Hey everybody it's end of month yet again and you know what that means it is time to welcome you to just another edition of JSA's Fast Forward. Thank you for joining us as we broadcast live online via LinkedIn and YouTube and through our very own JSA TV newsroom. So hi guys I'm Jamie Scott of Kataya founder and CEO of JSA. And I'm Dean Perine executive vice president at JSA and we're here to bring you the latest and greatest from the world of tech telecom and of course data centers. Today we're going to start things off by tooting our own horn. Yeah I mean that was cute. Good toots. We absolutely have to have to get excited here. We can't hold back our excitement. All right let's do it Jamie let them know. All right guys I am really honored to announce JSA has been ranked 3700 on the 2022 Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest growing private companies. It is the second year in a row that we've been recognized on this list and we are just so grateful to our JSA family our clients our community our industry leaders for getting us there. So thank you everybody and I can't believe it. Yeah I can't either Jamie. I can't believe where we are compared to like five years ago let alone when you started the company however many years ago that was. It's pretty astonishing what we've done and what feels like a short amount of time. I know almost 18 years ago January 1 will be 18 years and now we're across the country and the world 15 members strong. JSA family members and I could not be proud more proud of our little agency that could if you will. So thank you guys for the kind recognition and support all these years. Yeah thank you to the Inc. 5000 and Jamie I assume that you are going to be popping some champagne with the with the family probably not the baby but probably champagne this weekend to celebrate it's definitely well deserved. Pop pop pop yeah I wouldn't mind that but I'd also prefer maybe and maybe again this is because we have a baby at home a nice long nap just as much. That feels just as celebratory as the champagne does at this point. So let's get into the fast forward of the headlines for the past month. You ready to go Jay? Definitely let's go for it. Okay our telecom news now blog was especially full of think pieces this month so let's start there. Yeah you know what you're so right there's a lot of great opinion articles industry analyses going on that really readers got to dive right in and if you haven't here's your chance now to learn more about them. Yeah you don't want to miss this let's start off with some unnotable piece about data gravity. This is data gravity is a very fuzzy word and has been for a couple years now but the folks at 1623 Farnham are making some interesting observations about next generation technologies generating gravity toward their applications and how edge data centers can play an important part. It's a good read for anyone interested in taking a look at into the crystal ball Jamie and I like to use this a lot into the crystal ball to see what kind of tech is around the corner and what the ramifications of that technology might be. Yeah and sticking with our crystal ball theme another popular piece this month was an interview with T5's Craig McKesson we always love talking with him while he did a really great talk about meeting data center electricity demands in the future with intelligent power AI machine learning lots of great stuff there. Absolutely so Jay if you had a crystal ball if we had a crystal ball and and you looked at what would you what would you hope to see in the crystal ball Jamie? I'm just trying to see like is a crystal ball even on Amazon like I don't know. Potentially it could be you know a piece of the ink 5000 so but that's already happened. Yeah yeah well I would probably go ahead and look into it and see my academy award winner so I can nail my next Oscar pool.  What about you Dino? I would look to see if I ever learn to actually cook specifically like a risotto or if I just kind of live the my entire life in shame with the people around me saying that it's good but obviously it not being particularly good. I'd love to learn if I actually learn how to cook or and skateboard as I told you I'm going to take some skateboard lessons with Max.  Yeah so maybe you know the risotto this the skateboarding maybe you should try a magic eight ball can I skate? Yeah I mean I think it will probably bubble up and say probably not but either way either way there's probably a magic eight ball app on the on the internet right now but anyway we digress. Yeah okay back to the stories of the month.  Oh right that's me okay another popular article was a summary of a conversation with Luis Fialo of China Telecom Americas again another great industry thought leader. He discusses the Latin American market the pandemic and other interesting topics another must see must check out piece for sure. Yeah yeah there's a ton of these another article garnering a lot of attention was a piece about the partnership between salute mission critical and edge connects two companies that we absolutely adore here at JSA and how how they're working together on some exciting green initiatives again green is we're all we're all going green and that's a very good thing it's a unique partnership and the article is a great read for anyone interested in data center sustainability practices. I believe they are both my authors and data as well just side note. All right and one final thing piece we need to mention guys top tips to prevent costly internet slowdowns and odd and outages that is a submission from our friends at light path this one is really the first in a new series that's featuring on the TNN blog. Yeah it's a TNN blog that's right connectivity provider light path is showcasing its leadership launching an informative blog series called illuminations by light path I love that name the blog will be featured on our own JSA channels and include insights on trends and topics ranging from cloud security a very very big thing to preventing outages as Jamie said in all and all in a summarized form much like these videos with links to four articles on the light path website so check that out love it love it love it you can also find more information about light path offerings and the company's latest news so if you are not already a subscriber of our weekly jsa data center telecom and tech headlines newsletter be sure to sign us sign up for them and you will also get the latest blogs from light path so send directly to your email you can do that on jsa.net that's right and if you're not already a subscriber then shame on you make sure that you subscribe right away and of course the TNN blog isn't just about op-eds and thought leadership it's also a place for breaking news and industry headlines very true Dino there's a lot of news happening it's crazy very hot week uh in month so let's go ahead and get right into it with the big announcements you got it you got it several of this month's announcements worth facility expansions i would say several of this year's announcements have been facility expansions but one such announcement came from our friends at next or i'm sorry xtel who unveiled their new data center in newark new jersey this is their third facility and a sign of their commitment to expand their footprint in the new york city area and markets magic three from xtel awesome news okay also talking expanding footprints collogics announced an expansion of their columbus ohio area data center campus to the tune of oh 150 million dollar investment and it's already yeah the big bucks big bucks and great news for columbus it's one of two that they already own and run in that columbus area yeah and sticking in the midwest of ohio expansion news this time with involta you know how i like john involta they announced an expansion of their cleveland area data center which will increase the campus with 14 000 that's right 14 000 square feet of space and one megawatt of power so good news going on there in ohio with involta i know i love ohio let's go ahead and move over to uh nebraska now our final bit of expansion news for the month 16 23 farna we love those guys recent recently completed a 40 million dollar expansion of its nebraska data center 16 23 president todd cushing gave us an overview of all the new enhancements and a really great article about this innovative data center company so another real must read especially for those in the data center community who are uh interested in connectivity and expansion Todd is such a good guy too i really uh really like working with him um anyway all of this expansion news jamie makes me want to uh think about expansion here at the uh the purine uh residence i'm thinking really outdoor patio or actually my office um just around the corner there's a uh there's a room that is unfinished for perhaps a bathroom so maybe i might end up maybe i might end up in one of the fast words as an expanding bathroom oh yeah i i'm a little little nervous i won't lie i i love you so much dean i'm just a little nervous about you and power tools like oh yeah you know you use your fingers every day my friend so you know maybe less home depot and more to risotto that's a great idea jay that's a very very good idea and you're probably right i just think i like saying the word like you know construction and you know breakfast nook and things like that i i don't even eat breakfast but i love the idea of like being able to have a nook look at that my friend you could do it i'm gonna hand it over to you and this and this next one is where you get to say the last name that i wasn't able to pronounce yes you well uh we're we are talking new hires and promotions this month really big news actually because he is such an industry vet such a uh a remarkable uh gentleman who's made such big waves here in our industry this month in volt are announced industry vet gary wojo watched us sick as the newest member of their board of directors you might know gary we call him wojo uh he's also the founder and ceo