Social Media Site Standings a Poor Predictor of Electoral Outcome in California’s 36th Congressional District

By George Maschke | Published: 9 June 2010

Although as observed in my earlier post, progressive challenger Marcy Winograd had significantly more friends/followers/subscribers on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube than incumbent Jane Harman going into the Democratic party primary for California’s 36th congressional district, Harman handily won the election with 59% of the vote versus 41% for Winograd. In terms of raw numbers, Harman received 22,446 votes versus 15,732 for Winograd. As it turns out, the great majority of those voting in the primary followed neither candidate on social media sites.

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Marcy Winograd Leads Jane Harman on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube

By George Maschke | Published: 6 June 2010

On Tuesday, 8 June 2010, progressive Democrat Marcy Winograd is challenging blue dog incumbent Jane Harman for the party’s nomination for California’s 36th district congressional seat. I support Winograd because of her firm antiwar position. (Harman backed the invasion of Iraq.) I also appreciate Winograd’s denunciation of Israel’s recent commando raid on volunteers bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza, and am offended by Harman’s “Bubble” television ad smearing Winograd. If Jane Harman is your representative, I hope you’ll vote for Marcy Winograd this Tuesday!

If the two candidates’ standings on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are anything to go by, it looks like Winograd has a real chance of unseating Harman.

As of early Sunday morning California time, on Facebook, Jane Harman has 1,080 friends compared to 2,412 for Marcy Winograd:

On Twitter, Harman has 226 followers compared to 497 for Winograd:

And on YouTube, Harman’s campaign has just one subscriber, while Winograd’s has 28:

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Foamy Shoreline at Scheveningen

By George Maschke | Published: 15 April 2010

Sometimes, the North Sea coast at Scheveningen develops a frothy foam, as shown here in video recorded while on a stroll during my lunch hour on Tuesday, 13 April 2010.

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Fox News Producer Justin Fishel Lies About Iranian Nuclear Program

By George Maschke | Published: 31 March 2010

Justin Fishel

Justin Fishel, who covers the Departments of Defense and State for Fox News, has told one of the boldest lies I’ve seen from a journalist. It comes in a blog post titled, “CIA: Iran Moving Closer to Nuclear Weapon.” The title itself is misleading, but the blatant lie is in the opening sentence:

A recently published report by the Central Intelligence Agency says Iran is still working on building a nuclear weapon despite some technical setbacks and international resistance — and the Pentagon say it’s still concerned about Iran’s ambitions.

The problem: the 9-page CIA report, to which Fishel conveniently provides a link, says no such thing. Nowhere in the report does it say or imply that Iran is “still working on building a nuclear weapon.” Fishel just made it up.

What the report does say about Iran’s nuclear program is this:

We continue to assess Iran is keeping open the option to develop nuclear weapons though we do not know whether Tehran eventually will decide to produce nuclear weapons.

That’s a far cry from saying that “Iran is still working on building a nuclear weapon.” Again, nowhere in the report is any such assertion made. At a time of heightened tensions between Iran and the West (with some beating the drums for war) sensational lies such as that told by Fishel are dangerous and should not go unchallenged.

As I write, Fishel’s blog post is featured prominently on Fox News’ website (click image to view full size):

Update: A Fox News on-line poll asks readers, “What Should Be Done About Iran?” The poll repeats Fishel’s lie, framing the question:

A recently published report by the Central Intelligence Agency says Iran is still working on building a nuclear weapon despite some technical setbacks and international resistance — and the Pentagon say it’s still concerned about Iran’s ambitions. How should the U.S. respond? You decide.

At 9:30 EDT on 31 March 2010, some 69% of 20,914 respondents say, “Bomb Iranian nuclear sites”:

Correction: The original title of this post incorrectly referred to Justin Fishel as a “reporter.” He is a producer for Fox News.

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Protons and Ions

By George Maschke | Published: 18 February 2010

A Facebook friend who works at Brookhaven National Laboratory posted the following status update:

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Election Advertising in The Hague

By George Maschke | Published: 18 February 2010
Public Election Billboard

Public Election Billboard in The Hague

Elections for The Hague’s city council are to be held on 3 March 2010, and around the city, the municipality has erected temporary billboards on which each party fielding candidates in the election can place a poster putting its case to the voters.

