Argo, Oscars, Grateful President Jimmy Carter, Ben “WTF” Affleck

“90 percent of the contributions to the ideas and the consummation of the plan was Canadian. And the movie gives almost full credit to the American CIA. And with that exception, the movie is very good.” — Former President Jimmy Carter on Ben Affleck’s movie ‘Argo’ to CNN’s Piers Morgan.

“There’s nothing much right from Day 1 I could do about the movie [Argo]. I changed a line at the end because the caption at the end was disgraceful. It’s like Tiananmen Square, you are sitting in front of a big tank.” – Ken Taylor

Many people (including me) are predicting Argo will likely win Best Picture in The Oscars tonight. So no time is better than now to set the record straight and urge Mr. Ben Affleck, director/actor of Argo to thank Canada and Canadians in his Oscars acceptance speech. If I may be frank and honest, Mr. Ben “WTF” Affleck, enough is enough. Your drama license to twist history to enhance your story telling makes this and other Canadians angry. What will Americans feel if filmmakers from UK or France rewrite history in a “based on real events” movie and minimize the US effort in World War II? Ben, Man up and thank Canada and Canadians in your Oscars speech tonight. If not, I’ve decided to change your name to Ben “WTF” Affleck!

President Jimmy Carter on Argo – Piers Morgan Tonight

President Jimmy Carter on Argo in Speech at Queen’s University Nov 2012

AP, “Canada deserves Argo Oscar mention, ex-ambassador says ‘The Canadians were brave’, says ex-ambassador Ken Taylor“

AP, EX-CANADA AMBASSADOR SLIGHTED BY AFFLECK’S “ARGO”

“The original postscript of the movie said that Taylor received 112 citations and awards for his work in freeing the hostages and suggested Taylor didn’t deserve them because the movie ends with the CIA deciding to let Canada have the credit for helping the Americans escape.

Taylor called the postscript lines “disgraceful and insulting” and said it would have caused outrage in Canada if the lines were not changed. Affleck flew Taylor to Los Angeles after the Toronto debut and allowed him to insert a postscript that gave Canada some credit.

Taylor called it a good movie and said he’s not rooting against it, but said it is far from accurate.

“He’s a good director. It’s got momentum. There’s nothing much right from Day 1 I could do about the movie. I changed a line at the end because the caption at the end was disgraceful. It’s like Tiananmen Square, you are sitting in front of a big tank,” he said.“

THR, “Ex-Ambassador Again Slams ‘Argo’ for Canada Snub“

The full convocation video with President Carter. (portion related to Argo, ~25:55 – 28:15) Queen’s University press release.

An excerpt from the transcript of President Carter on CNN Piers Morgan with my extensive notes,

“MORGAN: A scene from the Oscar-nominated film, Argo, about a daring rescue during the Iranian hostage crisis. I’m back now with former President Jimmy Carter, who was, of course, in the White House at the time. You’ve seen Argo, I take it? How accurate is it from your memory?

CARTER: Well, let me say first of all, it’s a great drama. And I hope it gets the Academy Award for best film because I think it deserves it. The other thing that I would say was that 90 percent of the contributions to the ideas and the consummation of the plan was Canadian. And the movie gives almost full credit to the American CIA.

And with that exception, the movie is very good.

But Ben Affleck’s character in the film was only — he was only in — stayed in Iran a day and a half. And the main hero, in my opinion, was Ken Taylor, who was the Canadian ambassador who orchestrated the entire process.

I was informed about it the first day. And I was very much involved with the Canadian government because the Canadian government would not legally permit six false passports to be issued. So the Canadian parliament had to go into secret session the first time in history, and they voted to let us use six Canadian passports that were false. [Kempton's note: Lets be clear, I doubt the Americans will issue false US passports to Canadians if our roles were switched. Agree? To me, I am so proud of my government, and the cabinet (?, not the parliament?) in approving the false passports to help our friends in urgent need.]

MORGAN: But when you first heard about this outlandish plan to create a fictitious science fiction movie to get these hostages out, you’re the president of the United States. I mean, if this had gone badly wrong, you would have been an absolute laughing stock. So it’s a bold moment for you, for the presidency, for the country.