of rec nation cool new startup he started which is very cool but uh and follow him if you're not on social uh really great fun insights from him and his wife as they uh are via cross the nation also he you probably know him as president and former president and ceo of saris one where he um uh did a great great work with uh building that data center out he's also an operating executive over at the carline growth so great win for invulter for sure yeah and i feel like i'm living vicariously through uh through him you know all of these great things that he's doing and the rec nation stuff very very cool um but uh in other personnel additions this month light river announced that brian has a has a go gawa gawa yeah has a goa has a goa as their new cfo he most recently served as cfo at intermedia so going from uh intermedia to light river uh a very very good uh good move for him awesome yeah yeah awesome move there and and talking cfo news collogics cfo rachel's fact was named one of denver business journals c suite award winners yes go rachel the award honors executive leaders who recognize opportunities identify manage risk and achieve profitable growth so way to go yeah outstanding job uh to you there rachel and in other award news light edge was named number seven in the 2022 channel futures msp 501 rankings that is a mouthful let me say that again uh they were ranked number seven in the 2022 channel futures msp 501 rankings the channel futures 501 is a global list of its six in its 16th 16th year but so it's quite the distinction from light ed so congratulations i'm so glad to be done with this one so congratulations to everyone at light edge very very cool you actually did a phenomenal job with with that there's a lot there yeah that's a goa yeah i i actually i'm taking a sip of my my coffee and saying okay so what else you got dean very good very good jimmy thank you for the passing the baton so quickly um i've we've got all kinds we've got all kinds of new products new deployments new partnerships you name it and a patron a pair of trees jimmy are you one of those people who can't who start celebrating christmas in october you know it you saw actually our house is already decorated in halloween because ava's going through a halloween phase but we digress okay go ahead go ahead dina let's one fascinating bit of news comes from edge connects there's always fascinating bits of news coming from edge connects and their venture voltera this is truly a uh of uh a real i believe that this is going to be the first and probably not the last we hear of this kind of relationship between data centers and and power providers at any rate um so edge connects uh has started a venture called voltera the new company is aiming for the electric vehicle market building and operating charging facilities was very exciting so we used to think about jay and you know this we used to talk about data centers as as it um as it relates to space and power and cooling and things like that power being the operative word and these people have have really figured out how to uh to manage the aqua the acquisition and maintenance of of power including sustainable power and so what better way or vertical to kind of transition to things like uh electrical like evs and ev fleets and things like that that's what voltera is all about so it's very very cool stuff yes and as a driver of an ev i thank you all right more exciting stuff also springing up with connect base you guys uh remember they were formerly connected to fiber connect base very cool new rebrand while they are teaming up with cantera networks cantera is the most recent addition to the connected world which is connect base's ecosystem of customers and technology partners so congratulations guys yep and speaking of additions linkin rackhouse data centers added another asset with its acquisition of a facility in atlanta atlanta again a big hub right um it is going to adding 185 000 square feet and seven megawatts megawatts megawatts of power to its arsenal so uh we're on their rackhouse in atlanta well done um also one big breaking news from this month just came came in today they wrote this in i'm about to read it out all right it's um it's all about collagex annual esg report oh good i know this news okay there's a lot of interesting stuff in this one um and it's also online it's pretty awesome anyway a lot of interesting stuff from one of the industry's most prominent players collagex but there was one thing in particular that stood out so uh let's get right to it sustainability of course being near and dear to our hearts here at jsa following some studies they conducted last year in their report collagex announced their commitment to become carbon neutral by 2030 yay collagex amazing goal may many follow in your path j realize 2030 is it's going to be a heartbeat away i mean that that is an aggressive goal that is it is it is absolutely and we need to do so much work to get there together as a community um you know i can't say enough about it um and by the way greener data could several several guidelines a different author every chapter with their take on how they're doing it says another must read sorry moving on i figured you were going to segue yourself into that but um either way it is really really great to see data center organizations take leadership uh like this with these these green initiatives and i hope we get to speak more and more about that as the uh the year winds down and 23 uh winds up so good stuff there yeah absolutely and an interesting transition because again these things are so important to the human race we're going to move now from sustainability to healthcare a new direction this month can coming in in the form of light edge joining the high trust inheritance program high trust is an hi tr usd alone uh also with their subsidiary infinite high trust is really the gold standard guys for healthcare and biotech and light edge will become one of the very few msp's as part of this compliance standards program so congrats uh light edge and and infinite infinite yeah we got it um another big move came from net number global data centers global data services who unveiled a new look and feel following their acquisition by aubrey partners just last month the new brand was launched at a three day event at the world famous indianapolis motor speedway i've been there many a times as a as a hoosier it's very cool very cool venue super fun event guys and kudos to our amazing jsa events team for helping pull that one off uh with with the net number team so congrats everyone yeah jamie have you ever been to a uh like a nascar race a race car race drag strip drag race have you ever been to one yeah i have but to be honest i get really bored easily i feel like i just my head kind of goes in circles so not sure if i'd go back i know a lot of people are going to hate me for saying that maybe wait if lady gaga was performing in the middle of the track where the race was going on now i could get into that yeah i mean that's a it's a weird combination but i mean i could be i could get into that too so so how about singing the national anthem do you think you could stand up in front of like you know 60 60 000 people and sing the national anthem wait me or lady gaga you no oh no no no no one would want to hear that no one but lady gaga now we're talking i would i would honestly pay big money to watch you sing the national anthem you realize guys how off-script we are right now right anyway let's look ahead at the upcoming industry events calendar some exciting events out are uh in our community that uh you all should be aware of jay one one yeah absolutely first is a virtual roundtable uh coming up september 15th it is hosted by horizon um and it's all about dense fiber deployments and feature speakers from several different parts of the industry so really very cool on and could check it out no matter where you are virtual that's right another fun event is dcac the data center anti-conference going on in austin texas september 27th and 28th it promises to be a data center conference like no other and this was all in caps on my screw here so that it's definitely going to be a data it's going to be a bet like no other i promise you um so make sure that you put the dcac event on your calendar september 27th and 28th in austin texas yeah dcac very cool people very cool event i think it's an seventh year don't quote me on that one but there's a really cool t-shirts i remember yes absolutely and fun things to do like get a shape are you walking down the right yeah yeah i mean i don't but all right anyway let us not forget about the hottest week in our community coming up with guys september 14th 15th and a little bit of 16th i mean it is a hot week we've got three events for the price of one in that in that week so let's kick it off here we have also in austin like dcac um you've got austin data cloud usa september 14th through the 15th taking place again this is just a few weeks away guys jsa will be there to cover all the stories and happenings live yep jsa tv live like this right here uh broadcasting across multiple social platforms and websites right from the show floor so watch for our setup with cameras the jsa backdrop come by you can't miss us we want to hear from you absolutely we'll also be at infrastructure summit in toronto also september 14th and 15th so make sure you drop by and say hi this is a really good time for people to have split personalities because if you've got to be at all of these events at the same time that that might um that might help out i know and maybe it's like we're where are you closest we've got austin we've got toronto and finally guys are really really really really want to go to there's platform congress and and team france yeah south of france bring it that's september 14th 15th and 16th really kicking it off 15 16th barb and i from jsa we are you know taking a hint for the team i notice you didn't say dean's name in this i have nothing to do with this i know i'm sorry i'm sorry well next