Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
A vote in Switzerland to ban the construction of Muslim minarets and controversies over global warming research led conversations in the blogosphere last week. On Twitter, it was a story about a local billboard campaign with unintended consequences. And on YouTube, a pop singer made her second appearance in recent weeks.
On Oct. 7, 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Salazar v. Buono, a case involving a constitutional challenge to the presence of an eight-foot-tall Christian cross in the Mojave National Preserve in San Bernardino County, Calif. The case arose when Frank Buono, a former assistant superintendent of the preserve, filed a […]
For one week at least, the battle over health care reform and the troubled U.S. economy faded in the news. Instead, a series of daunting overseas challenges, highlighted by a surprise announcement about Iranian nukes, drove the press narrative.
Introduction Like many technical innovations, the internet was greeted enthusiastically by those who thought it would “change everything” when it comes to democratic governance. Among its predicted salutary effects is the capacity of the internet to permit ordinary citizens to short-circuit political elites and deal directly with one another and public officials; to foster deliberation, […]
The arrest of Roman Polanski dominated the blogosphere last week, with online commentators overwhelmingly condemning the filmmaker for the crime he committed three decades ago. And a CNN sparring match between anchor Wolf Blitzer and filmmaker Michael Moore was among the week’s most viewed YouTube news videos.