CARTER: Well, I don’t deny that, but it was much bolder for the Canadian government to do it because the Canadian government was not involved in the hostage crisis, as you know. They could have been hostages themselves had it been revealed. [Kempton's note: This is absolutely the case! Remember, other countries (I will not shame them here) were asked to help the trapped Americans and they refused. Canada helped. And by helping, "Argo" is how Mr. Ben "WTF" Affleck decided to thank us?! WTF Ben!]

But as I said, you know, they did the primary work. And as a matter of fact, the American hostages left Iran and landed in Switzerland and landed before the Iranians ever discovered that they had been there.

When I left office, I ordained that we would not reveal any American’s involvement in the process, but to give the Canadians full credit for the entire heroic episode. And that prevailed for a number of years afterwards. [Kempton's note: This is a right tactical move by President Carter. Totally different from what the movie implied.]

But I think it’s a great film, and it tells a dramatic story. And I think it’s accurate enough. [Kempton's note: President Carter is nice. I am frank with Ben and is hoping I won't have to call him Ben "WTF" Affleck after tonight. Will see.]“

This article is cross posted in examiner.com by me.

War is the the kind of thing …

On a perilous day like today, I am adding the following to Quotes I Love,

“War is the the kind of thing where we know how it starts, but not how it will end” – Meir Dagan (see “Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon Google+ Hangout at Fox LA“)

Gaza crisis vs. Blood Relations – The Israeli Palestinian blood donation project

On a day like today with headlines like “Gaza crisis: Israel air strikes hit Hamas HQ“ when peace seems impossible, it got me to revisit the United Nations award-winning project Blood Relations – The Israeli Palestinian blood donation project.

The following video gives me some hope. This post gives some background on the project.

A longer, very moving 8 minutes version.

LIVE From Swing State Nevada: DeAno & Kempton talk 2012 Election (in Cantonese & English)

Nov 7th, 2012 Update: After the announced election result from last night, I got my swing state Nevada (Reno) friend DeAno Jackson to talk election result with me.

—

LIVE From Swing State Nevada: DeAno & Kempton talk 2012 Election (Recorded earlier this morning!)

搖擺州Nevada直播: DeAno & Kempton 廣東話+英文講美國大選2012戰情 (今晨直播後錄影)

Ben Affleck changed film Argo after meeting former Canadian ambassador to Iran

Update: Just found this video of Ben Affleck introducing “Argo” at private Washington D.C. screening with some of the former hostages and even the current CIA Director General Petraeus present plus an acknowledgement to Ambassador Taylor and his wife Pat.

As part of my research for this report, I found & watched this amazing & insightful 1980 PBS documentary (~54 mins long), “Canadian Caper: 6 Americans escape from Iran with the help from the CIA and the Canadian“. You can hear directly from the mouths of the six escaped American hostages, Ambassador Taylor, and other Canadian embassy staffs. Click here to jump directly to where the doc starts to talk about the Canadians’ involvement. Canadians should be really proud of what we did to help our American friends in need.

***

Making a Hollywood film is a massive and expensive undertaking so it comes as a surprise that star & director Ben Affleck has agreed to change his latest Oscar buzz-worthy film Argo (opened Friday), a film “based on Tony Mendez‘s account of the rescue of six U.S. diplomats—with help from Canada—from Tehran, Iran during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis“. After meeting Calgary-born Kenneth D. Taylor, former Canadian ambassador to Iran from 1977 to 1979, Affleck has decided to have Taylor rewrite the postscript of the film “reportedly at considerable cost to the studio“.

Calgary Herald reports, (emphasis and commentaries added)

“Unfortunately, as is often the case with Hollywood, Argo trumpets America’s involvement in the caper at the expense of other players, specifically the Canadian Embassy. But, as is perhaps less often the case with Hollywood, when Affleck learned the film may have given Canada, and Taylor in particular, short shrift, he invited the former ambassador and his wife to L.A. to watch the film and eventually make changes to the postscript.

“I don’t focus my views on my own involvement,” says Taylor, in an phone interview from his home in New York City. “The entire Canadian Embassy was at play. I don’t think it gives credit to Canada. And I made that pretty clear, I think.”

Of course, by the time Taylor and his wife Pat watched Argo in L.A. last month, the actual film couldn’t be changed.So Affleck suggested Taylor rewrite the postscript, reportedly at considerable cost to the studio.

[Kempton's note: Once Affleck realized the mistake, it was an honourable thing for him to do to try to right a wrong. It is important to note that the postscript is rewritten by Taylor. See next paragraph for how diplomatically he put things. Here is a link to an authoritative account in President Ronald Reagan's 1981 Remarks when he presented the Congressional Gold Medal to Taylor.]