next time you know we know it's it's pulling you from your clients it's so easy but yeah we'll be flying out to france very excited um to be there um and by the way guys incredible attendance and speaker lineup this is the first time uh that there is a platform congress this is a brand new event but it's really cool we've got investors buyers sellers across our digital infrastructure industry and we here at jsa we're going to be rolling out the green carpet it's what we like to say um because we'll we're going to be talking to the folks there live jsa tv live and there's a lot of talk there from conference sessions and hopefully in our interviews as well um all about supporting sustainable energy technologies for our industry and the incredible investment opportunities that are now out there uh for sustainability uh success stories and and the data centers and infrastructure uh folks who are really um got a plan of action going so again more reasons to get green get green to go green i think get green go green be green i think it all works but remember that's correct it's like it's like green effort sustainability things like that plus money so maybe we can make it both happen right so let's do it yeah so remember if you'd like to connect with us at one of these events or any of these events and even maybe be featured on jsa tv while you're there make sure to email us at my favorite email address say hi at jsa.net again that's say a uh s a y h i say hi at jsa.net that's right that's right and if you want to read more about the stories we mentioned and discover some of your own go ahead and check out the latest news and info from the world of data centers and telecom on the telecom news now blog jsa.net oh and wait um you can also check out the amazon can you see this okay uh the amazon bestseller greener data all proceeds of this book guys uh and and serious does here all these proceeds we've extended the launch proceeds um a little uh promotion that we've done uh to go through september so all proceeds will be donated to direct relief for ukraine so do good with good yeah i love it and uh j summer isn't going to last forever i can already i mean it's it's really hot here in northwest indiana right now but the trees are already starting to color just a little bit yeah yeah which is beautiful but uh you know summer isn't going to last forever we need to get outside we need to see the sun we need to take uh skateboard lessons uh and learn how to cook and we need to sing the national anthem at the at indiana home depot anyway that's episode not hosted by home depot yeah really it's like a product it's like the anti-product sponsor right but really guys stay stay safe take care everyone hope to see you at many of uh one of these many wonderful uh fall industry events coming up quickly and as always guys happy networking


What is up everybody? Brandon Godola here with three of my favorite bets for this week's U.S. Open over at Fandall Sports Book starting off I like Rory McElroy to win. I don't typically go after back-to-back winners But the context around this one a bit different than just your PGA tour to PGA tour week We're as we're entering a major week Of course after Rory won the RBC Canadian Open last week talked a lot post-round about his motivation Given the sort of goings-on in the global golf landscape, we can probably say leave it at that maybe maybe So not your typical post-win mail it in the next week type of situation And if you want upside off sparing the math, but McElroy has spike weeks in terms of his adjust the t-degree and play adjusted putting On par with basically Justin Thomas and then those two guys just have upside weeks Much much more often than anyone else in the field. So I like that for a U.S. Open win McElroy also putts well on polar greens historically, and that's a factor this week very uncommon surface for these small greens I'm not chasing the wind from last week instead. I'm embracing the long-term form and the rekindled motivation for Rory for this week Also like Will's out tourists to pick up a win, but also for a top 10 I always struggle with salad tourists because even though the short game is pretty volatile And we should cling to ball striking in terms of overall data The short game is pretty worrying for Salah tour that doesn't really include the around the green play Which is about field average over the past year when I account for recency in field strength, but it's more just about the putting I have as a 10th percent how expected putter among this field But the ball striking so good the major performance also undeniable Salah tours leads the field and stroke scheme average at major Since 2020 among those with at least three starts This is going to be an all-around test at Brookline not just the putting competition small greens Salah tours leads the field leads the PG tour In stroke scheme approach this season so not a not a bad week whenever we need some precision From your irons also like Sung Jae in to pick up a win, but also keep in mind It's a major maybe top 10 top 20 as well past data at the US Open since we've gotten stroke scheme numbers show a pretty modest Emphasis on stroke scheme off the tee. We're gonna get that US Open rough It's gonna be super long so accuracy ends up correlating better with scoring than just distance alone So that's good for Sung Jae who's a 90th percent how fair way finder over the past 50 rounds on the PG tour according to fantasy national calm I'm also around the 70th percent how an iron play 83rd percent how short game with field strength and recency adjustments in my database Also checks the box with being a good expected putter He's expected for some positive regression and good putter on Poa Just six of 11 for me cuts in major since 2018, but for top 25s in his past six starts in them She's got the all-around game It's good enough for a win But again, maybe top 10 top 20 as well for Sung Jae in for this week That'll do it for my favorite bets for this week's US Open best of luck this week. Let's hit a winner


Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, as Nelly said, it's getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes. Well, this is truly what we would think. The world's average temperature is rising every year and is expected to be 5 to 10 degrees higher by the end of the century. Studies confirm this is a much larger increase than in the last 10 millennia. But again, this is one of the many consequences of global warming, along with retrieval gases, famine, climate refugees and new diseases. The Earth is undergoing truly drastic changes. In our modern world, with mass consumption and ever-increasing needs and desire, we don't fully realize the long-term damage that we're inflicting. Human activity is progressively increasing the atmospheric concentration of gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect. The planet is heating up, and we, humankind, could really be in real danger. But what I feel is missing is a sense of urgency. If you agree with the factual analysis, but you don't feel the urgency, then we won't change anything. Our generation here today needs to realize the urgency and to act now. What we need is an generation of heroes. We, the young generation, are faced with a choice. Apathy, our engagement. What do we do? We have a planetary emergency. When you look at history, those who fought against racial discrimination, they were heroes. Those who abolished slavery, they also were heroes. And just like them, we can be heroes when it comes to climate change. Don't tell me we don't have the capacity. This may be the greatest challenge ever faced by any generation so far, but I believe we can rise to this challenge. We can be the generation that, in a hundred years from now, poets, singers, and artists will celebrate by saying they were the ones that did it. They saved our world and gave us a future. The 2014 Fermin Conference can be our starting point, but how do we make this happen? I am not a soldier, believe me, but my grandfather told me once that military conflicts are divided in three categories. The local battles, the regional battles, and sometimes important global ones. Each level of conflict requires a different strategy and different tactics. The battle against global warming falls into three similar categories. Most of us here can easily picture the local environmental battle, air pollution, waste disposal. Regional environmental battles include river pollution and acid rain. Rising sea levels are global battles. We have to mobilize globally for renewable energy, energy efficiency, and a global transition to a low-carbon economy. We must strive for national policies that protect the resources we share with our neighbors. But none of this will succeed if we don't also fight the local battles. Each of us here today in this room can contribute to improve the environment by making changes at the local level, however small. We may be small gogs in the machine, but it really matters that we each care and we must all engage in the global debates. Like Mahatma Gandhi famously said, you must be the change you want to see in the world. We will be in charge of our planet in a few years from now. A scary thought, trust me. What kind of world do we want? We will be voting, we will be managing companies, running organizations, representing governments, and educating new generations of children. Climate change will surely be on the top of our agenda, but there is no time to waste. Earth is our only home. Al Gore said in the movie In Unconvenient Truth, What is at stake is our ability to live on planet Earth, to have a future as a civilization. It is your time to seize the issue and secure your future. So, here we are in Geneva for three days. We all have plenty of ideas and some experience that we bring from our different schools, our local communities, and our home countries. So what do we do? Let's try to cool this place down. On behalf of the 2000 Fermion team, we wish you an exciting and productive conference. Thank you.


