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Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Olympics awash in Twitter, for better or worse

FILE- Greece's Voula Papachristou lands in the sand after her jump at the Women's Triple Jump final at the European Athletics Championships in Helsinki, Finland, in this file photo dated Friday, June 29, 2012. The Hellenic Olympic Committee has removed triple jumper Voula Papachristou from the team taking part in the upcoming London Olympic Games over comments she made on twitter making fun of African immigrants and expressing support for a far-right party. ?The track and field athlete Paraskevi (Voula) Papachristou is placed outside the Olympic Team for statements contrary to the values and ideas of the Olympic movement,? a statement by the Hellenic Olympic Committee says. Papachristou is in Athens, and was to travel to London ?shortly before the track events start,? the announcement says.(AP Photo/Matt Dunham, file)

United States runner Sanya Richards-Ross speaks during a news conference at Olympic Park during the 2012 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 30, 2012, in London. Richards-Ross is one of the U.S. athletes who are part of a Twitter campaign demanding changes in Olympic Rule 40 ? which, among other things, does not permit athletes "to promote any brand, product or service within a posting, blog or tweet or otherwise on any social media platforms or on any websites." (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

LONDON (AP) ? It's amazing how much trouble can be stirred up in 140 characters or less.

But also how much intimacy, excitement, global scope and, yes, general zaniness. For better and for worse, the 2012 Olympics are being shaped, shaken and indisputably changed by a social media revolution that four years ago in Beijing was in its toddlerhood.

Four days into the games, we've already seen (and this is but a partial list):

?an athletes' Twitter campaign objecting to sponsorship restrictions that went viral under the hashtag "WeDemandChange."

?a television viewers uprising over Olympic broadcaster NBC's decision not to live stream the opening ceremony.

?two athletes kicked out for racist tweets.

?a fan arrested Tuesday after a series of threatening posts, including one in which he vowed to drown a British diver, and another in which he told the athlete he had failed his dead father by not winning.

For Olympics organizers who pride themselves on putting on a carefully choreographed ? obsessively controlled, some would say ? 17-day show, the bursts of Twitter activity are like gamma rays escaping from a solar flare. They're impossible to stop and spellbinding to behold.

"I don't think we would seek to control it, nor could we," said International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams. He said more than 15 million fans are following and participating in the Olympic experience via Twitter and other social media platforms, not to mention a good proportion of the 10,800 athletes. "Used the right way, we embrace social media," he said. "And, if you look at the guidelines, we positively encourage it."

The problem is, it isn't always used that way.

The immediacy and public nature of Twitter and its propensity to induce off-the-cuff irreverence, and sometimes breathtaking ugliness, has added a new and chaotic element to an event where everything from urine samples to sponsors' logos to London traffic is arranged with overcaffeinated attention to detail worthy of a royal wedding.

"Though organizers have spent months touting this as the first social media Summer Games, many of them seem to have been totally unprepared for the huge impact that Twitter has had," said Andy Miah, director of the Creative Futures Institute at the University of the West of Scotland. "I think there was some naivete about the likely role of social media from both participants and from the organizers. Many of them appear to have been wrongfooted."

Twitter has been used in many ways during its brief life ? some very organized and tactical, some more spontaneous and disorderly. It has been a tool of protest and organization for the Occupy Wall Street movement and Arab Spring activists. Yet it has also led to the downfall of click-happy politicians, and the sometimes embarrassing late-night revelations of A-list celebrities.

The social network is now at the fingertips of 140 million users, up from a few million when the Olympics were held in Beijing in 2008. The San Francisco-based company says there have been more than 10 million tweets mentioning the Olympics during the first few days of the games. The exponential jump from four years ago has been driven by the rise of smartphones, now carried by spectators and athletes alike, each watching each other watch each other.

Which of course raises the question: When exuberant, often young athletes are going through the experience of their lives on one hand, and it's unfolding in a deeply controlled environment on the other, how do you make sure everyone gets what they need without it all turning to anarchy?

The IOC, Miah says, has tried to exert control by creating its own social media hub ? gathering athletes' tweets and posts from Facebook, the other formidable player in this landscape. But it hasn't always worked out as planned.

On Saturday, U.S. women's soccer goalkeeper Hope Solo launched a Twitter outburst against Brandi Chastain, the former American soccer player who is now an analyst on NBC. "Its 2 bad we can't have commentators who better represents the team&knows more about the game," Solo wrote.