Taylor rewrote the postscript to emphasize collaboration. According to the Toronto Star it now reads: “The involvement of the CIA complemented efforts of the Canadian Embassy to free the six held in Tehran. To this day the story stands as an enduring model of international co-operation between governments.”

[Kempton's note: What a classy way to put things. Ambassador Taylor really make us Canadians proud in his measured words. Wow, "enduring model of international co-operation between governments." Nothing fancy about the risks he and his wife took, it is the Canadian Embassy.]

[...] Earlier this week, Taylor went to Washington for the movie’s premiere, which was also to include a private screening and reception at the Canadian Embassy. According to media reports, Affleck praised him on the red carpet before the screening, suggesting he was “a very clear hero.”“

Toronto Star reports and indirectly laying the blame of the film’s inaccuracy on the screenwriter and director,

“If anyone had bothered to ask Antonio “Tony” Mendez, the real-life CIA agent portrayed by Ben Affleck in the new thriller Argo, about Canada’s contribution to the rescue of six American diplomats from Iran in 1980, there would never have been any trouble.

“Canada was still the real hero in the whole thing,” said Mendez over lunch back in September, before Argo had ever screened to the public. He gives particular credit to former Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor. “Ken took a huge risk and he handled it wonderfully. He got the blame and he got the glory.”

[...] “When the six were seeking asylum, they were turned away from so many places, but when they came to the Canadians, (immigration officer) John Sheardon just said, ‘What took you so long?’ and welcome them in. He didn’t even have to ask Ken. He knew he’d be on side.”“

In an earlier post-TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) September report in Toronto Star,

“The old postscript sent the message that, for political reasons, Canada took the credit. A sarcastic kicker noted that Taylor received 112 citations. The clear implication was that he did not deserve them.

When Affleck phoned Taylor, he said, “Frankly, if this bothers you, then I’ll change it.”

[...] “I expressed my concern with certain details in the movie,” Taylor told me just before leaving his hotel to catch a flight back to New York. “In reality, Canada was responsible for the six and the CIA was a junior partner. But I realize this is a movie and you have to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. Ben was very gracious and we got along really well. There are a few points I want to address. Now Ben and I both feel free to talk about them.”

So well, in fact, that Taylor and his wife taped a commentary for the extra features on the DVD version of Argo, which will not be released until 2013. [Kempton's note: This will be really cool!]

According to Taylor, several details of the plot are pure fiction. There was never any crisis about getting the plane tickets for the six, as in the climatic scenes of Argo, because he bought three sets of plane tickets, paid for by Pat Taylor. Nor did Taylor ever threaten to close down the Canadian embassy, leaving his secret U.S. house guests with nowhere to hide. Nor did the six ever go to a bazaar.“I would never have allowed that,” says Taylor.

And oh, by the way, while in Tehran, Mendez was taken care of by the Canadian embassy.“What matters to me is the essence and importance of diplomacy,” Taylor sums up. “It matters more now than ever before. It’s a risky business but vitally important.

“You can’t just close the office,” he adds, in an apparent swipe at Ottawa’s recent decision to close the Canadian embassy in Iran.

[Kempton's note: This means a lot coming from Ambassador Taylor given his experiences in a previous dangerous time. It confirms my thinking it was wrong for the Harper government to shutdown the Canadian embassy in Iran, in fact co-incidentally on the same day Argo opened at TIFF!]For Ben Affleck, what counts is this: “It’s important to tell stories about how two countries worked together.”

Fade out on Hollywood’s real-life bromance.“

From a Toronto Star movie review,

“But then “69 Days Later” appears on the screen, and the Hollywood play time Taylor speaks of really kicks in. From this point on, as a bearded and bossy Affleck takes charge — under the indulgent command of his CIA superior, well played by Bryan Cranston — Argo becomes almost total fiction.