Freedom Games is an exhibitor at E3 2021 in just four hours! We will be streaming our segment on June 14th Monday. Here we are at 12 30 p.m. Pacific Time. Tune in at twitch.tv slash E3 or youtube.com slash IGN. Here this is the live broadcast look 12 30 p.m. Freedom Games right before the indie spotlight and then this is currently coming from the IGN channel that's the live stream of day 3 of E3. Here is the official schedule the link is down there in the description below. I hope you will join us at this amazing event. This is our first time ever that we will be hosting an E3 live stream and we have some surprises. I won't spoil any of them for you but if you are watching you will get something special that only people who are watching the live stream will get. Hope you'll enjoy it. What games are in Freedom Games? Head on over to the website around me at www.freedom.gg and check them out. We have Koromon, To the Rescue, God's Strike, Anuchard. Many of these will be featured on our E3 live stream and there will be some exciting exclusive first ever announcements about some of these games so I hope you'll enjoy it. Let's watch the live stream together at 12 30 p.m. Pacific Monday June 14th in four hours. And if you want to watch the whole video click that I that will be a link to the full E3 video segment for Freedom Games in case you missed the live event. Hope to see you there. Let's watch together and get excited and game together as the Freedom Family. Also first time ever is behind me. This is my new space. I'm still building for the George show. You can see I have my lighting there. It's not set up yet. And a little guitar in the corner. Maybe I'll play some music for you later. So I hope you'll enjoy my new setup when it's done. And I hope you'll enjoy the E3 live stream. Tell me down there in the comments below what you think of E3. What games are you most excited about? Hopefully it's some of our games that we will be announcing. And I hope you'll enjoy everything we're bringing to you as Freedom Games, Freedom Talent, Freedom Music and a few other things we're building for you. All right Freedom Family this is just a quick update about E3. Join us and let's game together. Take care. Who am I? I am the CEO and founder of Freedom. We are the Freedom Family where we all help each other grow together as a family. That is the spirit of Freedom. Until the next episode I'm George and you've been watching Could You Dreaming But Love Here? Click that I to partner with Freedom and join the Freedom Family so we can all grow together. You get many perks like position music, you also get epidemic sound, a lot of other access to royalty free videos, sponsorships and many things to help you grow. Just click the links down there in the description below to get involved in our community, our forums, our discord chat servers, meet our graphics team, meet our community team, all of that on discord and the forums. What are you waiting for? Get started. And we will grow together as a family because this is the Freedom Family. You are part of it, we are all part of it and we're all growing together. To get more George click that big F that will subscribe you to Freedom Central home of the George show and PewDiePie gave one of you Freedom Family a big shout out. Click that video to see the shout out and to see our new 3D sets for you and click that video to see what YouTube recommends you watch next.


The Cass County Sheriff's Department is asking for the public's help in locating a missing teenage boy who is believed to be a runaway from the rural Motley area. 15-year-old Dylan Joseph Vorbeck left his home wearing a two-tone blue jacket and red shoes. Vorbeck is described as five feet five inches tall and about 130 pounds with short brown hair and brown hazel eyes. It's believed that Vorbeck left his home on his own. If you have any information relating to him, please contact the Cass County Sheriff's Office at the numbers you see on the screen. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.


Aseal the breakfast and plough CV Africa. Another time to go through the pages of National Dailies. We call it off the press and Tunde Kola Wale joins us this morning via phone. Tunde, it's good to have you join us. It's good to be with you. Thank you. Let's start with the punch newspaper this morning. Presidential fleet funding has increased to 81 billion on the Buhari. That's the bold caption. And it's more like an iron if you ask me because I remember, you know, in 2015, the government, the current government had complained of reduction, you know, reducing costs.  Now we're looking at 81 billion under this administration. President fails to uphold pledge to reduce aircrafts and budget for ASU Vila refreshment jumps to 2 billion Naira. Nigeria overboring to fund non-essential items. That's it. Underneath the bold caption, ASU waiting Buhari on no work, no pay, holds neck meeting. Federal government eyes $100 billion for SDGs pledges business reforms. Federal government approves leki ekepe airport and projects 5 million passengers. So, you know, Obey on veils campaign team today or Haneize lots of fennefair and Ina deletes 2.7 million for double registration. So we're hoping to find out what will become of, you know, the register. I mean, will the figure actually change at the end of the day? Nation building requires sacrifice. Buhari tells 450 honorees and Lagos developer defraud 200 house seekers. Victims blame please. In this case, I don't start you to open your eye. Okay, that's how they say it. Osina's husband abused her and singers ex-employee tells the court. Well, she's there now, unfortunately. Flood killed 500,000, injured 1,546. That's what the federal government is quoted to say. That's the much we can take this morning on the punch newspaper. All right, let's go over to the next one. And of course the nation newspaper with some interesting headlines this morning. I'll leave a secured country. Buhari assures Nigerians. I will leave a secured country. Buhari assures Nigerians. President confers national honours on 443 Nigerians, seven foreigners. Lagos government gets approval for leki airport as punch capture there. Some old lords federal government or your assembly. I think that held at the Ehangbeti conference with the Ministers of Aviation Harisirika in attendance. Or your assembly kicks over. EFCC's invitation to members or your assembly kicks over EFCC's invitation to members. All right. Would like to see how that plays out at the end of the day. Why I'm yet to release manifesto by OB Dangote Obajana cement properly acquired. It's about between Dangote and Kogi state government. IMF cuts Nigeria's economic growth to 3.2%. I think that should be is a good forecast. Strike how House of Reps broke her truce between the federal government and assures. We need to look into that matter.  I don't know. Let's go over to some more people's mercy over to you. We have the Nigerian Tribune. How Nigerian doctors or the foreigners exploited in the United Kingdom. And that's what the BBC has quoted to say. I remember my cousin who's in the UK. He decided yesterday he was just talking and he said, you know what, let me give you some news. Apparently I hadn't seen, you know, the report up until the time he had mentioned, you know, it's really very interesting and funny at the same time. We care point 14,000 advices, 359 liaison offices. I saw your tweet on that issue. And at confirmation of national honours on 440 Nigerians, I would hand over a Nigeria free of insecurity. That's what the president is quoted to say. Seven years plus counting. So maybe in December, all of this will just go away. We're just, you know, watching to see how all of this unfolds. And again, you have someone who receives federal government approval letter for leaky airports. And a state begins some kind of summits. Okay, that's not very clear. So I move away from that. I expect high intensity rain, riverine, flooding. That's what NIMED wants, North Central Southern States. And we hope that, you know, everyone would be, all hands would be on deck. Crude oil theft. Edwin Clark calls for judicial inquiry and says, military is complicit. Kidnapping, banditry, reasons, state security outfits must be armed.  Reps begin consideration of 20.51 trillion Naira proposed expenditure for 2023. We're talking about our budget. That's it on the Nigerian Tribune. We'll quickly take the headlines on the front page of this day before we go over to our guest who is standing by. The big one there on the front page of this day on Wednesday. Buhari, citizens who contribute to national development deserve to be appreciated, you know, national development. Quite, quite a scene when the co-founder of Paystack, you know, went to get his award. Did you see the look on the president's face? He really looked shocked, shocked, shocked to see the least. Well, they have come to here to contribute to national development. That's what the president is saying. You see the pictures there, congratulations to all of them. Floods, 500 confirmed dead, 45,000 houses destroyed, 70,000 hectares of farmland submerged nationwide. What's the president saying about that? What's the federal government saying? Well, the rider to that headline, FG insists magnitude of current natural disaster not seen since 2012, okay? No need for panic over food insecurity, minister assures. Some headlines on the front page of the niche that this day. We take the last one by APC shying away from president's records Tikku campaign reveals. I think we'll leave it at that. And at this point, if it is our guest, Tunde Kola Wale who joins us on the program. Barista Kola Wale, what are your thoughts on this statement? Because I've been looking for something to come from the federal government as it concerns the flooding in Kogi state, in other parts of the northern Nigeria, Quara state, you have a Nambra state, and other states. Right now they're saying that the magnitude of the current natural disaster has not been seen since 2012 with the paper saying 500 confirmed dead, 45,000 houses destroyed, 70,000 hectares of farmland submerged nationwide. That's one. The minister is also saying there's no need for panic over food insecurity. Over to you, sir. The flooding that we are seeing in most parts of Nigeria is really unfortunate. But if you have been following what is happening in the other parts of the world, you will find out that the flooding is no longer peculiar to Nigeria. There was a massive flood in the United States of America, so that the president had to leave Washington to go and take charge and supervise the rescuing of people in the U.S. You also look at what happened in Pakistan. It was a massive, massive flooding. So it would appear to me that what the scientists have been