Dozens of athletes, including some British soccer players, have taken to Twitter to promote their sponsors' products, a violation of Olympic rules that could theoretically lead to their expulsions. Some Olympians, undoubtedly delighting agents and marketers back home, have started an online campaign to get the rules changed.

And it's not just athletes who are stirring the stew of controversy.

British lawmaker Aidan Burley earned a sharp rebuke from fellow conservatives after he tweeted that Danny Boyle's critically acclaimed opening ceremony, which told the story of Britain's history in a rousing mix of music, symbolism and showmanship, was "leftie multicultural crap."

A British journalist said his Twitter account was blocked after he criticized NBC's coverage of the opening ceremony and posted the e-mail of a network executive. And thousands of disgruntled Olympics viewers set up hashtag "nbcfail" on Twitter to air complaints about the media company's coverage.

Then there's the teenager from Dorset who was arrested Tuesday after a series of offensive and, authorities say, menacing tweets directed at British Olympian Tom Daley. The suspect could be prosecuted under British law.

And yet Twitter has fast become an indispensable part of the Olympic scene. It is as valuable to today's spectators as programs and scorecards were to another generation, and it is just as important to the athletes seeking to connect with supporters from behind the Olympic curtain.

For young fans, "take away Twitter and you take away part of the experience," said Steve Jones, a professor who studies online culture and communications at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Olympians have used Twitter to tell supporters what they are eating, how they are feeling and who they are hanging out with. Jamaican mega-star Usain Bolt tweeted about his craving for chicken. American hurdler Lolo Jones revealed she's a virgin.

Perhaps that is too much information and intimacy for some, but Twitter, Facebook and their many copycats are not going anywhere, and it's time we got used to it.

Andy Hunt, the head of the British Olympic association, found himself dealing with a double whammy of Twitter eruptions ? defending his star diver against social-network vitriol while vowing to look into whether the host country's soccer players should be disciplined for using the site for "ambush marketing."

"I think everyone knows, if you use social media extensively, you have to accept you get bad as well as good," Hunt told journalists. "And sometimes bad is wholly unacceptable."

___

Associated Press reporters David Stringer and Jake Coyle contributed. Paul Haven reported from London, Barbara Ortutay from New York.

___

Follow on Twitter: Paul Haven: http://www.twitter.com/paulhaven and Barbara Ortutay: http://www.twitter.com/barbaraortutay

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-07-31-The%20Twitter%20Factor/id-7379af7180384236822a4abee41e1857

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Syria fighting rages as rebels attack Aleppo targets

Syrian rebels launched attacks early Tuesday on a military court and an air force intelligence headquarters in Aleppo, a watchdog said, as fighting in the commercial capital raged into a fourth day.

The pre-dawn attacks came as the UN observer mission said government forces were using helicopters, tanks and artillery to fight the rebels and urged both sides to protect civilians in the city of 2.7 million people.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog group said rebels launched an assault before dawn on the powerful air force intelligence branch in Aleppo's Zahraa district and that fighting was continuing into the day.

Also under cover of darkness, rebels armed with rocket propelled grenades attacked Aleppo's main military court, a police station and a branch of the ruling Baath Party in the city's southern Salhin district, the Britain-based Observatory said.

The watchdog added that the neighbourhoods of Salaheddin, Marjeh, Firdoss, Al-Mashhad, Sakhur, Al-Shaar and Ansari were shelled through the night by government troops, while the army and rebels clashed at dawn in Al-Meesr and Al-Adaa.

The Syrian Revolution General Committee, a network of activists on the ground, meanwhile, said Salaheddin, the rebels' main bastion in Aleppo's southwest, was strafed by government helicopter gunships for a fourth straight day.

A security official in Damascus told AFP on Monday that the army had regained some of Salaheddin but it was facing "a very strong resistance." The rebels, however, denied that the army had advanced even "one metre" (yard).

Just outside Aleppo, rebels seized a strategic checkpoint after a 10-hour battle on Monday, an AFP correspondent witnessed.

By securing the Anadan checkpoint, some five kilometres (3.8 miles) northwest of Aleppo, the rebels now control a direct route between the Turkish border and the commercial capital.

The fighting erupted on Saturday when regime forces launched an all-out offensive to overrun rebel-held districts of the northern city.

