text:
Parenting: Emotional IncestBy Dr. Margaret Paul
November 14, 2007
Emotional incest occurs when parents try to fill their inner emptiness by overly connecting with their child. Parents need to learn how to take responsibility for their own feelings so that their children do not feel this "yucky" pull.
"She used to sit me on the couch with her and grab my arms and look intently into my eyes, telling me how much she loved me and how important to her I was. I don't know exactly how to describe what I felt when she did that."
"Was it a yucky feeling?" asked Sarah, another participant.
"Yes, that's exactly the word! Yucky! So yucky! Why did it feel so yucky?"
"Because," Sarah said, "It was emotional incest. I know all about this yucky feeling. My father did the same thing with me."
Emotional incest occurs when a parent energetically uses a child to fill an inner emptiness that the parent is not taking responsibility for filling. When a parent emotionally abandons himself or herself, that parent might latch on to a child to fill the black hole that occurs from self-abandonment. While it might not be as traumatic as sexual incest, it occurs for the same reasons - a wounded parent using a child addictively to get love and avoid pain.
"Oh no!" said Phillip, another participant in the support group. "I think I might be doing that to my 15 year old daughter. No wonder she's been locking her bedroom door."
"What have you been doing Phillip?" I asked.
"Lots of times when I'm feeling badly or when Leitha (his wife) and I are having problems, I go into her room before she goes to sleep and tell her how upset I am. I complain to her about things that are going on in my life. I thought I was being a good dad - you know, spending time with her. But lately she has been asking me not to come into her room. Since I started this group, I've been realizing how much I am not taking care of my own feelings. When I feel bad, I often blame Leitha or complain to my daughter."
"Phillip, how wonderful that you are realizing this! How terrific that you are open to learning about this! What a huge difference it is going to make to your daughter for you to start to take responsibility for your own feelings."
"You know," said Phillip, "I'm excited about this. My daughter has been having some problems lately and I think this is why. I really do want to be a loving father, and I can see that I haven't understood that I have to be loving to myself before I can really love her in the way she needs to be loved. This is going to make a big difference in my relationship with Leitha too."
"Sarah and Phillip," said Jacob, "I am so grateful to both of you for putting a name to what I experienced as a child. It is really a relief to know that there was a good reason for the yucky feelings, and for not liking to be touched. I think that I have associated most touch with that yucky feeling of being pulled at to fill up my mother. I feel like knowing this, maybe I can start to give normal hugs to the people who are important to me."
A parent with a gaping inner hole that comes from inner abandonment cannot just stop the emotional incest. Certainly you can stop the overt actions, but to stop the energetic pull, you need to be doing your own Inner Bonding work so that you learn to fill your own inner emptiness.
Send this article to a friend Print this article Bookmarked 5 time(s)
|Related Articles
|Validating vs. Indulging Children's Feelings
|Children, Entitlement, and God
|Caretaking Parents, Entitled Kids
|Are You Letting Your Children Manipulate You?
|Are You Addicted to Your Children?
Join the Inner Bonding Community to add your comment to articles and see the comments of others...
Daily Inspiration
Which will be your guide today, fear or love? Which will light your way today, your desire to control or your desire to learn about loving yourself and others? If you do not consciously think about it, fear and the desire to control will be in charge, for they are the unconscious settings of your internal computer. Today, choose to be conscious of who is in charge, your fearful and controlling ego wounded self, or your loving Adult.
By Dr. Margaret Paul


text:
Each support staff member shall maintain a standard of care for the supervision, control, and protection of students commensurate with their assigned duties and responsibilities that include but are not limited to:
|A support staff member shall report immediately to a building-level administrator any accident, safety hazard, or other potentially harmful condition or situation about which she/he is informed or detects.
|A support staff member shall immediately report to a building administrator knowledge of threats of violence by students.
|A support staff member shall not send students on any non-school related errands.
|A support staff member shall not inappropriately associate with students at any time in a manner which may give the appearance of impropriety, including, but not limited to, the creation or participation in any situation or activity which could be considered abusive or sexually suggestive or involve illegal substances such as drugs, alcohol, or tobacco. Any sexual or other inappropriate conduct with a student by any staff member will subject the offender to potential criminal liability and discipline up to and including termination of employment.
|A support staff member shall not transport students in a private vehicle without the approval of the principal.
|If a student approaches a support staff member to seek advice or to ask questions regarding a personal problem related to sexual behavior, substance abuse, and/or mental or physical health, the staff member shall refer the student to District staff certified or licensed in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of the student's stated problem.
|Support staff members are discouraged from engaging students in social media and online networking media, such as Facebook, Twitter, et cetera, and are expressly prohibited from posting any video or comment pertaining to any student on social network sites or similar forums, such as YouTube, without the express permission of the parent.
Any staff member who shares confidential information concerning a student with another person not authorized to receive the information may be subject to discipline and/or civil liability in accordance with Policy 8330. This restriction includes, but is not limited to, information concerning assessments, grades, behavior, family background, and alleged child abuse.
Pursuant to the laws of the State and School Board Policy 8462, each instructional staff member shall report to the proper legal authorities immediately any sign of suspected child abuse or neglect.
34 C.F.R. Part 99
© Neola 2011

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Checking in on past installs
Although we are no longer installing landscapes, and next year will be moving away from landscaping entirely, it's sure fun to revisit some of our favorite xeriscapes from over the
Aschoff Enterprises, LLC was established in 2013 by Kevin and Lilly Aschoff. We are fully licensed with the Oregon Landscape Contractor's Board for all phases of landscape construction plus irrigation, as well as certified with the Oregon Health Department for backflow testing. We pride ourselves on taking the time to do things right the first time, quality work and above average client communication. As we transition to focusing on mainly irrigation and cross connection control, most of our services will be completed under the business entity Deschutes Backflow Testing. We remain a small, family owned business, and we are dedicated to protecting our community's water. We look forward to working with you!
Kevin and Lilly Aschoff provide the best experience in the quality of their work and use of their professional training and experience. They have exhibited a unique ability to visualize my property from the point of view of existing plants, types of trees, available sunlight, where the system sprinkler heads are located by type and where aimed (add or remove), amount of water needed at each point in the system and timing of the water cycle. A similar thought process was used in the placement of low energy garden lights. What makes them different is their ability to 'think out of the box' in making practical suggestions regarding your landscaping needs. Top Class.
Kevin and Lilly begin a job asking a lot of intelligent questions in an effort to fully understand the situation and what's required. They think ahead, anticipate problems and do a thorough job.
Kevin and Lilly are great to work with. The contacted landscape maintenance work they do for us is always done timely, reliably with quality work. Special projects are always done on the day they tell us and at quoted process. Their billings are itemized, accurate, timely and they are a pleasure to work with. We highly recommend Aschoff Enterprises.
We found both Kevin and Lilly to be very professional in their project with us. They asked a lot of questions to ensure that we were all agreed to what would be accomplished. They use a formal contract which clearly delineated what would be accomplished with the associated costs. My favorite part about working with Aschoff Enterprises was their commitment to the projects undertaken. Their honesty and straightforward manner. The quality of their work is excellent. One of the things we really appreciated was that they always made sure our property was 'cleaned up', as the work is dirty and creates a mess, which would be gone by the end of each day. We talked to another company about the same project and the detail with which they responded was not what we had asked for. Kevin and Lily on the other hand, listened carefully and included everything we requested and made recommendations. The back and forth regarding specific plants and other questions via email was articulate and timely. I would definitely recommend Aschoff Enterprises for many reasons. They're reliable–they do what they've committed to do and in the timeframe they committed to. IF anything effects the timeline, they notify you and provide an alternate.
Both Lilly and Kevin are professional, polite, warm and so caring! They feel like family. We would and have recommended Aschoff Enterprises to our friends AND family. And in fact, THEY have recommended them to others! Everyone who hires Aschoff Enterprises comments on what a great job they do and how hard they work.
What I really like about Aschoff Enterprises is that they are open and honest and always learning new things. I have referred them to several people and gotten back glowing reports. Kevin and Lilly are both hard workers and get the job done quickly and completely at the lowest possible cost. They well deserve the excellent reputation they have already earned!
When I got my rescue pup three years ago, he dug up all of the irrigation in my back yard. I had Lilly and Kevin come in to replace it, hoping that Trek wouldn't repeat the same behavior. They buried the irrigation 3″ underground, and worked with me on a design layout to keep both of Trek's laying spots in the back yard. I have already shown the work off to my neighbors. \They worked with me on plant selection and gave excellent advice. They also improved a French drain on the side of my house. They are thorough, considerate, efficient, and clean up completely between each day's work and after job completion. I highly recommend Aschoff Enterprises!
Aschoff Enterprises was very personable/professional and easy to work with. They returned calls promptly, showed up on time and did all the work promised. We would absolutely recommend them to our friends, they are dependable, reliable and some of the nicest people we have worked with. Exceptional work ethic – very hard working. They were on time, got all the work done that was promised in the allotted time. Gave excellent recommendations for our yard. We hope to have a long relationship with Aschoff Enterprises and look forward to seeing them in the Spring of 2017!
Aschoff Enterprises have completed several landscaping tasks over the past two years at my home on Awbrey Butte. Kevin and Lilly are a very hard working team and a delight to work with. They really seem to want to make their customers happy. Tasks they performed for me: Installed irrigation system for raised garden beds, installed paver pathway from front to back yard around house, installed a large gravel dog run in side yard, performed back-flow valve test and certification, performed fall yard cleanup, aerated lawn and blow-down of irrigation system for winter. In all cases, their tasks were performed to my full satisfaction. The quality of their work is first rate – no follow-up or unexpected clean-up has been necessary after they leave.