telling us with regards to climate change is real, is a reality. It is something that we should prepare for. And again, at the beginning of this year, and before the rain started, NEMET, which is a meteorological agency that predicts what the weather would look like, had several warned that there's going to be floods in certain parts of the country, and that we should still be preparing for more rain. But the truth of the matter is that when these alarms are raised, most times, and it's not in Nigeria alone, in most parts of the world, the ordinary citizens, who is likely to be badly affected by it, don't really care much about what the scientists are saying. Our own problem is more peculiar, and it's worse simply because the leadership, at least, give flooding and some of these natural disasters the kind of attention that it deserves. And for those who even want to give it the attention it deserves, the equipment, the resources, so let me do the needful are no longer there. Because I take a cue from the U.S. Immediately the flooding in the U.S. happened. They had me, the Navy, and some of the other security aspects were sent out. They had helicopters, they had badges, they had boats, they had cranes, and they have all manners of equipment to rescue people. But here in Nigeria, we don't have that. I think we should learn from the experiences of the developed countries how these things are done, and then when it draws upon, we should be able to do the needful to our people. My sympathy with all those who are affected by this, I also will pray that the government, and all they say that it's affected, especially in this state, will come to the rescue of the ordinary man who is at the receiving end of this flooding. Well, do you think that it would be fair for us to constantly compare the flooding that's happening in all the parts of the country? We always say yes, we understand that nine meters stated over time that there would be periodic rains and the downpour would be unusual. But if you look at our habits and behaviour over time, do you think that this is entirely a natural disaster, or it's not man-made, where you have houses and buildings on water channels? That's it. And then at some point, so that's on the one hand lack of drainages. And even when you have a drainage system, you have houses on it. There are structures that are obstructing the flow of water, and naturally water would always find its way. On the other hand, you also find the fact that a lot of people, a lot of Nigerians are in the habit of tossing things in the gutters, or the waterways, if you want to say. All of this constitutes a major issue. So do you think it's really fair every other time? Because we always say, oh, it's a global incident. It's a natural thing. It's what's happening across board. And so we're not an exception. Would you not agree that our attitude and behaviour over time is contributing to the flooding that we're experiencing in Nigeria? Well, I agree that we are very, very bad and very poor at it, with regards to waste management, with regards to drainage management, and also with regards to planning, especially urban and housing planning in all the respective places. Even in an urban area like Lagos, immediately it's raining, you will find out that different households will bring out their different refuse baskets out and start jumping it into the drainage. Hoping and believing that the rains will wash away whatever they have dropped in the drainage. Also in a place like Kogi State, for example, you will find so many houses are built very close to the manager and many massive places, places you can easily predict that when the water level rises it will affect those houses or settlements. If the government is alive with responsibility, we would have been able to enforce the term planning or the city planning for our housing planning structures in all the different places. But lo and behold, enforcement of laws in our country has been a very, very weak or a very challenging manner. Even when government makes efforts, you will find out the ordinary man will still find a way to circumvent it, basically because of so many reasons. I do know that the cost of perfecting building plans and doing some other primary things before you build a house is very, very expensive in most parts of Nigeria. Let's move away from that conversation because we have more issues this morning on the front pages, if you like to say. On the punch, it talks about the budgetary allocation to the presidential air fleet that has increased to 121% in almost eight years. It's not eight years already and that's what it is. How do you react to this? Well, it's shocking to me. I remember when the APC and Mr. President were campaigning to rule Nigeria, there were promises that they would reduce the presidential fleet. There was even the kind of fuel that some of the aircraft in the presidential fleet would be used to re-establish the Nigeria near way. But sadly, since the APC government came into power, they are fed woefully to do anything that respect. And the reason for this is not perfect. Our allies are very interesting people. They like beautiful things. They like a cozy environment. So that you find out the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Service Chiefs, and some of these other powerful people. When they travel, they would like to go in private or in some of these presidential fleets. And so even if the president wants to reduce or sell some of these aircraft, you will find out that some of these other people are benefiting from it, will prevail on him or put pressure on him not to dispose on some of these aircraft. But the truth of the matter is that you find out there are so many presidents, there are so many prime ministers all over the world who don't keep any presidential fleet or prime ministership fleet. In fact, I think the British prime minister, when he wants to travel, I think most times he either uses the military plane or he travels in the British airways. So why can't we adopt the same formula? It's a wasteful expenditure to keep that among us amount of aircraft and then the among us amount of money that is being used to maintain them. And you know what? Whether you fly on aircrafts or you leave it on the tarmac, you are incurring very, very heavy costs on them. These are some of the things that are bleeding the country and when the economy and when your revenue is dwindling, one will respect that something be done with regard to some of these very, very wasteful expenditure. These countries that are producing aircraft, their president, their prime ministers and royalties are not keeping a private plane paid for by the taxpayers money. I don't know why a poor country like Nigeria should be keeping such amount of, such number of presidential fleets with the attendant costs that goes with it. What are your thoughts on this barge and cement episode between the Kogi state government and Dangote? It seems like according to the nation newspaper, Dangote is saying that they, as a company that is properly acquired of barge and cement, which is in contention between it and the Kogi state government. We had some sort of meeting in Abuja yesterday, I believe, amid protests. Honestly speaking, when I first read the story that a certain persons have invaded Abadjana plant, shot their workers and shot the place, the place down. I was shocked to my boom. This is a company that has been operating for so many years without any issue. So you ask yourself, why now, why now? But again, we must also ask was due diligence followed in the Akisi and Abadjana plant. If it was not followed, it is never too late. If an infraction was committed 30, 50 years ago, and it is discovered today, the law allows you to still correct that infraction and bring those who may be responsible for the infraction to justice. I am aware. And in fact, a friend called me when I started raising the issue on the Abadjana issue and he said there are some other plants in Nogustete that have similar faith with the Abadjana plant, which again is in the hands of Mr. Dan Gotem. The truth of the matter is that when you look at most of the acquisitions that have been done by wildlife, especially during the privatization era of General Ushako Basajo, those acquisitions cannot meet the full scrutiny of the law. There were so many underhand activities that led to the acquisition of some of those companies. Some of them were sold as scraps when, in actual fact, in reality, they were very good going and viable concerns. My only problem with the way the Kogi State government has gone about it is they should follow the due process of law. They could take Dan Gotem and go to court to recover the plants instead of engaging in self-help and shooting innocent people who went there to just get their daily mail, to get a job, and are not concerned or are not part and parcel of the political undertone or the political synonyms that led to the acquisition of that plant. We have to go, but just before we leave, the president is assuring Nigerians that he would leave a secure country. We just have a few more months before the end of. I hope so. Most times when people in government say this, it is just a political statement to give the people a kind of hope, because if you don't give your people a kind of hope, they fall into despotency and then other things can follow. If Mr. President has not been able to restore peace and security to Nigeria for about seven and a half years now, I have serious doubts that the remaining months left will be sufficient to do it, even though he must give it to government that the space of attack from Boko Haram and the kidnapping of people and ban the trade generally as in the last few months subsided. Why it has subsided? We are yet to get to know the reason. Could it be that people are paying ransom now as people are insinuating that even the last batch of people who were adopted on the train that the federal government and some other people paid ransom before they are released? A nation that wants security shouldn't be rewarded criminality. It shouldn't be paying ransom. But now the army should have a template. The police should have a template. The costum and all the other security people should have a template for the rescue of people that are adopted by bandits. All right. We have to leave it at this particular point now. Thank you. Thank you so much. Yes, we appreciate your opportunity. I appreciate you too. Have a lovely day. All right then. Tunde Kola Walea is a legal practitioner and we have been looking through the pages of the National Dailyist this morning. We call it a wrap. We'll definitely return tomorrow. But just before we move away, we need to tell you what happened today in history. Please stay with us.