United Nations mission chief Lieutenant General Babacar Gaye said he was "deeply concerned about the ongoing violence from both sides in Aleppo."

"My observers there have reported an upsurge in the violence, with helicopters, tanks and artillery being used," the Senegalese general said.

"It is imperative that both sides respect international humanitarian law and protect civilians."

UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said an estimated 200,000 people had fled from Aleppo in two days and that an unknown number were still trapped in the city.

Many people in Aleppo had sought shelter in schools and other public buildings.

"They urgently need food, mattresses and blankets, hygiene supplies and drinking water," she said.

The Observatory said violence across the country on Monday saw 93 people killed -- 41 civilians, 19 rebels and 33 soldiers.

Among Monday's death toll were at least five rebels and one civilian killed in Salaheddin, while eight bodies of unidentified men were found near the air force intelligence branch in Zahraa.

The Observatory says it cannot swiftly give an authoritative death toll for the fierce battles in Aleppo.

"In a war context, it takes more time to accurately document the death toll," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

US President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by telephone Monday "to coordinate efforts to accelerate a political transition in Syria," the White House said.

Obama and Erdogan shared their concerns over the crackdown "and the deteriorating humanitarian conditions throughout Syria as a result of the regime's atrocities."

Syria's top diplomat in London Khaled al-Ayoubi resigned in protest against the "violent and oppressive" actions of the Assad regime, the British Foreign Office said.

It was the latest blow to the Damascus government after a series of defections of diplomats and senior army officers in recent weeks.

Tens of thousands of people fleeing the violence in Syria have taken refuge in neighbouring countries, notably Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.

As of last week, at least 1.5 million people were listed as internally displaced as a result of the conflict, according to Guillaume Charron of the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.

More than 20,000 people have been killed in Syria since the anti-regime revolt began in March 2011, according to the Observatory. There is no way to independently verify the figure, while the UN has stopped keeping count.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/200-000-flee-aleppo-syria-battle-rages-023855367.html

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Syria rebels suspicious over defector's motives

BEIRUT (AP) ? Syria's most prominent defector has been touring regional powers to garner support for the uprising. But many in the opposition are deeply suspicious of the handsome former general, a longtime friend of President Bashar Assad with a taste for expensive cigars, believing he is just trying to vault to power.

The controversy over Manaf Tlass reflects the divisions among the forces seeking to topple the Syria regime and the difficulties they face in agreeing on a leadership that can pose a credible alternative to Assad. Some rebel leaders worry that the countries supporting their fight are using their money and influence to steer the Syrian revolution and determine the country's future.

Tlass is the first member of Assad's inner circle to abandon the regime since the uprising began in March 2011, and his defection in early July was hailed as a resounding triumph by the opposition.

To the international community, particularly Sunni powerhouses Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, he may appear the perfect figure to lead a transitional government. As a secular Sunni Muslim with a military background and insider's knowledge of the regime, Tlass would seem to hold credentials to play a bridging role if the regime falls, keeping the country's military and security forces intact.

But his recent jet setting and warm reception in Saudi Arabia and Turkey have fueled suspicions that he is ingratiating himself with regional powers propping him up for a major role. Saudi Arabia is a key financial backer of the rebellion, and Turkey is host to much of the opposition.

"It seems there are foreign and Arab countries who have plans for him, but the Syrian street will decide who it wants," said Anwar Saadeddine, a brigadier general like Tlass who defected in May. Along with other generals, Saadeddine is helping direct the rebels from a camp along the border in Turkey.

All the major figures in the opposition, including political and military defectors, are trying to position themselves for a role in a future Syria, said Randa Slim, a research fellow at the New America Foundation in Washington. But the longer Syria's civil war drags on, the more domestic players on the ground will gain strength and it will be harder for exile figures to carve themselves a piece of power.

"External actors, including former generals like Tlass, will have less maneuverability to inject themselves in these new political configurations," Slim said.

Tlass denies any leadership ambitions.

"I did not leave Syria to lead a transitional period," he said in an interview this week with the Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat newspaper. "But I will try to help as much as I can to unite all the honorable people inside and outside Syria to put together a roadmap to get us out of this crisis."

The United States, which has sought to unite the opposition, appears to be staying away from him. U.S. officials insist there have been no discussions with him. "The opposition views him suspiciously. He has no credibility. For us, he is really a non-player. We are not trying to maneuver anything with him," said one official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were discussing internal administration thinking.