They conferred and helped us make good decisions about how to landscape our front and back yards. They: Helped roll some fairly large sized lava rock into positions. Helped design pathways and laid the pavers to enhance the yards. Re-configured and installed our sprinkler system. Guided our choice in colors (leaves and flowers) for deer resistant foliage and trees and successfully planted them, as well as supplying the names and how to care for them. (Our thumbs are not green and we needed and will continue to need as much help as possible!) They had a great sod laid and now maintain our lawn through the growing months, making it the envy of our neighbors. They are remarkably mature, organized, and knowledgable. We consider them our friends and admire all their achievements as landscapers, gardeners, and all their unbelievable talents and activities.
We have used the Aschoffs for over a year and are delighted with their services. They are reliable, competent, and do so much more than mow the grass without me having to ask. I am happy to recommend them.
I've enjoyed working with Kevin & Lilly for several years now, and have recommended them to friends. They are personable, organized and knowledgeable about local plants.
Aschoff Enterprises designed and installed a complete watering system for our large back yard. The irrigation plan included raised veggie garden bed drip systems, fruit trees, shade and full sun gardens, as well as a lawn that has areas of full shade and full sun. They were careful to research sun patterns and other conflicting factors that have made our yard a challenge to irrigate with any success. We were so pleased with their professional work ethic, as well as their enjoyment of the job. They work hard and laugh often, which in my book is a perfect combination! We will be using them again!!
We have been so impressed with Kevin & Lilly's attention to detail in keeping our lawn & yard well-manicured & green throughout the hot summer season. Lilly also has great ideas for landscape design based on our needs & wants. They are punctual and affordable. I highly recommend them to anyone needing a project large or small. Thank you, Aschoff Enterprises. You're the BEST!
Although we are no longer installing landscapes, and next year will be moving away from landscaping entirely, it's sure fun to revisit some of our favorite xeriscapes from over the
Spring is coming, and that means backflow testing season! Get yours scheduled today with Deschutes Backflow Testing! CLICK HERE
Good news! We have some availability in our maintenance schedule this year in the following neighborhoods: Widgi Creek Awbrey Butte Starwood Mowing weekly Edging of the lawn bi-weekly Fertilizing the
Aschoff Enterprises
Simple Business Theme
Powered by WordPress


text:
Sep 4, 2011 - Autumn, Cake, Pie, September 3 Comments
Anni's Apple Pie in the Sky
This Apple Pie recipe is one of my family's long-time favourite. My mum, sister and I know how to make it, to the delight of my father who can eat half in one go, unless we stop him and hide it. Needless to say it's his ultimate favourite.
I know apples are available all year round and for many not one of the most exciting fruits but don't be fooled, apples are at their best now and should be given the respect they deserve.


text:
antiques, art, cleveland, decorating, fiori della vita, Mitchell Sotka, Old River Shopping, vintage
When I visit my favorite antique store in Cleveland, Mitchell Sotka, Ltd. (www.MitchellSotka.com) I feel like there's a Story Book behind every piece. I wonder who carried that purse or wore that jewelry to what event. Where did that suitcase travel? Did that lamp light a special room for a special guest?
I imagine that on each antique there was one small detail that made it special.
One page in a book.
The crystal on a chandelier – or the rainbow on the wall from that crystal on that chandelier.
A delicate little hand-painted flower on a teacup.
How did that frame on that picture get cracked?
There could be an entire Girl With The Pearl Earring novel behind a set of pate spreaders or napkin rings.
I know the antiques or vintage pieces are only worth what someone else will pay for them, but how do you put a price tag on the history of someone's memories?


text:
Holidays Follow the VLE link, download the task and complete the listening activity
The arrival of school holidays is usually a cause to celebrate. When that holiday involves receiving improbable amounts of chocolate for no particular reason, even more so.
But the Easter break also comes with a dreaded catch. It marks the moment when revision gets serious.
Preparing for exams requires a big commitment. However, it often feels more daunting than it really needs to. Over the past few weeks we've been speaking to education and psychology experts to find the latest advice on revision techniques, and help turn that looming ogre of exam revision into something more approachable.
Last month (February 16) I explained why you won't spend a more important couple of hours this year than the time you put aside to construct a detailed revision plan (visittelegraph.co.uk/revisiontechniques for this and other resources). True to that sentiment, here is our own 10-point action plan for revision success.
1 Allocate your time
As you read this article, most of you will be just two months from your first exam. If you work an average of three hours a day between now and then, that's 180 hours – or just 20 per subject. You'll need to use them wisely. There is no hard-and-fast formula on how to divide up your time, but feedback from teachers and results from your mock exams will give clear indications of which subjects need the most attention. You should also check which exams come first and plan accordingly, and enlist a parent, friend or tutor to help you draw up your timetable – or, more importantly, hold you to it. Deciding how long to spend on each subject is the most time-consuming aspect of revision planning, but it's not until you do so that you'll realise how precious every hour is.
2 Find out the format
Do you know exactly how you're going to be tested by the examiners? After all, it's no good memorising endless reams of quotations if the exam is going to be multiple choice. Similarly, essay questions require a broader, more interconnected focus than short answers. Mark schemes, as well as real exam transcripts complete with the original examiners' marks, should be available on exam board websites.
3 Stick to short-term goals
For most exams you only get one attempt. By setting yourself methodical, short-term goals throughout the revision process, you can take away the risk of mistakenly omitting a key topic from your studies. Look up the course syllabus now if you're in any doubt as to how the subject is broken up, then determine a specific goal for each session based on precisely what you need to learn in that sitting. Don't put the books away until you've finished it.
4 Research memory techniques
Memory techniques may sound more like an elaborate party trick, but they are tremendously useful for learning more facts than you ever thought you could retain. Even if you don't follow them dogmatically, they offer helpful insight into the way your brain works. Writer and co-founder of memrise.com, the online educational platform, and "Grandmaster of Memory" Ed Cooke has been writing an exclusive blog for Telegraph Education over the past weeks, explaining methods such as spider diagrams, word association and spatial techniques. Put the latest in memory science to good use.
5 Test and consolidate
Check you can remember everything you've just learnt not only at the end of the session, but again the next day, the next week and the next month. If you can't, chances are you won't remember it come May either. And once you've been over all the material for the first time, resist the temptation to relax. If anything, this is the moment to up the ante. Because the material is no longer new, it is less of a mental strain to cover, and you can work at it for longer. By the start of summer term you should be able to run quickly through entire subjects, in sessions of one or two hours of unbroken concentration. If that sounds like a lot in one go, remember it is no longer than many of your exams will be.
6 Do past papers
Many people use past papers from the start of revision to help master the course content. Don't. Not only do curricula frequently change, but this is a waste of a finite bank of material which can be incredibly helpful in simulating the exam environment later on. Save them until the last few weeks, and then do them under real exam conditions. This will not only help to further consolidate your knowledge, but will also give you great practice at recalling and employing facts in a pressurised environment. Or, as it is sometimes known, exam technique.
7 Make mistakes
It may seem obvious to parents and teachers, but many teenagers need to be taught the importance of making mistakes. If you cheat and use your notes while revising, you'll end up getting more practice questions right. But you'll lose the invaluable opportunity to check what you didn't know, why you made the mistake, and how you can amend it.
8 Stay fresh
A regular eight hours' sleep and constant hydration are not the kind of things that teenagers typically worry about. But for the next couple of months, and especially during the final weeks, it is worth adding some discipline to your lifestyle. Regular exercise is a great way to switch off completely from revision, and ensure that you are quickly off to sleep when your head hits the pillow. Even more importantly, schedule regular breaks into your revision – and stick to the breaks every bit as rigorously as you would the work aspects.
9 Cram
The first facts that pop into your head when you turn over the exam paper are usually the ones that you have learnt immediately before entering the exam hall. There is nothing wrong with that. In fact, it is a golden opportunity which should be used to maximum effect, particularly by A-level students whose exam dates are more spread out. By the day before an exam you should have the key points condensed down and written on cue cards. Take these cards everywhere with you, even the queue for the exam hall. But do put them away — well away — before you go in.
10 Relax
It might sound paradoxical, or downright impossible, but it is essential that you should relax as much as possible before a big exam. But that doesn't mean you can't be working. The morning or evening before an exam, try retaking a past paper that you have already done. This will help you gain confidence, and experience the momentum of breezing through a paper. By the time you sit down for the real thing, you'll be in a positive mindset. Then all you have to do is get it down on paper.


text:
Month: April 2006
Bad News For Israel
I was cautiously optimistic following the outcome of the Israeli elections, but it seems one of the worst fears of the naysayers are coming true: Defense Minister Amir Peretz. Putting the dovish Labor Party leader with little military experience who campaigned on social issues in charge of Israeli security is a disaster. Uri Dan elaborates.
Meanwhile, in other news: Palestinians smuggling Katyusha rockets into Gaza
For years terrorists have been firing highly innacurate Kassam missles into Israel from Gaza in hopes that they would hit something and kill Israelis. But since the Israeli disengagement from Gaza last summer, they've been smuggling Katyusha rockets from Egypt through tunnels. The Katyushas are more accurate, and have a longer range.
This was one of the reasons that critics argued against the pullout, which I supported. I still think disengagement is a sensible strategy, but it only works if Israel is willing to do what it takes militarily to confront terrorists. The thought of Defense Minister Amir Peretz doesn't put me at ease.
GOP Giveaway
From Bloomberg via the NY Sun:
Senate Majority Leader Frist unveiled a Republican proposal to relieve high gasoline prices, calling for a $100 rebate to consumers and drilling for oil and natural gas in Alaska.
The whole thing here.
Calling it a "rebate," doesn't change the fact that it's a big government subsidy. If they want to reduce or eliminate gas taxes, fine. But giving away $100 is worthy of the party of FDR, not the party of Reagan.