I’ve never seen anything like this done in an American election. It’s not a bad idea, and something we might want to emulate, especially if publicly financed campaigns are to be embraced.

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Persian Word of the Day: ندانمکاری

By George Maschke | Published: 17 February 2010

Today I encountered an etymologically interesting Persian word: ندانمکاری (nadānamkārī). It’s unusual in that it incorporates a conjugated verb. The initial stem, ندانم (nadānam) is the first person negative subjunctive of the verb دانستن “to know.” Literally translated, it means “[that] I know not.” To this is appended the suffix کاری (kārī), which is analagous to the English suffix “-work” in “paperwork.” So nadānamkārī literally means “doing that which one doesn’t know [how to do],” or bungling.

I found nadānamkārī used in the plural in a video by Iranian political commentator Mohsen Sazegara that was posted to YouTube today (17 February 2010). He uses the word at about 2:40:

Here, for reference, is the (rather long) sentence in which nadānamkārī appears:

به هر صورت ندانمکاری‌ها و اشتباهات پی در پی دولت احمدی‌نژاد و سوء مدیریت آنها به اضافه بحران سیاسی‌ای که جنبش سبز در کشور ادامه داده و مبارزه مردم ایران که کماکان قهرمانانه ادامه دارد اقتصاد کشور را به جایی برده که به قول شهردار تهران، که گفته بود که در واقع، یک سال است که هیچ کس آجری روی آجر نگذاشته و همه کارهای کشور خوابیده است

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Google Buzz

By George Maschke | Published: 15 February 2010
Google Profile

My Google Profile

After watching Chris Fisher’s positive review of the new Google Buzz service, I’ve decided to give it a try. You’ll find my  Buzz feed, and may follow it if you like, through my newly created Google profile.

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Persian Word of the Week: ساندیس

By George Maschke | Published: 14 February 2010

On 11 February 2010, the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution was observed in Iran, and it took place in an extraordinarily politically charged atmosphere, being seen as something of a watershed event for Iran’s Green Movement. As I followed the news on-line, I cam across a Persian word I had never heard before: ساندیس (sāndīs). I turned to the excellent Farhang Moaser (فرهنگ معاصر), but didn’t find it there. But with a little help from Google image search, I learned that a sāndīs is a packaged fruit drink.

ساندیس

Illustration of sāndīses found at www.razavi-canning.com

The reason this word was in the news this past week as that such fruit drinks were distributed at pro-government events. Green Movement adherents disparagingly referred to those who turned out at rallies in support of the government as ساندیسخوران (sāndīskhūrān) or “fruit juice drinkers,” the implication being that the government had bought their support for the price of a few fruit drinks.

I haven’t yet learned the etymology of sāndīs, though I suspect it may be a trade name that has become generic. The sāndīses shown in the illustration above are marketed under the label taqdīs (blessing).

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Welcoming the Year of the Tiger in The Hague

By George Maschke | Published: 14 February 2010
Lion Dancers

Lion Dancers at Chinese New Year Opening Ceremony

The Hague has its own Chinatown, and every year the city hosts a Chinese New Year celebration with a parade and fireworks. On Saturday, 13 February 2010, the opening ceremony welcoming the Year of the Tiger was held in the city hall atrium. I was able to take some pictures from the side of the stage.

The mayor of The Hague, Jozias Johannes van Aartsen, gave the opening remarks in Dutch and English (and translated into Chinese). Here he is exiting stage left after completing his address:

Mayor Jozias van Aartsen

The Chinese ambassador to the Netherlands, Zhang Jun, also addressed the audience, speaking in English and Chinese (with a few words in Dutch):

Ambassador Zhang Jun

As an American, I found it remarkable how open the ceremony was. Anyone could just walk in (as I did), go right up to the stage, watch, and take pictures. There were no security checkpoints or metal detectors to pass through. The mayor of The Hague passed within three feet of me after leaving the stage. I can’t imagine such openness in a major American city today.

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