Social Media and the Islamic State’s Killing of James Foley: Why It Is Time the West Shifts Public Attention towards the Kurdish Internet-Sphere

Social Media and the Islamic State’s Killing of James Foley

Western media, including the Guardian and the BBC, hardly report on the fact that Kurds use social media for documenting and reporting on their fight against IS.

The best support that the Western public can give to the Kurds is to stop focusing so much attention on IS and its use of social media, to stop unwinnable right-wing attempts to censor and control the Internet, and to start amplifying the voices and visibility of the Kurdish social media sphere by reporting about how Kurds and their supporters use the Internet for political purposes, and by re-tweeting and re-posting their contributions.

Shopping with Marx and Spencer

Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) not only have in common that they were 19th century contemporaries and philosophers. They are also buried close to each other on Highgate Cemetery in North London. So one can wonder about the relationship of Marx & Spencer. One obvious linguistic parallel comes immediately to mind, namely Marks & Spencer, a British retailer of food and clothes.