Not only is it a big government proposal, but it's highly inefficient. Beyond the administrative costs, as far as I can tell, there's nothing in the proposal to ensure that people actually spend the money on gasoline. What's to stop people from using the money toward buying an iPod, or eating a fancy steak dinner?
There's also an ethical dilemma involved. What about people who don't have cars? If you give them the $100, then the rebate ends up having nothing to do with gas costs, it's just giving people $100. If you only give $100 to people who have cars, then it's unfair to people who live in large cities who ride public transportation.
I don't think Americans have a right to cheap gas. Besides the war in Iraq and tension with Iran (shorter term shocks), we're facing a long-term shift in global demand with the growing economies of China and India. Over the last few decades, these countries with more than a third of the world's population have been relatively out of the market, making it easier for Americans to consume a disproportionate amount of oil. Granted this is easy for me to say because I live in NYC, but I think Americans need to recalibrate their expectations of what the price of gas should be. And in the long run, high gas prices may create enough demand for alternative fuel to force companies to invest in new technologies in a big way. I think that's long overdue and ultimately it's an issue of national security. It makes me sick to think of countries like Iran, Saudi Arablia, Sudan, etc. being awash in oil money.
Who is John Galt?
Brad Pitt apparently. And Angelina Jolie is Dagny Taggart.
It's Time
More thoughts on "United 93" in my latest column for the American Spectator.
It's Time
The terrifying footage of people jumping from the top floors of the Twin Towers has given Americans a sense of what people were going through inside the buildings on September 11, and the images of ash-covered fire fighters and police officers have captured the heroism of rescue workers at the World Trade Center on that day. But the horrors aboard the hijacked airplanes, and the heroism exhibited by the passengers of United Flight 93, were left to the minds eye. That will all change with the release of the movie United 93 on Friday.
Having attended Tuesday's world premiere of the film in New York, which was also attended by about 90 relatives of the victims, I can attest to the fact that the movie is an emotionally draining one. Watching the day's events unfold all over again, almost in real time, resurrected many feelings I had not felt since September 11. And director Paul Greengrass didn't hold back in depicting the grisly way in which the hijackers stabbed and slashed defenseless victims and stormed their way into the cockpit.
Some would argue that this is a bad thing. Why go to the movies to relive one of the most horrific days of our lives? Why do we need to re-create one of the few events from that day which escaped the lens of the mass media? It's obvious that what went on inside the airplanes was awful, why do we need to see it?
But oftentimes memorializing tragic events requires depicting them in all of their gory details. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum shows photos of Jews who underwent medical experiments and Schindler's List graphically portrayed the brutality of Nazism. Is this exploitative and unnecessary?
Others may argue that Schindler's List was made about 50 years after the Holocaust, while it has been less than five years since September 11, which is too soon. But many war films were released while World War II was still being fought. And though this is the first feature length dramatic film directly dealing with 9/11, Americans have already been inundated with entertainment that implicitly addresses the subject, such as Munich, V for Vendetta, and one of America's top rated television shows, 24. Michael Moore exploited the tragedy in Fahrenheit 9/11. If a shoddy piece of anti-American propaganda can be released three years after the attacks, why should a sympathetic portrayal of the heroes of Flight 93 remain off-limits almost five years later?
Making United 93 relatively soon after the event contributed to its haunting realism. Many of the air traffic controllers who were on duty on 9/11 play themselves, as does FAA national operations manager Ben Sliney. The actors who portrayed the passengers were able to meet with the families of the actual passengers to get a better sense of what their loved ones were like. Had the film been put off by 10 to 20 years (or until critics deemed it the "appropriate" time) such opportunities would not have been possible, and the movie would have lost its verisimilitude.
There are other reasons why releasing the film now could be beneficial. There is a danger that the further removed Americans are from September 11, the more complacent the nation will become about the threat of terrorism. In an April Gallup Poll, only 6 percent of Americans named terrorism as the most important problem facing the country. United 93 offers a stark reminder of what we are up against.
One of the most unexpected aspects of the film is that it also shows the audience how naive and innocent America was before 9/11. As an air traffic contoller begins to suspect a hijacking, people are instinctively dismissive, assuming that it can't possibly be true because there hadn't been one for decades.
The violent reaction of some Muslims to the publication of the Mohamed cartoons has effectively silenced criticism of Islam in the Western media, but United 93 doesn't whitewash the role of Islam in terrorism. In the opening scene, the hijackers pray in Arabic in their hotel rooms. As they carry out their mission, they repeatedly invoke the name of Allah.
The film also depicts a time when Americans were united, and ready to face a common enemy. With the nation now divided between those who are pro-Iraq War and anti-Iraq War, those who support Bush and those who hate him, the film helps us remember that we're all in this together. The story of these ordinary people performing heroically in such horrifying conditions should serve as an inspiration to the civilized world as it confronts the monstrous evil of terrorism.
The 9/11 Commission Report concluded that it was unlikely that the military would have been able to stop United Flight 93 from reaching Washington, D.C. if its passengers hadn't caused the plane to crash. Thus, the quick and courageous actions of these unarmed civilians likely saved either the Capitol or the White House. United 93 is a fitting tribute to them, and America is ready to watch their story.
Philip Klein writes from New York. He can be contacted through his website www.philipklein.com.
Tony Snow
From Bush's perspective, this is an excellent choice. Snow will be forceful and articulate while also being sympathetic to the position of the press. But I think the move is looks bad for Fox News. However they decide to spin it, the fact that one of their news anchors left to be the flak for the White House looks bad. Imagine the reaction of conservatives if Wolf Blitzer were to become press secretary for a Democratic President?
United 93
I just came back from the world premiere of '?United 93′ at the Zeigfeld theater here in New York. Needless to say, it was quite an emotional experience. From a purely cinematic standpoint, the film was extremely well crafted, but more importantly, it is an unsanitized portrayal of the barbarism of the terrorists and a fitting memorial to the ordinary people aboard the flight who performed heroically under extraordinary circumstances. To the dozens of victims' families in the audience, it was especially harrowing, and at the end of the movie, I could hear loud sobbing coming from the section of the theater where they were seated (a few rows in front of me). I have to admit, I was a basket case myself for most of the movie. I experienced a lot of emotions I hadn't quite felt since 9/11. Some may say, what's the point? Why go to a movie to reopen wounds? Why should seeing a movie be painful? But by this logic, why do we have any memorials? Why do we have a Holocaust Museum, which, in addition to teaching us, shows gruesome images of medical experiments being conducted on Jews?
Others may argue that it's too soon for such a film. But many war films were released while World War II was still being fought. And though this is the first feature length dramatic film directly dealing with 9/11, Americans have already been inundated with entertainment that implicitly addresses the subject, such as '?Munich' and '?V For Vendetta,' and one of America's top rated television shows,'24.' And let's not forget that Michael Moore exploited the tragedy in '?Fahrenheit 9/11.' Why is a shoddy piece of anti-American propaganda okay three years after the attacks while a sympathetic portrayal of the heroes of Flight 93 off-limits almost five years later?
Also, the fact that the film was made within five years of the actual events likely contributed to its haunting realism. Many of the air traffic controllers who were on duty on 9/11 play themselves, as does FAA national operations manager Ben Sliney. Had the film been delayed by 10 to 20 years (or until critics were to deem it the "?right time") such opportunities may not have been possible, and the movie would have lost its verisimilitude.
Director Paul Greengrass deserves credit for making a film that's completely apolitical. The events are dramatized as accurately as possible and he doesn't attempt to assign blame or add his own editorial comments. The terrorists are not portrayed either sympathetically or as stone-faced warriors, but come across as cowards, and their brutality is revealed as they slash their defenseless victims. There is no Hollywood whitewashing of Islam either. In the opening scene, the hijackers pray in Arabic in their hotel rooms. As they carry out their mission throughout the movie, they repeatedly invoke the name of Allah. It shouldn't be surprising that in a film that aims for accuracy, the terrorists come off as bad guys.
For a film about 9/11, one of the most harrowing aspects, ironically, was that it brought me back to what the world was like before 9/11. In the post- 9/11 world, we're always conscious of terrorism, but in the film, as an air traffic contoller begins to suspect a hijacking, people are instinctively dismissive, assuming that it can't possibly be true because we hadn't had one for decades. It's amazing how naive we were about the terrorist threat.
Also, since the film takes place in real time, it really gives us better insight into what was going on at the FAA, air traffic control, and the military on that day, how poor communication was, and how long it took them to figure out what was happening. While it's obvious to the audience what's transpiring, to those living through it, it isn't obvious. They couldn't conceive that one plane would be hijacked let alone 4. At first they assumed the plane would land attempt to land at some airport to make demands, as prior hijackers had done. They couldn't imagine that the planes would be flown into buildings.
People will have to consult their own hearts before deciding whether or not to see this film. I know a lot of people who won't see films like "Schindler's List," becuase they feel they don't need to see it to understand how awful the Holocaust was. But for those who do see it, the film is a fitting tribute to the heroes of Flight 93.
Oh, and before I went to see the film, I reread the sections of the 9/11 Commission Report that dealt with Flight 93, and would recommend others do so as well. I have excerpted the parts pertaining to the flight and have posted them
Americans and Terrorism
Perhaps the biggest challenge in the War on Terror is that the further we get from Sept. 11, the less seriously Americans will take the terrorist threat. This is potentially dangerous because the less concerned Americans are about terrorism, the less supportive they will be of measures to protect against terrorist attacks. And this is precisely what our enemies are banking on.
In an attempt to get some sense of the pulse of the nation, I looked at post 9/11 trends in the Gallup Poll, which each month asks Americans the open-ended question, "What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today?" In Oct. 2001, the first such poll taken after the Sept. 11 attacks, 47 percent of Americans answered 'terrorism.' In this month's poll, only 6 percent did. It trailed Iraq (25%), Immigration (19%) Oil Prices (11%) Economy in general (10%) and Dissatisfaction with gov't (8 %). It was also tied with health care, unemployment and education.
