under Communism. In Britain, groups of neighbors got together to “re-localize” their economies and grow their food and the idea stuck; they are now known as “Transition Towns” and the concept is spreading around the globe.

Out of the bleak remains of inner-city Detroit, people bought foreclosed properties and county administrators tore down derelict buildings, and a city map that was densely populated with small homes on stamp-sized lots now looks like a patchwork quilt of urban gardens; a garden city is emerging that is self-sufficient in fresh vegetables and urban chickens. In Milwaukee, one man turned a 1,000 square foot derelict greenhouse into a business that produces over one million pounds of produce a year. Here in New York City, groups in Brooklyn have created solutions with rooftop farming (The Brooklyn Grange http://www.brooklyngrangefarm.com/), and urban gardening in a Food Desert (East New York Farms! http://eastnewyorkfarms.org/) that offer local produce where once there were only food deserts.

 Where do we go from here?

Start with the things an individual can do. Be energy efficient (offset your travel and driving by walking using mass transit, buying carbon credits;re change lightbulbs to LED's, use solar energy, buy solar and wind-powered electricity, drive electric, eat locally sourced foods, build using Passiv Haus or LEED standards, reduce waste, recycle, consume less, for example). Re-localizing the economy and growing healthy food counteracts wealth concentration, spreads wealth and wisdom locally, and creates community bonds, which engender resilience. And it starts with one person doing business (filling a need) with another person (seeking a good or service) in their community, producing your own goods, or growing a food garden, or engaging with young people in educational experiences. Figure out what works for you while designing a business that solves a larger problem.

Make use of all the science and education that already exists to set personal and communal metrics, benchmarks, and goals, so you keep track of what you are doing and why you are doing it. Once you have created a community, spread that friendship and that community-building message to neighboring areas, and expand your network outward, organically.

Make special efforts to love, be generous, and teach the next generation about the Earth, the community, and their role within the web of life, so we no longer grow men and women that think humans can control everything through wealth, power, or technology, or that some humans are better than others, or that our species is more important than other species that share the planet with us. We are all equally a part of the Web of Life, and we share the right to clean air, clean water, healthy habitat with all living thongs.

Use all forms of available communication media to get your message out. Face to face is a good starting point, but engagement requires constant tending, and social media is global, immediate, and can be compelling. Educational disparity fuels inequality, so use every tool at your disposal to abolish that inequality and disseminate more knowledge to every person in your community.

Most importantly, lobby your legislators, educate them, join groups that are fighting for what you believe and need; be active politically. Be a part of a robust community, where people care for each other and look out for one another. Decide what you want your world to look like, how we should act in it so all of us are included and respected, and be vocal about how you see reality, including climate change, economic collapse, social inequality. Be open to new perspectives, but check the facts. When you encounter others that place more value on money than on humanity, find the things you have in common, and work up from there to where you have a rapport you can work with. Be aware of how legislators are writing laws, and who those laws benefit and protect, and who they harm. Repudiate liars and cheats.

What of Businesses?

Non-Profit entities that survived the Great Recession of 2008 have realized that their old business model is not sustainable in this new economy. They must now actively supplement their fundraising activities by offering needed services for pay and seeking partnerships with for-profit businesses and government agencies to build sustainable income flows. For-profit businesses are finding that arrangement satisfying and profitable.

Partnerships between the private sector (business), public sector (government agencies), academia (schools, colleges, and universities), and the third sector (non-profits) are flourishing even as the business sector institutionalizes business models that embed these partnerships (B Corps http://www.bcorp.org/) and Impact Investing networks flourish in a new economic landscape (Ceres http://www.ceres.org/, Net Impact http://netimpact.org/, The Climate Group http://www.theclimategroup.org/), and circular economics makes viable alternatives to traditional financing. The trends are there, make use of them. More alliances like these are needed. In fact, creating partnerships that specifically build sustainable businesses and take into consideration the Triple Bottom Line is the best way to transition away from the toxic economy.

The Challenge

The Earth’s Atmosphere reached 400 ppm of Carbon Dioxide in May 2013 (a limit that scientists agree delineates the number of greenhouse gasses that will cause catastrophic climate disruptions that we will not be able to stop or control), and on a blisteringly hot day in June, President Obama stood up in Georgetown, and for 50 minutes set out his plan to curb climate change.

[As an aside, nary a network television channel (ABC, CBS, NBC) carried the speech, and of the two cable channels that carried it, both CNN and Fox News cut away from the President after ten minutes to discuss the plan with talking heads or climate deniers, respectively. C-SPAN and the Weather Channel carried the speech in full, and social media was (forgive the pun) all a-twitter about it in 140 character bundles. The broadcast media's underwhelming response to the President of the United States’ speech on climate change is very telling, and one of the reasons neither individuals nor businesses have understood or cared about, the urgency of the challenge. This too must change.]

President Obama ended by exhorting us, the American people, to “Act on Climate.” So the challenge has been voiced, and now it’s our turn, as cognizant individuals, to step up. We must do as Wendell Berry says, and go back to the soil, find our souls, and build a better society. Fortunately, we already have a wealth of resources from previous generations that lived close to the land, and within planetary limits; their lifestyles are a lot better for the planet and for society than ours; we must go back to the kind of lifestyle our grandparents embodied, one that respects where and why we live. 

Comments welcome, email me at guayabapr (at) gmail (dot) com.