After his defection, French officials are believed to have debriefed Tlass, who now resides in Paris. But the French government, as well, has said nothing publicly about any views they may have on a possible future role.

As Assad struggles to quash a rebellion that has now reached former regime bastions Damascus and Aleppo, the pace of defections has picked up to include army generals, several ambassadors, senior diplomats and members of parliament in the last few weeks.

But none of the defections have been as high profile ? and damaging to the Assad's regime ? as Tlass's jumping ship.

Tlass, who is in his forties, is the son of former defense minister Mustafa Tlass, who was the most trusted lieutenant of Hafez Assad, the president's father and predecessor.

The younger Tlass was a close, childhood friend of Bashar and his younger brother Maher, who commands the elite 4th Division and the Republican Guards in charge of protecting the capital. Tlass eventually became a commander in the Republican Guards and was reportedly privy to some of the regime's deepest secrets, one of only a handful of Sunnis holding power in a regime dominated by the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

A handsome man with tussled, salt-and-pepper hair, usually with a cigar between his fingers, Tlass led an extravagant lifestyle, and he and his wife, Tala, were fixtures on the social scene in Syria.

For critics, his defection is nothing more than an 11th hour attempt to jump off a sinking ship. But observers and former friends say he had a fallout with Assad in the early days of the uprising and had sidelined himself after failing to convince the president not to listen to his inner circle of security advisers, who were all recommending a harsh crackdown.

Tlass said he defected when he realized the regime could not be deterred from its single-minded pursuit of crushing the opposition.

For that, he has earned the respect of some factions within the opposition.

"He is not an opportunist. Manaf has excellent credentials and a vision for a political solution for Syria. We view him very positively and think he should have a role in the transition," Michel Kilo, a veteran opposition figure and former political prisoner, said in a telephone interview from Paris.

But many others are suspicious.

Saudi-controlled media have lavished Tlass with praise. Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV showed footage of him in the holy Saudi city of Mecca wrapped in the white seamless clothes of a pilgrim. Razan Zaitouneh, a well-known opposition figure in Syria writing on her Facebook page, derided the images as a "cheap shot" meant to play up his Sunni credentials.

In his Asharq al-Awsat interview, Tlass said he was in Saudi Arabia to assess what kind of help the oil-rich nation could give to create a new Syria.

In Turkey, the foreign minister hosted Tlass as the guest of honor at an iftar, the meal that breaks the daylong fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. But Tlass did not meet with the Syrian rebel groups largely based in the south of Turkey near the Syrian border.

"If he was genuine, why not come visit us and eat with us, here so we can benefit from each other's experiences?" said Saadeddine. "You cannot go from being an officer to a prime minister without passing through the street."

Saadeddine said Tlass' former complicity with the regime is not the problem. "Even if Maher Assad defects and comes to us, we have no problem with it as long as he is sincere," he said.

Ammar Abdulhamid, a Washington-based Syrian dissident, said that while Tlass could provide valuable information, the opposition on the ground will not accept him as a leader.

After so many months of "confrontations and sacrifice," he said, "legitimate leaders of the transitional period can only rise from the ranks of the internal revolutionary movement."

___

AP writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syria-rebels-suspicious-over-defectors-motives-212902912.html

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Kelly Ripa Nearly Kisses Jeremy Renner In Karaoke Challenge (VIDEO)

?Live! with Kelly? host Kelly Ripa got a little excited around actor Jeremy Renner on Monday, and it was all over a heated karaoke challenge.

When Ripa asked him what his go-to karaoke song was, he shot back, "I don't know, why, do you want to battle?"

When guest co-host Chris Harrison commented that conversation was getting "contentious," Ripa picked up on a different vibe. "I feel like we could potentially kiss each other." Renner jokingly puckered up, and after the moment passed, he revealed that his preferred karaoke jams are songs by Journey or Queen.

Renner was on the show to promote "The Bourne Legacy," which hits theaters August 10.

TV Replay scours the vast television landscape to find the most interesting, amusing, and, on a good day, amazing moments, and delivers them right to your browser.

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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

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Monday, July 30, 2012

Angel Wisdom: Angel Wisdom with Sharon Taphorn ~ Friendship

Forge strong relationships and friendships

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Love unconditionally

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