I put together this chart that plots out the downward trend, post-9/11, of people identifying "terrorism" as the most important problem facing America:
Note: The trend line is segmented because I couldn't find the Gallup Poll data for March 2002, March 2003 and March 2005.
Hamas, Prone To Violence? Nah!
You have to read it to believe it. In an article published by the Palestine Chronicle, Palestinian Prime Minister and Hamas terrorist leader Ismail Haniyeh writes:
I know there are many people who mendaciously and maliciously or maybe ignorantly portray us as bellicose and anti-peace and prone to violence. But this is untrue.
Untrue? Let's look at some headlines from the past few days:
Haniyeh refuses to stop rocket attacks on Israel
Hamas defends restaurant bombing
For more on Haniyeh's background, click here.


text:
6 min read
I was recently asked if I was aware of any papers that talk about systematic exploration of parameters for Matrix Factorization (MF).
Automatic grid search is pretty standard in this sort of area. In general, however, offline evaluation of recommender algorithms is extremely dangerous and potentially quite misleading. Modern practitioners believe that real-time testing is producing better results.
The recent Google paper on click-through prediction also described their method of doing online learning with cross-validation for multiple regularization parameters. Mahout also has an automatic online learning system for regularization in the AdaptiveLogisticRegression, which uses the recorded-step meta-evolutionary algorithm described here.
A simple thought experiment can demonstrate why offline evaluation is so dangerous. Take a recommendation algorithm that orders the results it gets according to the best possible estimate of potential customer interest. Then add dithering noise to the algorithm, which permutes the results in such a way that the top few results have a high probability of remaining in the top few spots, but as one goes deeper into the results, the degree of mixing increases dramatically. One can easily see that in an offline evaluation, the system with dithering will perform worse than the system without, because the dithering itself and permutation on the best known ordering will result in an ordering that isn't as good.
In practice, what happens on the first day is that the system with dithering does worse. On the first day, the system puts a few second- or third-page items on the first page, which gives the system a broader range of training data to work with after the first day's data is recorded. In my experience, this broader range of training data quickly makes the system with dithering perform much better than the system without dithering. This effect is so pronounced that I have had people tell me that in all the tweaking they have done with their recommendation systems, nothing has had as dramatic a positive effect on their results as the addition of dithering. Simply put, the single most important change one can make to a recommendation system is one that will be scored as much worse on the offline evaluation method.
This is a difficult quandary to resolve. The value of offline evaluation is that we can try hundreds of algorithms without compromising production results. The cost is that offline evaluations will inevitably veto some algorithms that would actually produce better results.
Given this fact, I think that it is best to view offline evaluation of recommenders as no more than a smoke test that will eliminate any algorithm that is too laughably bad to consider. Any algorithm that passes this basic screening should not be ranked based on offline performance, but should instead be incorporated into real-time testing. That real-time testing should, in turn, be based on something like Thompson sampling (Bayesian Bandit), which is applied not to the models themselves, but to meta-model parameters that combine the scores and ranks assigned to options by all live algorithms as features.
Ironically, however, even this live testing has to be handled very carefully. Imagine that we have two recommendation engines in live test. I will refer to these basic models as "R" and the model plus dithering as "R+D." If these two models share all training data, then R+D will cause the overall system to gather wider data, thus allowing R to benefit from this wider training data. R will be declared the winner, R+D will be killed, and the system will no longer get the wider training data and will stagnate.
I would argue that it's much better to use a more sophisticated method, in which the training data for each system is limited to those items that they would have recommended. So if R is our current champion, most of our decisions will be made based on it. R+D, as the challenger, will get some of its recommendations added to the mix, which will broaden the data set that we gather. Going forward, R will only see training data stemming from recommendations that it agreed with in the first place. This means that R will see results from impressions based on R's recommendations, as well as data from R+D's recommendations, only where the dithering had little effect. R+D will see most of R's impressions, as well as cases where the dithering caused some non-R results to be included. R will improve as much as it normally would, and R+D will do likewise, although more slowly than if it saw all of the impressions.
This is a subtle and deep topic.
I'd love to hear any thoughts anybody has on this.
Stay ahead of the bleeding edge...get the best of Big Data in your inbox.


text:
Sunday, 12 August 2007
Red Chilli
Ni hao. To complete my visit to the Far East I stopped into Red Chilli on Friday with my guru of all things Chinese , Sophia. Red Chilli is a purveyor of Szechuan and Beijing cooking and represents mainland China . As the name suggests , it is hot and firey and a thousand miles away from the blandness of most Cantonese food.
We had Spiced Braised Beef , which is a house speciality, an incandescent Tofu and Minced beef, and Beijing Aubergine for sweetness and balance. Sophia says the the food is even better than the restaurants she visited on a recent trip to Beijing and Red Chilli was voted the 4th best Chinese in Britain by the Observer Food magazine. I also get to practice my nascent Mandarin on a bewilered staff. Zaijian. For Alison-it's on Portland Street.
Posted by robert hamilton at 04:13
No comments:
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
As of January 1, 2016, Gapers Block has ceased publication. The site will remain up in archive form. Please visit Third Coast Review, a new site by several GB alumni.
✶ Thank you for your readership and contributions over the past 12-plus years. ✶
Thursday, January 23
Pictures of babies doing one-armed push-ups, karate kicks, and some impressive flexing are the uncanny product of an advertising campaign by local photographer Eric Sahrmann.
by Robyn NisiA/C
by Steve ProkopyA/C
by Nancy BishopMechanics
by Jeff SmithDrive Thru
by Brandy GonsoulinTransmission
by Sarah BrooksBook Club
by Emma TerhaarMechanics
by Phil HuckelberryA/C
by Nancy BishopA/C
by Steve Prokopy
GB T-Shirt $12
I ✶ Chi T-Shirts $15


text:
Log in or Create an account
0 item($0.00) ·
Check out
is on back order
The revolutionary Gulliver VBOX changed the whole direction of high performance SUP board design. With the demise of Gulliver Sport, and having sold many of these boards ourselves, we decided that it really is a board that needs to be available to dedicated high performance SUP riders in Australia. As a result of demand, and in the spirit of progress we decided to take what we learnt form the Gulliver V Box Evo 2 and put together a new improved design which we believe is the next level of performance and will revolutionize the sport again. The fact that we are improving an existing Gulliver design we consider our new board by default a collaboration and thus have named it the "StonkBox". Riding is Believing. Enjoy!
Dimensions 8'6 by 28 1/2" by 4 1/2" by 133 litres
There are several advantages to this design -
1. Wide nose/wide tail giving straighter rails in a short length board gives incredible speed and manoeuvrability.
2. Widest point back from centre/lower volume in nose gives lower swing weight, making change of direction easy.
3. Radical tail shape/channel combined with double concave gives fantastic rear foot sensitivity and acceleration off the bottom of the wave.
Watch this video to see one of our team riders in action at Torquay Point earlier this year.
Ask about getting a demo of these boards or coming to our demo days to try them out.
Machine shaped high density EPS foam, laminated with 2 * 6oz layers of fibreglass plus XPT Vectornet.
"The XP 226 Vector Net reinforcement features the larger 1" diamond pattern.Made of Techora Aramid fibers, which are more flexible than carbon fiber. Aramid fibers are a class of strong, synthetic fibers. Improves flex memory on the bottom of surfboards, and core-crush and point-load impact resistance on surfboard decks. Also used in aerospace, military applications, body armor and ballistic composites." (quoted from Shaper Supply)
Laminated using Resin Research Epoxy Resin (the best you can get) the same resin used on all our boards.
Installed accessories - LiftSUP Handle, FCS plug for Go Pro in nose, genuine Future fin boxes and fins, DECK PAD and Rail tape
NONE IN STOCK? Get a Custom version - we can build you one here! Starting at $1900.00
Copyright © 2020 Stonker Kiting and Stand Up Paddle inc Red Paddle Co. Powered by Shopify.


text:
Home » Technological Revolution
Category Archives: Technological Revolution
Media Lies, Corporate Ties, and Truth Dies? … Don't Count on It!
Media Lies, Corporate Ties, and Truth Dies? … Don't Count on It!
I'm Here to be as Annoying as Humanly Possible to Those in Power
By: Andrew Gavin Marshall
Our media is a melting-pot of misinformation, bought and owned by billionaires and oligarchs, whether it is public, private, or foundation-funded. Information is integral, propaganda is power, and media is money. Control of the media leads directly to control of the minds of those who consume it, and like all patterns of consumption, it is sustained by profit, but its purpose is much deeper, more pervasive and permanent: social control.
The aim of consumption is to preserve and protect the social order as it exists, to distract a significant – or targeted – portion of the population with being concerned only about progress within the social order, about making more money, consuming more products, climbing this ever-distant and seemingly always just-out-of-reach ladder. The consumer society as we know it today was a product of the early 20th century, born out of an era of deep social unrest, where the 'Robber Baron' industrialists – the Rockefellers, Carnegies, Morgans, Harrimans, Astors, and Vanderbilts – created such vast fortunes, and dominated the entire economy, bought the politicians, owned the courts, and exploited the people. The poor and working class were in open rebellion, empowered with radical philosophies of resistance and revolution, organized by anarchists and socialists, immigrants and intellectuals. They threatened the entire social order. At the same time, the middle class was not yet consumer based, but rather consisting of professionals and those who earned some – even if a very minimal – benefit from the social order. They were informed through an expansion of the media, through the printing-press and 'Muckraker journalism', highly critical of the ruling oligarchs and their lack of concern for the welfare of mankind, yet also born of the university system which was designed to produce intellectuals and professionals concerned with reform, not revolution, concerned with preserving social order instead of overturning the social order.