The third act is chock full of thriller clichés, including suspicious passport control officers, miracle computer file transfers (and this is 1980!) and airport tarmac chases. They all do what they’re supposed to do, just like a Big Mac sliding down your throat.“

Worth reading research materials:

Toronto Star, Oct 7, 2012, “‘Argo’: Former ambassador Ken Taylor sets the record straight“

Toronto Star, Sept 12, 2012, “TIFF 2012: How Canadian hero Ken Taylor was snubbed by Argo” (although not used/referenced in this report, this article is worth reading)

Toronto Star, Sept 12, 2012, “Ben Affleck changes Argo postscript for Ken Taylor“ (although not used/referenced in this report, this article is worth reading)

Concordia University, Sep 2011, “Former Canadian ambassador Kenneth D. Taylor delivers Henri Habib Distinguished Lecture.“

Check out these books

“Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History” is a Sept 2012 book by Antonio Mendez and Matt Baglio

“Our Men In Tehran” is a 2010 book by Robert Wright. Check out the book description for more info and the reviews for more info. Toronto Star reports, “But Our Man in Tehran, a 2010 book by Trent University professor Robert Wright, revealed that Taylor played a bigger role than was known at the time. The book claimed (and Taylor confirmed) that he was spying for the U.S. throughout the hostage crisis, at the request of Jimmy Carter (then U.S. president) and with the approval of Joe Clark (then Canadian prime minister).“

NOTE: This article is cross posted by me at examiner.com

Commencement Address by Jon Stewart (with a new quote I love)

If you haven’t seen this speech yet, check it out, worth your 15 minutes. Here is a quote,

“If there is any real advice I can give you, it is this. College is something you complete. Life is something you experience. So don’t worry about your grade. Or the results. Or success. Success is defined in myriad ways. And you will find it. And people will no longer be grading you but it will come from your own internal sense of decency.“

Jon Stewart 2004 Commencement Address at The College of William & Mary

Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon Google+ Hangout at Fox LA

It was my great pleasure to G+ Hangout with Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister+Danny Ayalon (Wikipedia) hosted by +Maria Quiban +Tshaka Armstrong at+myFOXla / FOX Los Angeles. The following is my question to Mr. Ayalon (I added a few words to give the readers some context).

Question: I understand you just attended the Jerusalem Post conference [in New York on Sunday Apr 29th]. And I’ve watched a video of sparks flying between Environmental Minister Gilad Erdan, and Meir Dagan, former chief of Mossad [national intelligence agency of Israel].

My question is about your view on the idea of an Israeli pre-emptive strike of Iran. Do you agree with Meir Dagan that [I paraphrase] “War is the the kind of thing where we know how it starts, but not how it will end” and Israel should exhaust all other means first before considering war?

Here is the full hangout video and you can watch my question and Mr. Ayalon’s answer (at 14:33 mark)

Background & Research material

The following are part of the research materials I gathered in order to ask an informed question. I tried to be as fair and as diplomatic as I could when asking my question without losing anything important in my question.

* May 1st, 2012 Jerusalem Post report of The Jerusalem Post Conference “Dagan and Erdan’s caustic exchange at the ‘Post’ Conference“. I’ve excerpted part of the exchange from a transcript of the acrimonious argument in a panel discussion on Israel’s security situation. To better understand the tone and context, I also found and watched a video clip of part of the exchange on YouTube. I think you get a sense of the heat from reading the words. (note: emphasis added, pix of Mr. Dagan via CBS 60 Minutes)

An excerpt from “Dagan and Erdan’s caustic exchange at the ‘Post’ Conference“,

“Keinon [Jerusalem Post’s diplomatic reporter]: But do you think it’s appropriate for him to make those kind of comments? He could have made them when he was the head of the Shin Bet (the Israel Security Agency)?

Dagan: First of all, I think he presented his position loudly and clearly about his refusal to the prime minister and defense minister. He didn’t announce it. It was in a closed room. To speak openly? (Turning to Gilad Erdan) I heard that a member of your party is now formulating a law… on behalf of my name, Dagan, preventing ex-people of the military and security establishment from speaking. Let me remind you of something, sir, what was started in Germany in the beginning.

You know how you are starting it; you don’t know how it is ending.

About Diskin, I believe that he is a very serious man and he is presenting a very serious point of view. And I know that serious point of view was presented to the prime minister and defense minister on many occasions.

[...] Erdan: Thank you very much, but I know that the Shin Bet is under the Prime Minister’s Office. (laughter) I also used to work there 15 or 16 years ago.

But the minister of defense still works together [with the prime minister], and if Yuval Diskin thought the prime minister was doing things so dangerous for the future of Israel, so in order to save Israel, he should resign, and not wait five years as head of the Shin Bet and then even agree to serve one more year.