Studying. Othello? Here's how you can analyse the first half of that for scene 2. Scene opens with Othello interrogating Emilia, who is Desdemona's lady-in-waiting, about Desdemona's relationship with Casio. Emilia emphatically replies using repetition that nothing inappropriate has ever happened between Desdemona and Casio. Despite Emilia emphatically defending Desdemona, Othello speaks in this short, simple sentence to show that he still doesn't really believe her. He thinks there's something going on between Desdemona and Casio. Othello then instructs Emilia to go and fetch Desdemona, and whilst Emilia is going to search for her, he speaks using really derogatory language, as well as this metaphor to basically say that Desdemona is so clever in being so secretive that even Emilia is deceived. He still believes that Desdemona is having an affair with Casio. When Desdemona comes back with Emilia, Othello speaks to her using this imperative sentence. He asks her to look directly into his eyes, and Desdemona is really frightened and confused by his horrible behaviour towards her. Othello asks Desdemona to prove that she's being faithful and honest to him, and she replies using hyperbole to show that she's being completely faithful to him. We can see that Desdemona is completely confused. She doesn't know why he's so mad at her and why he is punishing her. We can see Othello's emotions seem conflicted and confused. He speaks using this metaphor to show that he is cursing Desdemona for being so beautiful but misleading, and Desdemona responds with this question showing that she's really confused. She knows she might have committed a crime but she doesn't know what Othello is punishing her for. Othello responds using this rhetorical question outwardly showing that he believes that Desdemona has been a whore. In other words, she has been unfaithful to him. Othello grows increasingly abusive towards her.  However, Desdemona responds using this metaphor to say that she only has been faithful to him and she only serves him as a husband. State directions then show that Othello grows increasingly vicious towards Desdemona and Amelia, her lady in waiting, storms back in in order to defend her before Othello storms out in a fury. Yet we can see that Desdemona accepts Othello's cruel treatment. She speaks in this imperative sentence instructing Amelia to lay on her bed her wedding sheets so that she can be with Othello that night. Just then, Iago enters and seeing Desdemona look in really sad, he feigns concern. He pretends to be worried as to what's causing her to be really sad even if he knows that he has caused Othello to be really furious and jealous at her. Amelia then reasons using this hyperbole that there's some horrible villain that's caused Othello to become really jealous. This is a case of dramatic irony because she's talking about her husband Iago without realizing. Upon hearing this, Iago insults and dismisses his wife Amelia. Iago then reassures Desdemona that's only Othello's work that's impacting his mood is really stressed out because of work. Desdemona sadly accepts this and the stage directions show that she and Amelia leave.


Hi, my name is Wenming Li from China. I have finished one 20 hours on online Tesla trading and I'm very glad to hear that I have completed this course successfully and I learned a lot from this course. And the most impressive part is the lesson plan, which I developed very carefully in the first time, but I didn't pass. Surprisingly, I got the feedback with very detailed suggestions and comments. And then from this part I learned a lot and improved this lesson plan developing skills by following the instructions and feedback. I was really moved and I think this kind of course training are very helpful for the teacher to develop his or her teaching skills and with a lot of practice following the instructions from this course. Thank you very much again, really appreciate for this course. Thank you.


So happy to have everyone here for our last new voices in Global Security Seminar of the academic year. And we're definitely ending on a high. I'm super excited for this presentation. So we'll just give another minute or so, or rather 30 seconds or so for people to sign in and then we'll get started. Think we'll, yeah. I think we'll get started now. Okay, so welcome to again, the last seminar of Virtual Seminar rather of New Voices in Global Security. My name is Amanda Chisholm and I am the chair and organizer of this series. The series itself for those of you who aren't familiar aims to showcase the vibrant and diverse research of our PhD and early career researchers across the school of security studies. And we've been having this series for the past two years and really excited again for our last one of this term to have Aou Kuchesafahani. Sorry, Aou, I probably totally messed up your last name. We're so excited to have you here speaking about presenting your emerging research entitled Traces and Afterlives, Iranian Women's Digital Activism as narration of their struggle. So Aou is a PhD candidate of the Department of War Studies here at King's College and her research is concerned with feminist politics and social movements with a focus on Iran. Her thesis traces the trajectory of feminist activism in Iran in the 20th century to today with an emphasis on the role of social media in shaping modern feminist discourse. And she's previously held roles in digital communication in the public sector and in the third sector. We're so pleased to have you present today. So Aou is joined by Dr. Omar Al-Ghazi and he is going to act as her discussant. I've asked Aou to speak for about 20 to 25 minutes and in which case after that we'll have Dr. Al-Ghazi come and provide some commentary before we open it up the floor to you, the audience, for further questions. We've asked at this point, if you have any questions to please just put them in the question answer box. So Aou can read them and I can read them out loud to her as well. Well, without further ado, I'll hand the virtual floor over to you. You have some slides you want to share. Is that right? Thank you, Amanda. And yes, I will just share my screen one second. Is it working? Yeah, you still have it in. You don't have it in a presenter view just yet though. Yeah, I will have that right away. I'm so sorry about this. Can you take your time? Is this one, yes. Yes, perfect. Okay, great. So thank you for the really nice introduction, Amanda. And I'm really glad to be here today discussing one of the chapters of my pieces, which is about women's rights activism in Iran. I'm specifically looking at social media and how it is changing the landscape of the narrative on women's rights activism. So, sorry. Oh, gosh. So my framework in this chapter is basically a post-structuralist framework. I situate my research in post-structuralism's relational conception of identity, whereby an identity is given through reference to something it is not. It is precisely the contestation by competing narratives and competing actors under the same main identity that has historically caused And what I mean by that is the question of who is Iranian and what, I mean, who is an Iranian woman, more specifically, has always been contested. How do I mean this? The most stark contrast is the Islamic versus secular discourse on women, which is a point of contention ever since the revolution of 1979. And ever since then, the state narrative has focused on maintaining this us versus them approach. So I'm interested to find out why is this to exert influence and power. And then to inform my understanding of how power is maintained on social media, I use critical discourse analysis as I'm interested to know what power language holds specifically within technological advances like online media. So I will use critical discourse analysis, I mean, CDA from now on. So CDA focuses on integrating the online within the linguistic discourse research field. The online is an important environment that in discursive technology has its own native discourse which is referred to as online native discourse. The online native discourse represents any discourse created within a digital ecosystem. So I use this method to help navigate the premise upon which networks and power structures operate online. The machinations of social media, so to speak. It will provide answers as to why certain actors have wider reach and are more visible on social media platforms. So there is an argument. I'm also sorry to interrupt, but maybe you're shuffling papers next to the laptop because I can hear, like it's difficult to hear you. There's a lot of noise. So if you can please be careful with that. Thank you. Sorry about that. Yes. Okay. I'll be more mindful. Sorry. So Paavo, Marie Paavo, who's research focuses on discourse analysis online argues that to analyze native online discourse, we need to rethink the dualism of language and world by moving beyond this dualism and into a post-dualist approach in which linguistic material flows in continuum with the environment in which it is situated and not separately from it. This post-dualist viewpoint, she argues views the realm of the internet as a techno-linguistic ecosystem. So this framing allows me to analyze a series of techno-linguistic words as they relate to the online environment, such as hashtags, retweets, likes, and shares. Within the literature on Iranian feminism, little research has been done on the role of social media and such an analysis fills that gap. So I'm not only interested in finding out why women's rights activists use social media, but I'm also interested to find out how social media platforms affect the discourse by virtue of their functions. I need to shuffle the page. Sorry. That's okay. So an analysis of how they are used to form online discourse and how they yield the power to attract audiences online. Now for my methodology. I use a methodology of reading, which is a post-structuralist methodology, which allows for the observation and analysis of the different representations of the identities and their discourses. Therefore, I place my research within this feminist post-structuralist lens as it bases itself on the premise that identities are constructed and therefore how they are constructed and how they continue to shape discourse on Iranian women's rights are key concerns.  