This was called the Progressive Movement, and though there was critique and concern and the excesses of the ruling class, there was an equal concern about the unrest of the lower class. It was in this context that universities became reorganized and reoriented under the control of the ruling oligarchs, with industrialists and bankers sitting on their boards, founding new schools, and sponsoring the social sciences. The social sciences were conceived as a means toward producing intellectuals who were concerned with maintaining social control: with analyzing specific facets of the social order (politics, economics, sociology, etc) and then offering critiques and reforms to that system, with the objective of making it more secure, more permanent. Major philanthropic foundations were founded in the early 20th century, such as the Carnegie Corporation and the Rockefeller Foundation, with the purpose of engaging in social engineering for social control. They became the primary financiers of social science research and university programs. This was stated quite explicitly by the President of the Rockefeller Foundation in 1933, who wrote that the Foundation's policies:
were directed to the general problem of human behavior, with the aim of control through understanding. The Social sciences, for example, will concern themselves with the rationalization of social control; the Media and Natural sciences propose a closely coordinated study of sciences which underlie personal understanding and personal control. Many procedures will be explicitly co-operative between [Foundation] divisions. The Medical and Natural Sciences will, through psychiatry and psychobiology, have a strong interest in the problems of mental disease.[1]
These oligarchs controlled the banking institutions of the modern society, and in particular, the central banking system, responsible for printing the currencies, setting interest rates, and thus, controlling the finances of both industry and government. The mechanism of control was through debt. Through their control of banking and finance, this small group of oligarchs were able to influence, of not control, the corporate world and the governmental world, allowing for domination of the economic and political spheres of life. However, it was through the production of knowledge itself that they came to dominate the social world. This was – and remains – the primary objective and activity of foundations and their offspring organizations. This required continued control of universities, maintenance of foundation-funded social engineering (what is commonly called "philanthropy"), the creation and control of major think tanks (responsible for creating social cohesion between elites and organizing public and foreign policy), and domination of the media.
The production of knowledge was not undertaken with the benevolent desire of 'knowledge for knowledge's sake,' but rather with a very clear purpose, as stated in the above-mentioned Rockefeller Foundation quote: control. Those who rule over society, whomever they are, and in whatever era they exist, understand very clearly the power and purpose of knowledge. After all, they have the power because they have the knowledge of what power is and how to attain it. An educated population – one which is capable of reading and writing and developing basic skills and techniques – has been a very important component of a modern, industrial society. It has contributed to the development of what we can call the modern 'Technocratic' society, built by the growth of science, technology, communication and information. There is, however, a problem for the ruling class, one which must be watched very closely: while it is important to provide a minimum of education, skills and expertise, it is important to maintain the overall control of consciousness and thought. It is one thing to provide an individual with the ability to understand specific sectors of society and to advance, reform, evolve and change those sectors, to update and evolve, to advance and progress; it is quite another thing, however, to allow an individual to develop the thinking capacity to reflect and understand the wider world in which he or she lives, to question the very nature and composition of society, to reflect on the purpose of humanity and the social order upon which it depends. This type of reflection is and has always been deeply dangerous to any ruling groups through history, and today is no exception.
Just think of the individual capacity of the human mind to obtain and retain masses of information. Think of the average high school girl or high school boy, consuming so much information of entertainment, celebrities, sports, and pop culture: they can tell you every detail of every celebrity's life, every sports team, player, and all the intricate details of interaction and interest. The sheer wealth of information is impressive to say the least. The unfortunate reality, however, is that it is useless information: it has no point or purpose in the lives of those who consume it. It doesn't matter who Kim Kardashian is or who she is doing this week. Paris Hilton is an absurd emblem of a society that worships irrelevance. It is really of no personal significance whether or not "your" [insert sport here] team wins or loses a game, it's just a game, and unless you are playing or know personally someone who is playing, it doesn't actually impact your life in any meaningful way. These are cultural distractions designed to fill the minds of the masses with useless and insignificant information. The consumer society which was developed in the early 20th century was not simply a society built on the consumption of products and services, but of information. It served to distract the emerging middle class away from questions of social and human concern, and to possibilities of personal and financial progress, to ownership, to products, to a vision of 'desire' around which their life was designed to aspire. Humanoids like Paris Hilton – and I hesitate to call such a person an 'individual' – serve not only to 'distract', but to destroy. Through our worship of wealth, our reveling in irrelevance, we create the image of prosperity, of possibility, of potential and indeed, purpose. The Paris Hilton's and Kim Car-crash-ian disasters of this world are a symbol of a society that gives priority and purpose to intellectually vacant, vapid, and vacuous entities. Worst of all, is that the youth look to these empty examples of existence as not simply worthy of entertainment, but emulation. Truly, such a state is symptomatic of a severely sick society.
Yet, something is changing. We can feel it in the air, hear it in the wind, taste it on our tongue, smell it in our sinus, and are beginning to experience it in our everyday existence. The Technological Revolution which has brought about this modern 'Technocratic' society, this highly-controlled and overly-dominated social order, has created its own antithesis, this thing we call 'balance'. While technology has facilitated greater control over mankind, with new and scientifically-developed techniques of domination, it has also facilitated the rapid expansion of information and communication. This has allowed for more information than ever before to be consumed by more people than ever before in all of human history. And now, unlike ever before, people are able to communicate with each other, around the world, not through a lens of power – not through the media, the government, corporations, or other institutions – but as individuals, as equals, to listen, speak, and understand each other as individual human beings occupying the same small world, and though we may never meet in person, we exist together, and our struggle is the same.
It is easy to say that we are in unprecedented times. Within such times, unprecedented challenges emerge, challenges for both the people and the powerful. So while we are faced with an elite – increasingly globally interconnected and intertwined – who are armed with more techniques of control and domination than have ever-before been imagined, the elite are faced with an increasingly unprecedented challenge, where the dominated peoples of the world are able to see and speak to one another as individuals, not simply observe as outsiders, where we have access to and the ability to analyze and disseminate more information than ever before. Even the major philanthropic foundations, who have long funded 'alternative' media as a means to provide an outlet for moderated dissent, are incapable of controlling the new production of knowledge that is taking place, which is informing individuals and activists around the world. This new 'independent media' is largely dependent upon the readers and direct 'consumers' of the information itself, not higher 'sponsors' and patrons.
I am a member of this 'independent media,' as a researcher, writer, and at times, a journalist. I engage in 'production of knowledge' much like a foundation-sponsored academic would, though I do so with a distinctly different purpose: not to control for the benefit of entrenched power, but to liberate by means of empowering people with information. For this, I have been accused of being a "propagandist" and "biased," while the major intellectuals, media pundits, journalists and academics of our institutionally-dominated world declare themselves "neutral," "unbiased," "dispassionate," and "disinterested observers." I make no reservations about my bias, about by non-neutrality, I do not hold back my passion and I am very interested, and not simply an observer, but at times a participant. I see no value in declaring a lack of passion or a neutral position in situations of domination and oppression, of exploitation and obfuscation. If I am a propagandist, I am a propagandist for the people, not the powerful, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
The unfortunate reality of being very independent, with no university, foundation, corporate, or institutional ties of any kind, is that my ability to continue being independent, my ability to continue researching, writing, and disseminating information, is dependent upon the people who 'consume' that information itself. My funds are entirely derived of donations from readers and supporters around the world, and so I ask you now that if you so desire, to please support my efforts to continue being a loud-mouthed, annoying, frustrating pest of a person for those in power who think they control everything and everyone without a word of dissent from us plebs and proles below. I truly wish I could provide all my research and writing entirely free, and there are few things that bother me more than asking for money, but unfortunately, I do need to eat and pay rent. So I am asking now for your financial support toward my journalistic endeavours (note: this is separate from The People's Book Project, which will be getting a big update quite soon).
In the past two months, I have been almost exclusively researching, writing, and speaking about the Quebec Student Movement, the Maple Spring, and to be honest, I have never been so busy or received so much support and encouragement from readers. So now I ask, if possible, to please make a donation of any amount (every bit helps, truly!), so that I can continue trying my best to be the most infuriating individual to those in power that I can be!
Thank you,
Andrew Gavin Marshall
Andrew Gavin Marshall is an independent researcher and writer based in Montreal, Canada, writing on a number of social, political, economic, and historical issues. He is also Project Manager of The People's Book Project. He also hosts a weekly podcast show, "Empire, Power, and People," on BoilingFrogsPost.com.
[1] Lily E. Kay, "Rethinking Institutions: Philanthropy as an Historigraphic Problem of Knowledge and Power," Minerva (Vol. 35, 1997), page 290.
Are We Witnessing the Start of a Global Revolution?
Are We Witnessing the Start of a Global Revolution?
North Africa and the Global Political Awakening, Part 1
Global Research, January 27, 2011
An uprising in Tunisia led to the overthrow of the country's 23-year long dictatorship of President Ben Ali. A new 'transitional' government was formed, but the protests continued demanding a totally new government without the relics of the previous tyranny. Protests in Algeria have continued for weeks, as rage mounts against rising food prices, corruption and state oppression. Protests in Jordan forced the King to call on the military to surround cities with tanks and set up checkpoints. Tens of thousands of protesters marched on Cairo demanding an end to the 30-year dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak. Thousands of activists, opposition leaders and students rallied in the capitol of Yemen against the corrupt dictatorship of President Saleh, in power since 1978. Saleh has been, with U.S. military assistance, attempting to crush a rebel movement in the north and a massive secessionist movement growing in the south, called the "Southern Movement." Protests in Bolivia against rising food prices forced the populist government of Evo Morales to backtrack on plans to cut subsidies. Chile erupted in protests as demonstrators railed against rising fuel prices. Anti-government demonstrations broke out in Albania, resulting in the deaths of several protesters.