And then, when resigning and when the prime minister does not accept his guy to be appointed as head of the Shin Bet…

Dagan:It’s not true. (boos) You are lying, sir. I am maybe not polite, but I prefer ministers of the State of Israel who speak the truth.

Erdan: I prefer that former heads of Mossad and Shin Bet won’t make damage to Israel…. That’s what I expect from you. Mr. Netanyahu goes around the world, and he never says that we are going to attack Iran, or when or where, but he is doing a lot of efforts in order to raise the awareness, and it is working.”

* Jerusalem Post Apr 29, 2012, “Dagan, Erdan trade barbs over Diskin comments“

* Jerusalem Post Apr 29, 2012, “Former Shin Bet chief slams ‘messianic’ PM, Barak“

* The Atlantic has an interesting and insightful piece “Netanyahu’s Bad Weekend“

* National Post, “Netanyahu under fire from within over Iran strike“

* CBS 60 Minutes “The Spymaster: Meir Dagan on Iran’s threat“

Remembering Mike Wallace (1918 – 2012)

I’m very saddened to see the passing of Mike Wallace. Mike’s interviews and his 60 Minutes segments have set the gold standard and inspired journalists from around the world. I believe the best way to remember Mike Wallace is through the work he has done. Here in this 2008 post, I linked to some of my fav Mike’s video interviews The Mike Wallace Interviews

“I accidentally discovered a gold mine of wonderful Mike Wallace interviews during my research for this Frank Lloyd Wright entry.

Here is a link to The Mike Wallace Interviews from the Harry Ransom Centrer, (University of Texas at Austin) archives and a list of interviews that I have enjoyed and looking forward to enjoy. (note the above main page has links to the transcripts of these interviews)

1. Frank Lloyd Wright – great interview
2. Salvador Dali - very interesting and strange. If you listen closely, you may find few tidbits of insights.
   
3. Eleanor Roosevelt
4. Kirk Douglas – a really candid and good interview
   
5. Nobel Prize Winners (Pauling, Buck, Pickett, Orr) talk about peace in a world threatened by war”

Apr 9th, 2012 update:

Emmy TV Legends, “Mike Wallace” 3 hours video interview.

CBS Morley Safer, “Remembering Mike Wallace 1918-2012” (with video)

NYT, “Reactions to the Death of Mike Wallace, ’60 Minutes’ Pioneer” Here is an touching excerpt and important lesson for us all,

“In a recent interview with Playboy magazine, Mr. Wallace’s son Chris, who is the anchor of “Fox News Sunday” on Fox, said that his father “is 93 and showing it for the first time.”

“He’s in a facility in Connecticut. Physically, he’s okay. Mentally, he’s not,” Chris Wallace said. “He still recognizes me and knows who I am, but he’s uneven. The interesting thing is, he never mentions ’60 Minutes.’ It’s as if it didn’t exist. It’s as if that part of his memory is completely gone. The only thing he really talks about is family — me, my kids, my grandkids, his great-grandchildren. There’s a lesson there. This is a man who had a fabulous career and for whom work always came first. Now he can’t even remember it.””

NYT, “Mike Wallace, CBS Pioneer of ‘60 Minutes,’ Dies at 93” (with a 21 minutes “Last Word: Mike Wallace“)

Telegraph, “Mike Wallace, who has died aged 93, was the “Grand Inquisitor” of American television, famous for his ruthless interviewing technique on the news magazine programme 60 Minutes.“

RETRACTION re Apple Factory story – This American Life

RETRACTION re Apple Factory story (This American Life, streaming + free mp3) – Worth a listen by Apple fans/foes, journalists, and aspiring journalists.

*** Before I listen to the show ***

As a journalist, I aspire to be the best I can be. No more, no less. I just hope to have the moral fiber to admit to my own past/present/future mistakes & apologize fully when the times come. At this moment, I feel the pain of Ira Glass and his colleagues.

*** After I listen to the show ***

First of all, I appreciate Ira‘s honesty and accept his apology. Secondly, after listening to Mike Daisey‘s second interview/chat with Ira re his fabricated Apple Factory story, I can no longer trust his words. Mike famously said,

“I think you can trust my word[s] in the context of the theatre.”

Huh, “in the context of the theatre”? What about things he said on TV with news media like CNBC, etc. What the heck? Was Mike serious or was he really thinking we couldn’t tell the difference between lies and truths? Under the Wikipedia journalistic scandal entry, I recognize and have followed the stories of Jayson Blair and Stephen Glass. I am wondering under what category should Mike Daisey‘s name be placed? May be under a lesson about ethics and integrity for journalists and aspiring journalists.

