#evan osnos

[alexesguerra]

Joe Biden: The Life, the Run, and What Matters Now Joe Biden: The Life, the Run, and What Matters Now Hardcover – October 27, 2020 by Evan Osnos (Author) --Brand New--- A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2020 A concise, brilliant, and trenchant examination of Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s successful lifelong quest for the presidency by National Book Award winner Evan Osnos. President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. has been called both the luckiest man and the unluckiest—fortunate to have sustained a fifty-year political career that reached the White House, but also marked by deep personal losses and disappointments that he has suffered. Yet even as Biden’s life has been shaped by drama, it has also been powered by a willingness, rare at the top ranks of politics, to confront his shortcomings, errors, and reversals of fortune. As he says, “Failure at some point in your life is inevitable, but giving up is unforgivable.” His trials have forged in him a deep empathy for others in hardship—an essential quality as he leads America toward recovery and renewal. Blending up-close journalism and broader context, Evan Osnos, who won the National Book Award in 2014, draws on nearly a decade of reporting for The New Yorker to capture the characters and meaning of 2020’s extraordinary presidential election. It is based on lengthy interviews with Biden and on revealing conversations with more than a hundred others, including President Barack Obama, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, and a range of activists, advisers, opponents, and Biden family members. This portrayal illuminates Biden’s long and eventful career in the Senate, his eight years as Obama’s vice president, his sojourn in the political wilderness after being passed over for Hillary Clinton in 2016, his decision to challenge Donald Trump for the presidency, and his choice of Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate. Osnos ponders the difficulties Biden faces as his presidency begins and weighs how a changing country, a deep well of experiences, and a rigorous approach to the issues, have altered his positions. In this nuanced portrait, Biden emerges as flawed, yet resolute, and tempered by the flame of tragedy—a man who just may be uncannily suited for his moment in history. About the Author Evan Osnos has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 2008. His most recent book, Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China, won the National Book Award, among other honors. Previously he reported from China, Iraq, and elsewhere for the Chicago Tribune, where he shared a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. He lives with his wife and children in Washington, DC. Product details Publisher : Scribner (October 27, 2020) Language : English Hardcover : 192 pages ISBN-10 : 1982174021 ISBN-13 : 9781982174026 Item Weight : 12 ounces Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.7 x 8.38 inches

[theartofreadingbyroxxie]

10 Buchtitel beginnend mit "J" | Top Ten Thursday №34

Buchtitel beginnend mit "J" sind an diesem Donnerstag gefragt. #TopTenThursday

[sherlynnxy]

‘The Impact of Social Media Bans on Chinese Users and Global Connections’

MDA20009 Digital Communities

Hello everyone, this is our last post T^T! To my course mates, the semester has come to an end, hope you all had a great holiday! Also, an early 🎄Merry Christmas❄️ to everyone!!!

The quick spread of social media around the world has brought people and communities together. However, some countries maintain restrictive media environments that make it difficult for people to use these platforms freely, with China being a good example. The Chinese government has implemented strict censorship measures to control news, social media and online communication. The ‘Great Firewall’ prevents users from accessing popular platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Google services. Despite these restrictions, millions of Chinese users have found ways around these barriers, raising significant questions about how censorship affects lives, national identity and global connectivity. This raises important questions about how these restrictions shape individual lives, national identities, and broader networks of global interaction.

Understanding the Great Firewall

According to Britannica, the Great Firewall (also known as the Golden Shield Project) is a key component of China's Golden Shield Project, combines regulatory and technological measures to censor and monitor internet usage (Gisonna, 2024). It employs tools like keyword filtering, bandwidth throttling, and Deep Packet Inspection to block specific content. This system not only restricts foreign platforms but also pressures journalists through dismissals and arrests, fostering self-censorship. As journalist Evan Osnos observed, China's digital links to the world are increasingly deteriorating, emphasizing its isolationist internet policy.

U.S. technology in China

China's restrictive policies make it challenging for U.S. tech companies to compete, with platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Google blocked. To illustrate, in early 2013, Google withdrew its services after several conflicts with Chinese censorship, and in late 2014, China disabled Google's email service Gmail, which raised concerns at the U.S. State Department (Xu, 2017). Furthermore, in early 2014, Google chairman Eric Schmidt indicated that encryption could facilitate entry into the Chinese market for Google. However, these plans encountered a challenge in March 2014 when the government took action against the social networking app WeChat. The government's decision to crack down on the social networking app WeChat to the deletion of the accounts of several prominent political liberals. Subsequently, new regulations were announced for 'instant messaging tools' on mobile chat apps, such as WeChat, which has over 750 million users and is increasingly seen as a platform for mass dissent that can bypass censors (Xu, 2017). Gmail’s ban and the crackdown on politically liberal accounts on WeChat demonstrated the government’s tightening control.

Social Media Censorship: How does it work?