And the other thing I'm doing is I'm monitoring social media platforms, specifically Twitter and analyzing hashtags through tracing the trajectory of hashtags in the women's rights activism movement online, which has predominantly started from 2014. And I will explain why. Short key. So contextualizing the internet in Iran. Sorry. The internet was introduced to Iran in 1993. In 2019, the internet world stats reported that over 70% of Iran's population, so more than 62 million people are internet users. In a country with a population of 82 million. That's a very significant amount, obviously. So over 60% of Iran's 82 million people are also under 30 years old, which is striking. So early online dissent activities started in the 90s, in the late 90s with the reformists and the conservatives, these different political factions inside Iran. And they started using magazines and with the beginning, with the early onset of the internet blogs also became a very important tool for building on the discourse. And then, so with the onset of blogs, online journalism grew exponentially in response to the backlash against print publications being shut down by the state. And so recently there has been a rise in the use of social media websites, predominantly Instagram, because Instagram is yet to be blocked by Iran. And Twitter is used predominantly by journalists and it's also important for the transnational Iranian public sphere. And 40 million users are currently using Instagram, Twitter and messaging app Telegram. So what is the Iranian transnational public sphere? To go back to Habermas, the public sphere insinuates that there is a private sphere as well. And Habermas conceptualized public sphere as a bourgeois idea of a sphere that relies on the emergence of a mode of critical public discourse, representative of the public's interests within civil society and more importantly against the state. Berlant takes this point further, arguing that Habermas's definition of the public sphere depended on the expansion of class mixed semi-formal institutions like salons and cafes and print media and organizations. I need to change the page so I might just mute myself for a second or if someone can mute me, while I do that I'm very sorry for this. What, okay, yeah, sorry about this. So the private sphere until then relegated to the collective intimacy has now made it to a public sphere, arguably a democratic public sphere that has turned collective intimacy to a public and social ideal without which the public's role as political critic could not be established. That was a quote from Berlant. But I argue that the public sphere carries on into the online in conjunction with the private sphere, the collective intimacy so to speak. So thinking of how cafes and salons are places where people convene in small groups to discuss ideas and share experiences, I argue that these are replicated online when people meet under the auspices of collective identities, modes of organizing that make it easy to find like-minded people with similar interests. And techno-discursive terms such as the hashtag, the like button, the retweet options are also substantive elements. Therefore, in the same way that the online is a new realm upon which the public sphere has expanded, so too does the online actually rely on the intimate, the private sphere because of the affordances collective identities provide online. I define the Iranian transnational public sphere as an amalgamation of the public and private, a broad umbrella term encompassing all the different collective identities or intimate publics therein. So in other words, social media platforms as tools that convey messages is not enough to look at them as tools that convey messages. There is a neglect of the analysis of the content conveyed through the tools of social media. So that is what I'm trying to do using an analysis of discourses and iconographies forged by activists on social media. So it's also important for me to look more closely at what constitutes collective belonging and what the effect of it is. The effect of belonging are the relation between the attachment to the world and the feeling of belonging to the world. First, I believe that what is at stake here is the question of identity and how it is constructed online. In the process of forming to be part of the social, we lose control because we want to know people we do not know and create a world that we do not know yet. This explains why attachment is political as Berlin knows.  This assumption rests also on the evidence that social media is a space of contestation in addition to its enabling of connections to be made and collective identities that it births in common struggle of position and celebration of a topic. So who constitute the Iranian public sphere? So very broadly, I identify four broad categories of collective identities. So the first one is Persian speakers, predominantly residing in Iran. Switch the pages again on my notes. So by focusing on the different collective identities that form the Iranian transnational public sphere, I asked how, if at all, can they be interrelated? Collective actors are important figures shaping collective identities. There are four main strands that I have identified from my data collection, alongside my interview participants responses. So yes, the first is the collective identity of Iranians inside the country who write predominantly in Persian and who use social media in order to highlight what is going on. This is of course, as I said, a broad generalization, but it serves as a way to underpin the fact that while access to the internet is not completely free inside Iran, that users of social media from within Iran post content for a range of reasons, from economic to social to political reasons. But for the remit of this research, I focus on the political and the context in which the political is posted online. So political organizing in Iran, in a physical capacity is extremely dangerous as the example of the one million signatures campaign proves. The one million signatures campaign was a collective movement of Iranian activists and lawyers gathering signatures from all across Iran, from shops to cafes, to schools, to government agencies, to protect women's rights and block the detrimental family protection law from passing in 2008 under then president Ahmadinejad. While that movement was successful in blocking this law from passing, all of its members were imprisoned and many have fled as a result. Yes, so stifling online discourse, I mean, through national censorship and the creation of bots that aim to attack dissident voices online are some of the means the state resorts to to make the online space hostile. Collective actors are contesting each other while collective identities keep to themselves. I'm sorry, I realize I skipped a bit here. So this goes to the second category, the state and non-state actors. So because of the fact that organizing physically is dangerous inside Iran, the online is a new space with potential and that's why the state tries to create as much of a hostile environment online as it possibly can by creating these bots and by trying to distort any sign of unity. Yes, so now the non-state actors and then the non-state actors. I'm not saying they're the same. I'm saying how there are some connections between some influential Iranian figures and some non-state actors who conspire together at times. So the influential Iranian figures are those who have large platforms and who are predominantly resident in the diaspora and who by virtue of having large platforms are connected to the transnational public sphere through their engagement with diasporic media sources from conventional media to the online media. What do I mean by conventional media in the diaspora? I mean the television channels that have been created in the year spanning 2005 to 2011 which are very strong in upholding a space for the transnational Iranian public sphere to connect. These figures are regularly engaging with these television channels and some even have their own shows. I'm going to have to move the page again. The diasporic Iranians were able to identify with Iranians inside the country through their mutual viewing of these channels. I will name them. So Manoto, Iran International, BBC Persian and Voice of America Persian. These are really instrumental in creating these connections between Iranians inside the country and outside. These channels air from London and New York and Washington and show both entertainment and news programs in Persian and about Iran. There is an important link between these channels and the diasporic activists who, as I said, are given airtime on them. For instance, the first tweeter in the Iranian Me Too movement residing in the diaspora who revealed she was abused by a prominent artist had an exclusive telephone interview on Iran International who in picking up her story helped to amplify her story and crucially to put pressure on the perpetrator. I will discuss the Iranian Me Too movement later. So just to end on this note, why do I use the term strand? I suppose categories. I purposefully use the term strand because I aim to show that these strands can overlap and they are not entirely independent from each other. Even though the Iranian transnational public sphere can be right with division, contestation and co-optation, at the same time there are some moments where some of these strands connect. And especially evident in the connection as I said between exiled journalists and the conventional media but also exiled journalists with Iranian women inside the country, all of them from different political spheres, denouncing, for instance, the sexual harassment and rape as was the case at the early onset of the Me Too movement. So I'm also interested to find out why these moments of connection are fleeting. So I will try to find out which hashtags and why. Which hashtags am I looking at and why are the hashtags in particular? So to go back to techno-discursive terminology, hashtags in strict techno-discursive terms develop another meaning outside of their linguistic one. So they become hypertext, linking different texts written at different times. This form of transmission is unique to the online environment and thus I argue it can be effectively considered as a form of digital archiving of texts, images and videos across social media platforms. So the hashtags I'm looking at are My Stealthy Freedom because it is the first of a set of major hashtags that were specifically made to challenge the discriminatory law against women's compulsory hijab which started a thread of other hashtags notably the White Wednesdays and the My Camera is My Weapon. After that, because I follow a chronological order I have to say as well, I start with these three hashtags and then I move on to the Girls of Engelob Street. The Girls of Engelob Street is a grassroots movement that started in Iran also protesting against the compulsory hijab which arguably took influence from the My Stealthy Freedom campaign. And then finally I look at the emerging the fairly recent hashtag of Me Too Iran and in Persian it's called Manham which literally translates to Me Too. So these are just some examples of the content behind these hashtags. So why do I start by looking at the My Stealthy Freedom? It is because I look at hashtags that emerged in the