Update: WaPo, “Performer Mike Daisey scrubs his monologue about Apple and sticks to the facts after criticism” (emphasis added)

“Daisey portrayed his work as fact during a media blitz to promote his critically acclaimed show, and he misled dozens of news and entertainment outlets, including the popular public radio show “This American Life,” The Associated Press, The New York Times, MSNBC and HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

Will Twitter’s 500 Millionth User be a Chinese gov spam bot? Thanks to Ai Weiwei @aiww @AWWNeverSorry

According to some projection, Twitter will have its 500 millionth user today (Wed Feb 22, 2012 at about 3pm EST). I seriously wonder if  that “user” will be a Chinese political spam bot?

You see, I sometimes tweet about the Chinese artist and political activist Ai Weiwei @aiww or talk about the documentary Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry  @AWWNeverSorry. In the last 4 days alone, there were 15 brand new Chinese gov spam bots spamming me! The Chinese government wants to give the impression that lots of different people support its views.

Based on my experiences, the Chinese government and its agents have created many many Twitter spam bots, each only send out only about 120 or so personal @ message tweets to different people at the same time and then simply discard these accounts and left them unused! Try tweeting about Ai Weiwei @aiww  and be spammed by the famous Chinese government spam bot yourself!

So thanks to brave opposition voices from people like Ai Weiwei, will the Chinese government and other spam bots creators be creating Twitter’s Six Millionth or even One Billionth user?

Note: I am not sure if these bots are fully automated or partially run by hired Chinese, also known as the 50 Cent Army/Party (in simplified Chinese: 五毛党; traditional Chinese: 五毛黨).

Also, I want to be clear that Weiwei is NOT the only target of these spam bots, I got spammed by them because I tweeted about Weiwei. Other people got spammed for tweeting about other people the Chinese government happen to disagree with.

Here are six of the 15 Chinese gov spam bot accounts (all different) that spammed me in the last 4 days! Click pix to zoom it. The first image is the collection of many of the spam messages on one page.

Flash of Genius: Andreas Kluth

I’m preparing for an interview with +Andreas Kluth, author of “Hannibal and Me“, The Economist‘s West Coast correspondent. In my research, I found the following video in which Andreas talked about his book at the Economist Ideas Economy, Innovation event in Berkeley, California in March 2010.

Facebook IPO – The Joy of an Echo Chamber

We may know more about Facebook‘s supposed IPO next week possibly as soon as Wednesday (or later, hedging “timing is still being discussed“). One thing for sure is it has been fun to see media outlets in US and around the world joining in unison to repeat the news quoting WSJ as the source, “Facebook Readies IPO Filing – Morgan Stanley Seen Leading Deal Valuing Giant at $75 Billion to $100 Billion“.

In the age of instantaneous news/media, the name of game unfortunately is to report something quickly. Writing CYA words like “according to XYZ” (in this case, according to WSJ) is as good as, if not better than, doing your own reporting and facts checking! Well, it doesn’t cost you a cent plus writing the words “according to XYZ” almost absolve yourself from responsibilities. If the report was later found to be false, well, it is XYZ that f*cked up, not you. At least it is not like you mistakenly reporting someone’s death or something!

According to WSJ “Facebook IPO: Morgan Stanley Close to Reeling In a Giant ‘Like’“

“WSJ says the IPO could come as early as Wednesday with a valuation of $75 billion to $100 billion.“

When thousands of media outlets all are reporting the same piece of information, it must be true right?! Isn’t echo chamber fun? In case you missed it in the above quote, the echo chamber is going as far as quoting itself in Facebook IPO. Yes, WSJ is quoting WSJ. Why not?! The media outlets are stuck in a “no-win” commoditized news game and I would much rather be in games that are “win-win“.

As a business and technology geek, Facebook’s IPO will come when it comes. What I am more interested in is to read Facebook’s IPO filing prospectus if and when it is available.

P.S. Let me be clear that I don’t have a solution to our echo chamber yet but I don’t know if this reporting of news “according to …” is helping anyone.