The Great Firewall of China employs sophisticated methods to enforce internet censorship and block unwanted content (Xu, 2017):

Network Blackholing: A fundamental technique involves maintaining a list of banned IP addresses. If a user attempts to access a prohibited site, the connection is immediately dropped, effectively severing access to restricted content。

Quality of Service (QoS) Filtering: This advanced approach employs deep packet inspection to analyze data traffic and identify connections attempting to bypass censorship through Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). QoS filtering intercepts these connections before they reach their destination, undermining one of the primary tools users rely on to circumvent the firewall.

Domain Name System (DNS) Hijacking: DNS hijacking disrupts the mapping of IP addresses to website names, preventing users from accessing flagged domains. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are systematically targeted, ensuring that only approved alternatives like Weibo and WeChat dominate the market.

URL Filtering: URL filtering involves the use of proxies to examine requested web addresses for banned keywords. This precise control allows authorities to selectively block pages on platforms like Wikipedia, allowing access to general content while censoring politically sensitive topics.

To learn more about how social media censorship works, here are the views shared by Karoline Kan, a Beijing-based journalist and writer:

The Impact of China's Social Media Censorship

Positive Impacts: Government and Domestic Industry Benefits

From a government perspective, the Great Firewall serves multiple purposes. It blocks access to foreign platforms such as Google, Twitter and Facebook, which were blocked as a result of uprisings such as the 2009 Xinjiang riots. The government is trying to maintain political unity and national security, by limiting access to other forms of governance and lifestyles, Firewalls have also helped Chinese internet companies like Tencent, Baidu, Alibaba and Weibo to grow and succeed without competition from international rivals. This approach to cyber-sovereignty is often seen as a way of protecting national stability (Kannan, A. 2017).

Negative Impacts: Limitations on Innovation and Freedom

From the Chinese citizens perspective, these restrictions pose significant challenges to entrepreneurs, influencers and professionals in accessing global markets and networks, thereby stifling business opportunities and cultural exchanges. Strict government control of online content hinders dissent and creative freedom because users know that surveillance is everywhere. As a result, many people use VPNs to get access to blocked content, but these methods are not foolproof and can be blocked. Some have opted for more advanced tools such as Tor or SSH tunnelling, but these are not for everyone (Xu, 2017).

Despite these challenges, Chinese internet users have found alternative ways to get around the firewall. For instance, tools like Ultrasurf, Psiphon, and Freegate let users set up proxy servers, and microblogging platforms like Weibo have become places for people to talk about things they would normally be banned from discussing. On top of that, over the years, internet users have created a whole range of visual puns, memes, acronyms and slang to get around the censorship, which has transformed online spaces into complex arenas for political and social debate (Xu, 2017).

Global Implications

Censorship not only affects China, but also reshapes global digital dynamics. The fragmentation of the Internet, where users from different countries are often separated into different cyberspaces, limits cross-cultural dialogue and global collaboration. For international brands and content creators, the Chinese market holds great opportunities, but navigating these constraints is often too complex, leading to missed opportunities. On a larger scale, China's digital isolation has exacerbated geopolitical tensions, leading to a growing digital divide between China and the West (Kannan, A. 2017). These tensions complicate international diplomacy and exacerbate the fragmentation of the global digital ecosystem.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, China's 'Great Firewall' is a sophisticated and multifaceted approach to internet censorship that has a significant impact on the online environment for Chinese citizens. While the firewall helps the government keep political stability and protect domestic industries, it also stifles creativity, limits global connectivity, and hinders free expression. Chinese users are creative in finding ways around the restrictions, but these policies contribute to the fragmentation of the global digital landscape and exacerbate geopolitical tensions. Ultimately, censorship policies greatly affect China's digital ecosystem and its interaction with the global community.

Reference:

Gisonna, N. (2024). Great Firewall | History, China, Hong Kong, & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Great-Firewall

Kannan, A. (2017). Here’s why the Great Firewall of China has benefited the country. Young Post. https://www.scmp.com/yp/discover/your-voice/opinion/article/3066603/heres-why-great-firewall-china-has-benefited-country

Silva, M. (2019).China social media censorship: how does it work? BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/av/stories-49527899

Xu, B. (2017). Media censorship in China. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/media-censorship-china

[odinsblog]

A ban of the Chinese social-media app TikTok, first floated by the Trump Administration, is now gaining real traction in Washington.

Lawmakers of both parties fear the app could be manipulated by Chinese authorities to gain insight into American users and become an effective tool for propaganda against the United States. “Tiktok arrived in Americans’ lives in about 2018 . . . and in some ways it coincided with the same period of collapse in the U.S.-China relationship,” the staff writer Evan Osnos tells David Remnick.

“If you’re a member of Congress, you look at TikTok and you say, ‘This is the clearest emblem of my concern about China, and this is something I can talk about and touch.’ ” Remnick also talks with the journalist Chris Stokel-Walker—who has written extensively about TikTok and argued against a ban—regarding the global political backlash against the app. “I think we should be suspicious of all social media, but I don’t think that TikTok is the attack vector that we think it is,” he says. “This is exactly the same as any other platform.”