It seems as if the world is entering the beginnings of a new revolutionary era: the era of the 'Global Political Awakening.' While this 'awakening' is materializing in different regions, different nations and under different circumstances, it is being largely influenced by global conditions. The global domination by the major Western powers, principally the United States, over the past 65 years, and more broadly, centuries, is reaching a turning point. The people of the world are restless, resentful, and enraged. Change, it seems, is in the air. As the above quotes from Brzezinski indicate, this development on the world scene is the most radical and potentially dangerous threat to global power structures and empire. It is not a threat simply to the nations in which the protests arise or seek change, but perhaps to a greater degree, it is a threat to the imperial Western powers, international institutions, multinational corporations and banks that prop up, arm, support and profit from these oppressive regimes around the world. Thus, America and the West are faced with a monumental strategic challenge: what can be done to stem the Global Political Awakening? Zbigniew Brzezinski is one of the chief architects of American foreign policy, and arguably one of the intellectual pioneers of the system of globalization. Thus, his warnings about the 'Global Political Awakening' are directly in reference to its nature as a threat to the prevailing global hierarchy. As such, we must view the 'Awakening' as the greatest hope for humanity. Certainly, there will be mainy failures, problems, and regressions; but the 'Awakening' has begun, it is underway, and it cannot be so easily co-opted or controlled as many might assume.
The reflex action of the imperial powers is to further arm and support the oppressive regimes, as well as the potential to organize a destabilization through covert operations or open warfare (as is being done in Yemen). The alterantive is to undertake a strategy of "democratization" in which Western NGOs, aid agencies and civil society organizations establish strong contacts and relationships with the domestic civil society in these regions and nations. The objective of this strategy is to organize, fund and help direct the domestic civil society to produce a democratic system made in the image of the West, and thus maintain continuity in the international hierarchy. Essentially, the project of "democratization" implies creating the outward visible constructs of a democratic state (multi-party elections, active civil society, "independent" media, etc) and yet maintain continuity in subservience to the World Bank, IMF, multinational corporations and Western powers.
It appears that both of these strategies are being simultaneously imposed in the Arab world: enforcing and supporting state oppression and building ties with civil society organizations. The problem for the West, however, is that they have not had the ability to yet establish strong and dependent ties with civil society groups in much of the region, as ironically, the oppressive regimes they propped up were and are unsurprisingly resistant to such measures. In this sense, we must not cast aside these protests and uprisings as being instigated by the West, but rather that they emerged organically, and the West is subsequently attempting to co-opt and control the emerging movements.
Part 1 of this essay focuses on the emergence of these protest movements and uprisings, placing it in the context of the Global Political Awakening. Part 2 will examine the West's strategy of "democratic imperialism" as a method of co-opting the 'Awakening' and installing "friendly" governments.
The Tunisian Spark
A July 2009 diplomatic cable from America's Embassy in Tunisia reported that, "many Tunisians are frustrated by the lack of political freedom and angered by First Family corruption, high unemployment and regional inequities. Extremism poses a continuing threat," and that, "the risks to the regime's long-term stability are increasing."[2]
On Friday, 14 January 2011, the U.S.-supported 23-year long dictatorship of Tunisian president Ben Ali ended. For several weeks prior to this, the Tunisian people had risen in protest against rising food prices, stoked on by an immense and growing dissatisfaction with the political repression, and prodded by the WikiLeaks cables confirming the popular Tunisian perception of gross corruption on the part of the ruling family. The spark, it seems, was when a 26-year old unemployed youth set himself on fire in protest on December 17.
With the wave of protests sparked by the death of the 26-year old who set himself on fire on December 17, the government of Tunisia responded by cracking down on the protesters. Estimates vary, but roughly 100 people were killed in the clashes. Half of Tunisia's 10 million people are under the age of 25, meaning that they have never known a life in Tunisia outside of living under this one dictator. Since Independence from the French empire in 1956, Tunisia has had only two leaders: Habib Bourguiba and Ben Ali.[3] The Tunisian people were rising up against a great many things: an oppressive dictatorship which has employed extensive information and internet censorship, rising food prices and inflation, a corrupt ruling family, lack of jobs for the educated youth, and a general sense and experience of exploitation, subjugation and disrespect for human dignity.
Following the ouster of Ben Ali, Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi assumed presidential power and declared a "transitional government." Yet, this just spurred more protests demanding his resignation and the resignation of the entire government. Significantly, the trade union movement had a large mobilizing role in the protests, with a lawyers union being particularly active during the initial protests.[4]
Social media and the Internet did play a large part in mobilizing people within Tunisia for the uprising, but it was ultimately the result of direct protests and action which led to the resignation of Ben Ali. Thus, referring to Tunisia as a "Twitter Revolution" is disingenuous.
Twitter, WikiLeaks, Facebook, Youtube, forums and blogs did have a part to play. They reflect the ability "to collectively transform the Arab information environment and shatter the ability of authoritarian regimes to control the flow of information, images, ideas and opinions."[5]
We must also keep in mind that social media has not only become an important source of mobilization of activism and information at the grassroots level, but it has also become an effective means for governments and various power structures to seek to manipulate the flow of information. This was evident in the 2009 protests in Iran, where social media became an important avenue through which the Western nations were able to advance their strategy of supporting the so-called 'Green Revolution' in destabilizing the Iranian government. Thus, social media has presented a new form of power, neither black nor white, in which it can be used to either advance the process of the 'Awakening' or control its direction.
Whereas America was publicly denouncing Iran for blocking (or attempting to block) social media in the summer of 2009, during the first several weeks of Tunisian protests (which were largely being ignored by Western media), America and the West were silent about censorship.[6] Steven Cook, writing for the elite U.S. think tank, the Council on Foreign Relations, commented on the lack of attention being paid to the Tunisian protests in the early weeks of resistance prior to the resignation of Ben Ali. He explained that while many assume that the Arab "strongmen" regimes will simply maintain power as they always have, this could be mistaken. He stated that, "it may not be the last days of Ben Ali or Mubarak or any other Middle Eastern strongman, but there is clearly something going on in the region." However, it was the end of Ben Ali, and indeed, "there is clearly something going on in the region."[7]
France's President Sarkozy has even had to admit that, "he had underestimated the anger of the Tunisian people and the protest movement that ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali." During the first few weeks of protests in Tunisia, several French government officials were publicly supporting the dictatorship, with the French Foreign Minister saying that France would lend its police "knowhow" to help Ben Ali in maintaining order.[8]
Days before the ouster of Ben Ali, Hillary Clinton gave an interview in which she explained how America was worried "about the unrest and the instability," and that, "we are not taking sides, but we are saying we hope that there can be a peaceful resolution. And I hope that the Tunisian Government can bring that about." Clinton further lamented, "One of my biggest concerns in this entire region are the many young people without economic opportunities in their home countries."[9] Her concern, of course, does not spur from any humanitarian considerations, but rather from inherent imperial considerations: it is simply harder to control a region of the world erupting in activism, uprisings and revolution.
The Spark Lights a Flame
Tunisia has raised the bar for the people across the Arab world to demand justice, democracy, accountability, economic stability, and freedom. Just as Tunisia's protests were in full-swing, Algeria was experiencing mass protests, rising up largely as a result of the increasing international food prices, but also in reaction to many of the concerns of the Tunisian protesters, such as democratic accountability, corruption and freedom. A former Algerian diplomat told Al-Jazeera in early January that, "It is a revolt, and probably a revolution, of an oppressed people who have, for 50 years, been waiting for housing, employment, and a proper and decent life in a very rich country."[10]
In mid-January, similar protests erupted in Jordan, as thousands took to the streets to protest against rising food prices and unemployment, chanting anti-government slogans. Jordan's King Abdullah II had "set up a special task force in his palace that included military and intelligence officials to try to prevent the unrest from escalating further," which had tanks surrounding major cities, with barriers and checkpoints established.[11]
In Yemen, the poorest nation in the Arab world, engulfed in a U.S. sponsored war against its own people, ruled by a dictator who has been in power since 1978, thousands of people protested against the government, demanding the dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down. In the capitol city of Sanaa, thousands of students, activists and opposition groups chanted slogans such as, "Get out get out, Ali. Join your friend Ben Ali."[12] Yemen has been experiencing much turmoil in recent years, with a rebel movement in the North fighting against the government, formed in 2004; as well as a massive secessionist movement in the south, called the "Southern Movement," fighting for liberation since 2007. As the Financial Times explained:
On January 21, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Albania, mobilized by the socialist opposition, ending with violent clashes between the police and protesters, leading to the deaths of three demonstrators. The protests have been sporadic in Albania since the widely contested 2009 elections, but took on new levels inspired by Tunisia.[14]
Israeli Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom stressed concern over the revolutionary sentiments within the Arab world, saying that, "I fear that we now stand before a new and very critical phase in the Arab world." He fears Tunisia would "set a precedent that could be repeated in other countries, possibly affecting directly the stability of our system."[15] Israel's leadership fears democracy in the Arab world, as they have a security alliance with the major Arab nations, who, along with Israel itself, are American proxy states in the region. Israel maintains civil – if not quiet – relationships with the Arab monarchs and dictators. While the Arab states publicly criticize Israel, behind closed doors they are forced to quietly accept Israel's militarism and war-mongering, lest they stand up against the superpower, America. Yet, public opinion in the Arab world is extremely anti-Israel, anti-American and pro-Iran.