Ai Weiwei’s “Sunflower Seeds Party”

Here is an excerpt from the insightful New Yorker article “AI WEIWEI AT HOME, IN ABSENTIA” by Evan Osnos,

“Ai’s cell phone rumbled and he answered the call. He smiled. Mary Boone, the gallery owner, was on the line. It was late at night in New York, but she wanted to tell him how his show was going. On the floor of her Chelsea space on West 24th Street, she had Ai’s hand-painted porcelain sunflower seeds, three million of them, which had been crafted by ceramic artisans in the pottery town of Jingdezhen. (The show is open until February 4th.) They are part of an ocean of seeds, one hundred million in all, that he originally unveiled in a 2010 installation at the Tate Modern in London. At the Tate, they formed a vast gray swamp, filling the cavernous Turbine Hall, but in New York, after two eventful years, they have taken on a different meaning. They are arranged in a rectangle with severe, angled corners. In the Times, Roberta Smith wrote that the “unruly ocean has been downsized to something more like a reflecting pool. It also suggests a kind of memorial plinth, a monument to the palpable absence of Mr. Ai.”

As is often the case for Ai Weiwei, his work and his life have become hard to differentiate. The seeds have found their way into the tax case. “When the seeds began to show, people started to ask: Can we have some? I responded very casually, ‘Whoever wants some, just give me an address and I’ll send them to you.’ We received about a thousand requests. And, since then, it has become a kind of movement. We’ve sent out several hundred thousand. This is amazing. They call it the ‘Sunflower Seeds Party.’ The party can be read as a party or a Party. And young people love it. They say, ‘The girl at school I loved for so long, and I could never really speak to her, I made an earring out of a seed and gave it to her.’ Another one said, he gave it to his parents. One said the seed will be the first gift to my unborn kid. And someone else said, by the year two-thousand-and-something, the seeds will have life coming out of them. They call them seeds of freedom. It’s very interesting that people need something to carry their fantasy.”

Online, the seeds became a proxy for Ai himself. “They talk about seeds and it moved like a wave. They couldn’t talk about me and they couldn’t talk about the government, but when they talked about seeds, nobody could do anything about it, because they aren’t talking about anything—just sunflower seeds!””

#SOPA 24 hours protest is just the beginning

Even if the current incarnations of SOPA and PIPA laws are stopped, this will just be one of the many battles in a long war. The industries and lobbyists will keep on pushing. It is up to us to ensure future incarnations of SOPA and PIPA are not overreaching thus doing more harm than good.

As one of the lead Fair Copyright for Canada Calgary organizers who has written articles, sent in personal submissions for parliamentary copyright committees, and organized protests since December 2007, I try to do my part to help shape Fair Copyright laws in Canada. Given that experience, I know the anti-SOPA and anti-PIPA has to be the beginning and we should be prepared to keep up the effort for sometime to come.

See also:

* “Canadian Media Coverage of the SOPA Protest“

* Toronto Star, “Michael Geist’s website went dark to protest U.S. restrictions on Internet“

Jan 21, 2012 Update: Mashable, “The Week That Killed SOPA: A Timeline“

Going Dark for 24 hours in protest of #SOPA

In solidarity with the 24 hours SOPA protests by Wikipedia (learn more), boingboing.net (learn more via Electronic Frontier Foundation), and others, this site will “go dark” for 24 hours.

To learn more of the reasons why I, as a Canadian, am protesting, please have a read of “Why Canadians Should Participate in the SOPA/PIPA Protest“

Quoting Wikipedia’s learn more,

“Although the bills have been amended since their introduction, they are still deeply problematic. Among other serious problems in the current draft of the bills, the requirement exists for US-based sites to actively police links to purported infringing sites. These kinds of self-policing activities are non-sustainable for large, global sites – including ones like Wikipedia. The legislative language is ambiguous and overly broad, even though it touches on protected speech. Congress says it’s trying to protect the rights of copyright owners, but the “cure” that SOPA and PIPA represent is worse than the disease.“

Kim Jong Il is dead – Tiger Spirit

In the wake of Kim Jong Il‘s death, have a watch of the award winning doc Tiger Spirit (free online) about the border separating South and North Korea.

“This full-length documentary tells the story of modern Korea, a nation divided in half. The psychic scar shared by families divided during the Korean War in the 1950s is symbolized by the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing communist North from capitalist South. Along this infamous border, filmmaker Min Sook Lee begins an emotion-charged journey into Korea’s broken heart, exploring the rhetoric and realism of reunification through the extraordinary stories of ordinary people. An eloquent tale of longing and hope, Tiger Spirit is an unforgettable portrait of Korea at a crossroads.”