👉🏿 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-new-yorker-radio-hour/id1050430296

[garudabluffs]

Dolly Parton “Busted a Gut” Reaching for the High Notes on “Rockstar”

The country legend finds freedom in her first venture into rock.

"After six decades as an icon in country music, it’s hard to imagine Dolly Parton had anything to prove. But when she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, in 2022, she admitted to feeling uneasy. A result of that feeling is “Rockstar,” the seventy-seven-year-old’s first foray into rock music. “I wanted the rock people to be proud of me, let’s put it that way,” Parton tells the New Yorker contributor Emily Lordi. “I wanted them to say, ‘Did you hear Dolly’s rock album? Man, she killed it.’ ”

[itsathingandyoucandoit]

Lol (Evan Osnos in the New Yorker).

[tramsachvn]

Vùng Đất Hoang Vu PDF & Review https://tramsach.vn/vung-dat-hoang-vu-pdf/

[npi]

Evan Osnos on Joe Biden's last campaign

For decades, there was a lightness about Joe Biden — a springy, mischievous energy that was hard not to like, even if it allowed some people to classify him as a lightweight. For better and worse, he is a more solemn figure now. His voice is thin and clotted, and his gestures have slowed, but, in our conversation, his mind seemed unchanged. He never bungled a name or a date. — Evan Osnos: Joe…

[truck-fump]

<b>Trump's</b> Vindictive Second-Term Agenda | The New Yorker

New Post has been published on https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/political-scene/trumps-vindictive-second-term-agenda&ct=ga&cd=CAIyGjUzM2UwMTY5ZmFhZTIwMGQ6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AOvVaw0qGwysCcvO-nSmWzlj5NXL

Trump's Vindictive Second-Term Agenda | The New Yorker

On the Political Scene podcast, Susan B. Glasser, Jane Mayer, and Evan Osnos discuss what a second Trump Administration would look like in …

[berezina]

To work in the industry, staff must adhere to the culture of secrecy, often enforced by N.D.A.s. On one yacht, O'Shannassy, the captain, learned to communicate in code with the helicopter pilot who regularly flew the owner from Switzerland to the Mediterranean. Before takeoff, the pilot would call with a cryptic report on whether the party included the presence of a Pomeranian. If any guest happened to overhear, their cover story was that a customs declaration required details about pets. In fact, the lapdog was a constant companion of the owner's wife; if the Pomeranian was in the helicopter, so was she. 'If no dog was in the helicopter,' O'Shannassy recalled, the owner was bringing 'somebody else.' It was the captain's duty to rebroadcast the news across the yacht's internal radio: 'Helicopter launched, no dog, I repeat no dog today'—the signal for the crew to ready the main cabin for the mistress, instead of the wife. They swapped out dresses, family photos, bathroom supplies, favored drinks in the fridge. On one occasion, the code got garbled, and the helicopter landed with an unanticipated Pomeranian. Afterward, the owner summoned O'Shannassy and said, 'Brendan, I hope you never have such a situation, but if you do I recommend making sure the correct dresses are hanging when your wife comes into your room.'

~Evan Osnos [source]

[thecapitolradar]

So, Tom Friedman, just not ignoring the "Communist" in "Chinese Communist Party".

In other words, you'll never see us coming, because we'll bury you in an avalanche of lies about "freedom".

[sandylien]

Joe Biden: American Dreamer by Evan Osnos- book review

Joe Biden has been called both the luckiest man and the unluckiest—fortunate to have sustained a fifty-year political career that reached the White House, but also marked by deep personal losses and disappointments that he has suffered.

Joe Biden: American Dreamer' (Bloomsbury) is adapted from an occasional series of articles published by The New Yorker between 2011 and 2020. The author Evan Osnos had conducted four interviews with Biden and more than a hundred people in his political orbits.

The book is a concise and highlighted of Biden’s political road to presidency.  Many of the quotes I like. Some of them are listed below:

“Failure at some point in your life is inevitable, but giving up in unforgivable.”

My favour from Biden’s wife when he asked her “How am I going to handle this?” as the No2.  to support Obama for vice presidential consideration in 2007. She said’ Grow Up”.

His comment to the author “Listen, buddy, you call me a nice old man and one more time and I will personally come down there and kick your ass’.

In the presidential race 2020, Biden commented about Trump, “the more he talked, the better off I am”. When people say to him, “Well, what are you going to do if you get elected?” Biden said, ‘ It depends on what the hell I’m left with. Not a joke. I’m not being a wise guy. Thing could get a lot worse.’.

The one really impressed me was during Biden’s visiting Putin at the Kremlin 2011. He said to Putin’ Mr. Prime Minister, I’m looking into your eyes, and I don’t think you have a soul’.