In July of 2010, the results of a major international poll were released regarding public opinion in the Arab world, polling from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates. Among some of the notable findings: while Obama was well received upon entering the Presidency, with 51% expressing optimism about U.S. policy in the region in the Spring of 2009, by Summer 2010, 16% were expressing optimism. In 2009, 29% of those polled said a nuclear-armed Iran would be positive for the region; in 2010, that spiked to 57%, reflecting a very different stance from that of their governments.[16]
While America, Israel and the leaders of the Arab nations claim that Iran is the greatest threat to peace and stability in the Middle East, the Arab people do not agree. In an open question asking which two countries pose the greatest threat to the region, 88% responded with Israel, 77% with America, and 10% with Iran.[17]
At the Arab economic summit shortly following the ousting of Ben Ali in Tunisia, who was for the first time absent from the meetings, the Tunisian uprising hung heavy in the air. Arab League leader Amr Moussa said in his opening remarks at the summit, "The Tunisian revolution is not far from us," and that, "the Arab citizen entered an unprecedented state of anger and frustration," noting that "the Arab soul is broken by poverty, unemployment and general recession." The significance of this 'threat' to the Arab leaders cannot be understated. Out of roughly 352 million Arabs, 190 million are under the age of 24, with nearly three-quarters of them unemployed. Often, "the education these young people receive doesn't do them any good because there are no jobs in the fields they trained for."[18]
There was even an article in the Israeli intellectual newspaper, Ha'aretz, which posited that, "Israel may be on the eve of revolution." Explaining, the author wrote that:
Now the Israeli Knesset and cabinet want that power back; yet, posits the author, they "have chosen to ignore the reasons these groups became powerful," namely:
The Israeli Knesset opened investigations into the funding of Israeli human rights organizations in a political maneuver against them. However, as one article in Ha'aretz by an Israeli professor explained, these groups actually – inadvertently – play a role in "entrenching the occupation." As the author explained:
Thus, if the Israeli Knesset succeeds in getting rid of these powerful NGOs, they sow the seeds for the pressure valve in the occupied territories to be removed. The potential for massive internal protests within Israel from the left, as well as the possibility of another Intifada – uprising – in the occupied territories themselves would seem dramatically increased. Israel and the West have expressed how much distaste they hold for democracy in the region. When Gaza held a democratic election in 2006 and elected Hamas, which was viewed as the 'wrong' choice by Israel and America, Israel imposed a ruthless blockade of Gaza. Richard Falk, the former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Inquiry Commission for the Palestinian territories, wrote an article for Al Jazeera in which he explained that the blockade:
The situation in the occupied territories is made increasingly tense with the recent leaking of the "Palestinian Papers," which consist of two decades of secret Israeli-Palestinian accords, revealing the weak negotiating position of the Palestinian Authority. The documents consist largely of major concessions the Palestinian Authority was willing to make "on the issues of the right of return of Palestinian refugees, territorial concessions, and the recognition of Israel." Among the leaks, Palestinian negotiators secretly agreed to concede nearly all of East Jerusalem to Israel. Further, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (favoured by Israel and America over Hamas), was personally informed by a senior Israeli official the night before Operation Cast Lead, the December 2008 and January 2009 Israeli assault on Gaza, resulting in the deaths of over 1,000 Palestinians: "Israeli and Palestinian officials reportedly discussed targeted assassinations of Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists in Gaza."[23]
Hamas has subsequently called on Palestinian refugees to protest over the concessions regarding the 'right of return' for refugees, of which the negotiators conceded to allowing only 100,000 of 5 million to return to Israel.[24] A former U.S. Ambassador to Israel and Egypt lamented that, "The concern will be that this might cause further problems in moving forward."[25] However, while being blamed for possibly preventing the "peace process" from moving forward, what the papers reveal is that the "peace process" itself is a joke. The Palestinian Authority's power is derivative of the power Israel allows it to have, and was propped up as a method of dealing with an internal Palestinian elite, thus doing what all colonial powers have done. The papers, then, reveal how the so-called Palestinian 'Authority' does not truly speak or work for the interests of the Palestinian people. And while this certainly will divide the PA from Hamas, they were already deeply divided as it was. Certainly, this will pose problems for the "peace process," but that's assuming it is a 'peaceful' process in the first part.
Is Egypt on the Edge of Revolution?
Unrest is even spreading to Egypt, personal playground of U.S.-supported and armed dictator, Hosni Mubarak, in power since 1981. Egypt is the main U.S. ally in North Africa, and has for centuries been one of the most important imperial jewels first for the Ottomans, then the British, and later for the Americans. With a population of 80 million, 60% of which are under the age of 30, who make up 90% of Egypt's unemployed, the conditions are ripe for a repeat in Egypt of what happened in Tunisia.[26]
On January 25, 2011, Egypt experienced its "day of wrath," in which tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets to protest against rising food prices, corruption, and the oppression of living under a 30-year dictatorship. The demonstrations were organized through the use of social media such as Twitter and Facebook. When the protests emerged, the government closed access to these social media sites, just as the Tunisian government did in the early days of the protests that led to the collapse of the dictatorship. As one commentator wrote in the Guardian:
In Egypt, "an ad hoc coalition of students, unemployed youths, industrial workers, intellectuals, football fans and women, connected by social media such as Twitter and Facebook, instigated a series of fast-moving, rapidly shifting demos across half a dozen or more Egyptian cities." The police responded with violence, and three protesters were killed. With tens of thousands of protesters taking to the streets, Egypt saw the largest protests in decades, if not under the entire 30-year reign of President Mubarak. Is Egypt on the verge of revolution? It seems too soon to tell. Egypt, it must be remembered, is the second major recipient of U.S. military assistance in the world (following Israel), and thus, its police state and military apparatus are far more advanced and secure than Tunisia's. Clearly, however, something is stirring. As Hilary Clinton said on the night of the protests, "Our assessment is that the Egyptian government is stable and is looking for ways to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people."[28] In other words: "We continue to support tyranny and dictatorship over democracy and liberation." So what else is new?
According to some estimates, as many as 50,000 protesters turned out in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and other Egyptian cities.[29] The protests were met with the usual brutality: beating protesters, firing tear gas and using water cannons to attempt to disperse the protesters. As images and videos started emerging out of Egypt, "television footage showed demonstrators chasing police down side streets. One protester climbed into a fire engine and drove it away."[30] Late on the night of the protests, rumours and unconfirmed reports were spreading that the first lady of Egypt, Suzanne Mubarak, may have fled Egypt to London, following on the heels of rumours that Mubarak's son, and presumed successor, had also fled to London.[31]
Are We Headed for a Global Revolution?
During the first phase of the global economic crisis in December of 2008, the IMF warned governments of the prospect of "violent unrest on the streets." The head of the IMF warned that, "violent protests could break out in countries worldwide if the financial system was not restructured to benefit everyone rather than a small elite."[32]
In January of 2009, Obama's then-Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, told the Senate Intelligence Committee that the greatest threat to the National Security of the U.S. was not terrorism, but the global economic crisis:
In 2007, a British Defence Ministry report was released assessing global trends in the world over the next 30 years. In assessing "Global Inequality", the report stated that over the next 30 years:
Further, the report warned of the dangers to the established powers of a revolution emerging from the disgruntled middle classes:
We have now reached the point where the global economic crisis has continued beyond the two-year mark. The social repercussions are starting to be felt – globally – as a result of the crisis and the coordinated responses to it. Since the global economic crisis hit the 'Third World' the hardest, the social and political ramifications will be felt there first. In the context of the current record-breaking hikes in the cost of food, food riots will spread around the world as they did in 2007 and 2008, just prior to the outbreak of the economic crisis. This time, however, things are much worse economically, much more desperate socially, and much more oppressive politically.
This rising discontent will spread from the developing world to the comfort of our own homes in the West. Once the harsh realization sets in that the economy is not in 'recovery,' but rather in a Depression, and once our governments in the West continue on their path of closing down the democratic façade and continue dismantling rights and freedoms, increasing surveillance and 'control,' while pushing increasingly militaristic and war-mongering foreign policies around the world (mostly in an effort to quell or crush the global awakening being experienced around the world), we in the West will come to realize that 'We are all Tunisians.'
In 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr., said in his famous speech "Beyond Vietnam":
This was Part 1 of "North Africa and the Global Political Awakening," focusing on the emergence of the protest movements primarily in North Africa and the Arab world, but placing it in the context of a wider 'Global Awakening.'
Part 2 will focus on the West's reaction to the 'Awakening' in this region; namely, the two-pronged strategy of supporting oppressive regimes while promoting "democratization" in a grand new project of "democratic imperialism."