[HT NFB and filmmaker Min Sook Lee]

Ai Weiwei: Artist & Dissident – Time Person of the Year Runner-Up

TIME, Ai Weiwei: The Dissident – Time Person of the Year Runner-Up

“For 81 days last spring and summer, Ai Weiwei was China’s most famous missing person. Detained in Beijing while attempting to catch a flight to Hong Kong on April 3, Ai, an artistic consultant for the iconic Bird’s Nest stadium, was held almost entirely incommunicado and interrogated some 50 times while friends and supporters around the world petitioned for his release. On Nov. 1, Ai, who says the case against him is politically motivated, was hit with a $2.4 million bill for back taxes and penalties. Two weeks later, he paid a $1.3 million bond with loans from Chinese supporters who contributed online and in person and even tossed cash over the walls of his studio in northeast Beijing.

The son of a revolutionary poet, Ai, 54, has grown more outspoken in recent years, expressing his anger at abuses of power and organizing online campaigns, including a volunteer investigation into the deaths of children in schools that collapsed during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. His detention came amid a broad crackdown on activists by the Chinese government meant to stamp out a call for Arab Spring–inspired pro-democracy protests as well as continuing unrest in the Tibetan regions, where 12 people have set themselves on fire since March to protest Chinese policies.

Ai, who speaks excellent if not quite flawless English, sat down on Dec. 12 with TIME’s Hannah Beech and Austin Ramzy — and a calico cat, one of nearly two dozen cats and dogs at his studio — to discuss his detention, the poetry of Twitter and whether China is immune to the global forces of protest and revolution. [...]

If you had a chance to go overseas, would you?

I have to evaluate, Is it better to stay in a jail here or go abroad? If you go, you really have to say goodbye.

You feel you wouldn’t be allowed back?

Not only that. I’m afraid I would lose the sensitivity to this reality. There are so many things you can do in life, and of course, activist isn’t my top choice. I think I would lose touch with here, and I certainly feel I owe a lot of people. If I can make a good effort, I would continue to do that.”

2011 Year In Review

Great video of 2011 Year in Review

More photos here in this Flickr collection.

Discussing Euro problem in my 2001 economics class presentation (Benefits and a potential weakness of the Euro)

For Nobel economist Robert Mundell, “Father of the Euro“, it must be heart breaking for him to read headlines like “EU Sets 50% Greek Writedown, $1.4 Trillion in Debt-Crisis Fight” and “Euro zone rescue fund will have firepower of 1 trillion euros“.

In 2001, my MBA economics professor asked us to give a class presentation on something economics related, and I decided to talk about what I knew about Euro (not from the course itself but from readings of my own). I titled my talk Benefits and a potential weakness of the Euro (slides on Google). Here are the few key slides (high res readable version).

The crux of my ideas came from a heated & insightful debate I read in National Post in Dec 2000 between Nobel economists Robert Mundell and Milton Friedman. The following are quotes from Friedman (emphasis added to original text used in my presentation),

“Bob and my disagreement about the euro is identical with our disagreement about Bretton Woods. The euro encompasses 11 politically independent countries, differing in culture, resources and economic development, and subject to divergent influences. There are bound to develop among them differences about appropriate monetary, fiscal and other policies. Flexible exchange rates offered a way of adjusting to such differences through the market without political conflict. The euro closes that possibility. Bob is confident that other adjustment mechanisms will rapidly develop—greater internal flexibility in prices, regulations, and the like. I hope he is right, but I fear he may not be. If he turns out not to be, the euro will generate more political conflict, not political unity. [...]

The members of the euro have accepted restrictions on their fiscal policy, but it remains to be seen whether they will be honored, and if they are not honored, whether the monetary community can enforce them. Those tests are yet to come.“

I doubt any of my classmates remember this but it is cool for me to look back and think that I picked an interesting and important topic to discuss even for a simple class presentation. Feel like patting myself on the back a little.

Vancouver’s ties to ‘Occupy’ financial movement

Two insightful articles,

* “Vancouver’s ties to ‘Occupy’ financial movement” Here is an excerpt,

“A Twitter hashtag was fired off on July 13 this summer from a house in Vancouver’s quiet, leafy Fairview Slopes neighbourhood — 17 characters that would ignite anti-corporate protests in New York and other North American cities: #OccupyWallStreet.