[1] Zbigniew Brzezinski, The Global Political Awakening. The New York Times: December 16, 2008: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/opinion/16iht-YEbrzezinski.1.18730411.html; "Major Foreign Policy Challenges for the Next US President," International Affairs, 85: 1, (2009); The Dilemma of the Last Sovereign. The American Interest Magazine, Autumn 2005: http://www.the-american-interest.com/article.cfm?piece=56; The Choice: Global Domination or Global Leadership. Speech at the Carnegie Council: March 25, 2004: http://www.cceia.org/resources/transcripts/4424.html; America's Geopolitical Dilemmas. Speech at the Canadian International Council and Montreal Council on Foreign Relations: April 23, 2010: http://www.onlinecic.org/resourcece/multimedia/americasgeopoliticaldilemmas
[2] Embassy Tunis, TROUBLED TUNISIA: WHAT SHOULD WE DO?, WikiLeaks Cables, 17 July 2009: http://www.wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/07/09TUNIS492.html
[3] Mona Eltahawy, Tunisia's Jasmine Revolution, The Washington Post, 15 January 2011: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/14/AR2011011405084.html
[4] Eileen Byrne, Protesters make the case for peaceful change, The Financial Times, 15 January 2011: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/82293e38-20ae-11e0-a877-00144feab49a.html#axzz1C08RDtxu
[5] Marc Lynch, Tunisia and the New Arab Media Space, Foreign Policy, 15 January 2011: http://lynch.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/01/15/tunisia_and_the_new_arab_media_space
[6] Jillian York, Activist crackdown: Tunisia vs Iran, Al-Jazeera, 9 January 2011: http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/01/20111981222719974.html
[7] Steven Cook, The Last Days of Ben Ali? The Council on Foreign Relations, 6 January 2011: http://blogs.cfr.org/cook/2011/01/06/the-last-days-of-ben-ali/
[8] Angelique Chrisafis, Sarkozy admits France made mistakes over Tunisia, The Guardian, 24 January 2011: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/24/nicolas-sarkozy-tunisia-protests
[9] Hillary Rodham Clinton, Interview With Taher Barake of Al Arabiya, U.S. Department of State, 11 January 2011: http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2011/01/154295.htm
[10] Algeria set for crisis talks, Al-Jazeera, 8 January 2011: http://aljazeera.co.uk/news/africa/2011/01/2011187476735721.html
[11] Alexandra Sandels, JORDAN: Thousands of demonstrators protest food prices, denounce government, Los Angeles Times Blog, 15 January 2011: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2011/01/jordan-protests-food-prices-muslim-brotherhood-tunisia-strike-thousands-government.html
[12] AP, Thousands demand ouster of Yemen's president, Associated Press, 22 January 2011: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g3b2emEy39Bn52Z_haypKxNPGMSw?docId=d324160638a74e84b874baeada16bb4c
[13] Abigail Fielding-Smith, North-south divide strains Yemen union, The Financial Times, 12 January 2011: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c7c59322-1e80-11e0-87d2-00144feab49a.html#axzz1C08RDtxu
[14] EurActiv, 'Jasmine' revolt wave reaches Albania, 24 January 2011: http://www.euractiv.com/en/enlargement/jasmine-revolt-wave-reaches-albania-news-501529
[15] Clemens Höges, Bernhard Zand and Helene Zuber, Arab Rulers Fear Spread of Democracy Fever, Der Spiegel, 25 January 2011: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,741545,00.html
[16] Shibley Telhami, Results of Arab Opinion Survey Conducted June 29-July 20, 2010, 5 August 2010: http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2010/0805_arab_opinion_poll_telhami.aspx
[17] Shibley Telhami, A shift in Arab views of Iran, Los Angeles Times, 14 August 2010: http://articles.latimes.com/2010/aug/14/opinion/la-oe-telhami-arab-opinions-20100814
[18] Clemens Höges, Bernhard Zand and Helene Zuber, Arab Rulers Fear Spread of Democracy Fever, Der Spiegel, 25 January 2011: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,741545,00.html
[19] Merav Michaeli, Israel may be on the eve of revolution, Ha'aretz, 17 January 2011: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/israel-may-be-on-the-eve-of-revolution-1.337445
[20] Ibid.
[21] Yagil Levy, Israeli NGOs are entrenching the occupation, Ha'aretz, 11 January 2011: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/israeli-ngos-are-entrenching-the-occupation-1.336331?localLinksEnabled=false
[22] Richard Falk, Ben Ali Tunisia was model US client, Al-Jazeera, 25 January 2011: http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/01/201112314530411972.html
[23] Jack Khoury and Haaretz Service, Two decades of secret Israeli-Palestinian accords leaked to media worldwide, Ha'arets, 23 January 2011: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/two-decades-of-secret-israeli-palestinian-accords-leaked-to-media-worldwide-1.338768
[24] Haaretz Service and The Associated Press, Hamas urges Palestinian refugees to protest over concessions on right of return, Ha'aretz, 25 January 2011: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/hamas-urges-palestinian-refugees-to-protest-over-concessions-on-right-of-return-1.339120
[25] Alan Greenblatt, Palestinian Papers May Be Blow To Peace Process, NPR, 24 January 2011: http://www.npr.org/2011/01/24/133181412/palestinian-papers-may-cause-blow-to-peace-process?ps=cprs
[26] Johannes Stern, Egyptian regime fears mass protests, World Socialist Web Site, 15 January 2011: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/jan2011/egyp-j15.shtml
[27] Simon Tisdall, Egypt protests are breaking new ground, The Guardian, 25 January 2011: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jan/25/egypt-protests
[28] Ibid.
[29] MATT BRADLEY, Rioters Jolt Egyptian Regime, The Wall Street Journal, 26 January 2011: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704698004576104112320465414.html
[30] Catrina Stewart, Violence on the streets of Cairo as unrest grows, The Independent, 26 January 2011: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/violence-on-the-streets-of-cairo-as-unrest-grows-2194484.html
[31] IBT, Suzanne Mubarak of Egypt has fled to Heathrow airport in London: unconfirmed reports, International Business Times, 25 January 2011: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/104960/20110125/suzanne-mubarak-of-egypt-has-fled-to-heathrow-airport-in-london-unconfirmed-reports.htm
[32] Angela Balakrishnan, IMF chief issues stark warning on economic crisis. The Guardian: December 18, 2008: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/16/imf-financial-crisis
[33] Stephen C. Webster, US intel chief: Economic crisis a greater threat than terrorism. Raw Story: February 13, 2009: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/US_intel_chief_Economic_crisis_greater_0213.html
[34] DCDC, The DCDC Global Strategic Trends Programme, 2007-2036, 3rd ed. The Ministry of Defence, January 2007: page 3
[35] Ibid, page 81.
[36] Rev. Martin Luther King, Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence. Speech delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on April 4, 1967, at a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned at Riverside Church in New York City: http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/058.html


text:
Learn to choose the right data collection method and execute it well.
The Quantitative Data Collection Methods course will teach you how to choose the most appropriate data collection method given your audience, the topic area of your research, and the methodology you plan to use. Choosing the right data collection method is critical to the success of any research. This course will help you explore your options for quantitative methods.
Format: Online
Credits: 1.0 CEU
When: Start anytime
Cost: $359 - $329
Businesses require empirical evidence to increase the likelihood that their tactical and strategic decisions are successful. Researchers often will be asked to provide quantitative evidence from survey and/or secondary data analysis to find out "how much," "how many," and "how often" specific attitudes or behaviors occur in the market.
Historically, researchers gathered objective measurements via surveys involving direct interaction with a sample of people drawn to represent a clearly defined target population. Sometimes observational methods are used in which data are collected by observing, measuring, or recording an individual's actions or behaviors indirectly (rather than asking questions), either through personal observation or use of electronic means. More recently, researchers are turning to existing data (i.e. secondary data) such as customer purchase histories or social media in place of or in conjunction with surveys.
There are 13 data collection methods covered in this self-paced, self-study Principles Express© course. A working knowledge of all quantitative methods will be beneficial to you in your career. Each topic in this course describes the data collection method, listing its pros and cons and then considers practical issues, including but not limited to:
- Global considerations
- B2B considerations
- Healthcare considerations
- Ethical considerations
- Response rate considerations
Learning Objectives
After completing this course you should be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge of the different quantitative survey methods available to market researchers including online, mobile, telephone, in-person, and mail.
- Discuss the opportunities and challenges presented by the widespread use of mobile devices.
- Select appropriate quantitative methodologies based on the specific project needs.
- Describe techniques for improving survey response rates.
- Explain and classify the different observational methods used by market researchers including in-person observation and passive data collection.
- Describe the relative advantages and disadvantages of observational methods and compare them to survey methods.
- List the key milestones that are required to complete quantitative studies.
- Discuss the key considerations involved in implementing surveys and observational methods when doing global Market Research.
Successful enrollees earn a Digital Badge and 1.0 University of Georgia Continuing Education Unit (CEU).
Who Should Attend?
- Entry-level researchers looking for a solid introduction to quantitative data collection.
- Mid-level staff seeking to expand their skillset.
- Experienced researchers looking to catch up with the latest developments.
- Corporations seeking professional development options for their internal training portfolio.
- Supplier-side researchers seeking courses for new-employee onboarding.
- Researchers who lead or contribute to project design.
- Analysts needing to understand how a data collection method can create bias.
- Client-side researchers responsible for writing RFPs and evaluating proposals.
- People just entering the research field who want to understand the full process of market research from beginning to end.
Course Information
- Enroll at any time
- Complete the course's required graded components within 30 days
- For more details on How Does "Quantitative Data Collection Methods" Course Work, please download the file.
- For Frequently Asked Questions, please download the file.
$359 - Standard Fee
$329 - Association Discount (Members* of: Insights Association; ESOMAR; Intellus Worldwide; ARF; AMA, and the attendees of TMRE 2018 and IIeX NA 2018.)
$50 - One-Month Extension (only one extension is granted per participant)
*Membership/Attendance will be verified.
Prepayment is required to be registered. Prices listed are per person (US Funds). Prices are subject to change.
Students successfully completing graded components earn a Digital Badge and 1.0 Continuing Education Unit (CEU) from The University of Georgia. Click for details about the University of Georgia CEU.
As a graduate of the course you will be recognized by industry associations, employers, peer groups and other professionals as understanding how to translate your research findings into reports and presentations that grab your audience's attention, address the business decision your client needs to make, and offer sound and useful recommendations. This recognition will help you advance in your company and the industry.
This course offers continuing education for research practitioners. If you are PRC certified through the Insights Association (IA), this course qualifies for 10 hours for continuing education. If you have any questions about PRC, please contact certificationATinsightsassociation.org or dial +1-202-800-2545.
CAIP Canada also recommends the course for candidates looking to fill in the gaps or gain a refresher in specific areas.
Course Author:
Pete Cape – Global Knowledge Director, Dynata
Pete has over 25 years' experience in Market Research. Initially a specialist in international telephone research, he was a founder member of TNS Interactive in the late nineties and has concentrated on online research ever since. Joining Survey Sampling (now known as Dynata) in 2005 he oversaw the rapid development of their online business in the UK and became Global Knowledge Director in 2006. He is a frequent speaker at conferences, seminars, and training workshops around the globe and a regular contributor to research and marketing publications.