women's rights discourse in the years following the Green Movement and uprising in 2009. They were created these hashtags were created by Masih Alinajad a former parliamentary journalist inside Iran. She first created the hashtag My Stealthy Freedom as a critique of the compulsory hijab once she was in exile after the uprisings. Her activism has then evolved from that hashtag and so she is a controversial figure who I will get to from Me Too Iran as well. So just to stick with the theme of hashtags why hashtags for now. In a critical discourse analysis a strong belief exists that we cannot simply extract the text from its online environment. It must be placed within its techno-discursive context. So the creation of the My Stealthy Freedom campaign was the first use of a hashtag to gather supporters and advocates of the Iranian women's rights movement under one place. And usually what started out as a collection of images to showcase the My Stealthy Freedom online turned into a campaign mobilized by and mobilizing people through their anger and these examples show that I hope at least but the anger is felt through the content being shared behind these hashtags. And also as picked up in the interviews my interview is responded unanimously that social media is a platform for anger. So anger, toxicity and slandering are the words that almost all of the interview is used to describe the online environment and they agreed these were serious issues in the context of Iranian women's rights online in particular. Yes, for the My Stealthy Freedom campaign to take off the ground. As evidenced above it was only after the discourse online became more one sided. What do I mean by that? With the evolution of her hashtag My Stealthy Freedom Alina Jad grew ever more hostile to the supposition that women have a right to choose what to wear. She started by campaigning for women to have the right to choose if they want to wear the hijab or not. And gradually it has shifted to a rather more of an Islamophobic discourse saying that the compulsory hijab is a reason for the Islamic Republic having to go once and for all. I mean the point here is that she is equating women's compulsory hijab to all of the repressions that the state forces on women in Iran. So how did the My Stealthy Freedom campaign take off? Alina Jad receives images and photos from women inside Iran as you can see on these images. They are sent to her and she posts them on her large platforms. So one of my interviewees who wish to remain anonymous told me that she receives regular direct messages on Twitter and Instagram from women inside Iran asking her for immigration advice as she is a lawyer. And she says that the movement on social media the movement of My Stealthy Freedom some of them some of these women have literally taken to the streets to remove their hijab as an act of defiance and others have challenged the system in other ways but a lot of them tell her that they were inspired through seeing things on social media and so in that sense Alina Jad received a lot of treatment over maybe the past five years and so taking to the streets to remove your hijab is a very dangerous act that is why they subsequently are forced to flee Iran because they face imprisonment. Alina Jad also receives a lot of trolling and harassment directed at her but so do other Iranian women who possess a large platform online and some have argued that there are still larger positives that outweigh the online abuse endured. As one interviewee who also wishes to remain anonymous and provide many ordinary Iranian women who come from quote-unquote less moneyed and less educated backgrounds to come out and demand change. So the argument here is that the power that social media gives to these ordinary women is the power of having their demands visibilized once the rejection of the Islamic Republic through that symbol so how do I mean they're visibilized once through the potential of having their images shared with a wider audience but also through the rejection of the compulsory hijab or the rejection of the Islamic Republic so I fear I have to go faster as I said Alina Jad is a controversial figure because of her narrow focus on creating a space of anger and toxicity online in the sense that she it's hard to see and listen these are images of the on the left you have a screenshot of just half a day on her Instagram and on the right just half a day on her Twitter she repeatedly posts the same video throughout the day and the main point of contention with her is that she's reaching out to people inside Iran to mobilize them to put their lives at more risk moving on to the girls of this movement which as I said is a grassroots movement that started in Iran as you can see on the left image the first woman to take a protest with putting her veil on a stick and holding it out her name was so this native movement was partly inspired by Alina Jad's campaign but also came as a result of many other socio-economic factors faced by Iranians who took to the streets to protest in November 2017 in what became the first upheaval that was blocked from social media as it marked the first time the state shut down the internet to block people from sharing and following life coverage of the protests so the image of this woman holding her white headscarf while standing on a plinth in the midst of the crowd was quickly filed under the hashtag girls of envelope street it sparked a movement of other Iranian women emulating where you can see on the image from this form of silent protest so in my interview with one of the girls of envelope street who also wishes to remain anonymous she describes the moment she saw the first woman to take up the silent stand and she quotes this image as being a powerful moment as if her silence was the scream of all of us she says that the act of standing on that plinth and holding the compulsory job in her hands was a cry for justice for acknowledgement that women have agency too so Rida Movahidi the top tweets with her name as a hashtag are of her sentencing short release and re-emprisonment and the last tweet was dated to the 2019 she has had no digital presence of her own her image the only trace of her circulating the online environment is shared by women's rights activists in the diaspora by western supporters and some policy makers alike so once policy makers and western supporters chime in the stories get sensationalized or not always but have a tendency to get sensationalized and they receive a lot more attention outside of the Iranian transnational sphere so there's an interesting link between policy makers within a more conservative right-wing leaning US think tanks that advocate for war with Iran and then pushing Iranian women's rights activism to fit within their discourse of lobbying and assertions and war on Iran which is detrimental to Iranian women so it's very annoying applying to the participants when I ask them whether social media makes women's rights activism harder there is no straight answer but a call to debate the pros and cons of using social media as one respondent says is required she also believes that one of the main challenges is the pressure on civil society inside Iran and the non-recognition of the right for women to organize another interviewee believes that social media can certainly help in the space that we become aware of stories so in that sense I wonder, I ask can it be said that social media by virtue of its technological format is shaping feminist discourse in Iran by allowing some forms of activism to take precedence over others so hello from hashtag in my research is the me too Iran or the manhem so in August 2020 there was a seismic shift in women's rights activism with the coming forward of many women to talk about their stories of sexual harassment in Iran the world went hashtag campaign of me too as women university students journalists and employees revealed their stories of sexual abuse at the hands of powerful Iranian men many of them well established figures within their fields with a near I would say untouchable status as a result of their high reaching connections but it started when a female university student in Iran broke her silence on Twitter calling out Kevin and mommy a bookshop owner in the university's vicinity for luring her back to his apartment and drugging and raping her soon after other women students came forward because the exact same thing had happened to them thus a chain of narratives of sexual assault and rape started emerging out of the bravery of one single person's tweet so the me too Iran hashtag campaign managed to open the lid on the toxic environment under which many women have suffered and had not dared to confront out of fear of the shame that could ensue from the public as well as a larger fear of suffering repercussions for having extra marital sex in a country that criminalizes this very act this was a first for speaking out in public on matters relating to sexual violence in Iran and among Iranians aside from or perhaps arguably the Islamic Republic's punitive stance on sexual relations outside of marriage it is important to also note that speaking publicly about rape and sexual assault is culturally also unheard of in Iran therefore it is not an overstatement to suggest that this movement has catapulted feminist discourse into educating debating and narrating on sexual violence with the first allegation against this bookshop owner others came forward online too making the case for his arrest clear by the end of 2020 police had announced that they had arrested him in what was a sign that they were compelled to act accordingly in order to ensure of both increasing some allegations against an army by former and current female students as well as the growing support and mobilization online for the victims who had spoken up about their ordeal the discourse had grown ever stronger with multiple voices coming out in support of the victims which was an unprecedented moment his imprisonment thus came as a very welcome sign of the government taking sexual violence seriously while feeling pressured by the transnational Iranian public sphere then in the diaspora this campaign continued when later in August 2020 Sara Omatali a former journalist turned educator broke her silence by releasing a series of tweets referred to obviously on Twitter as a thread recounting her ordeal at the hands of a prominent Iranian artist namely Aydin Ardashlou while she did not use the hashtags Me Too Iran or Manham initially her tweets sparked this movement in the diaspora as well the movement forced the taboo of sexual relations to be brought to the fore in this conservative society and as a result police temporarily suspended its law of citing extramarital sexual relations as a crime so that women could be encouraged to come forward and testify against their abusers since the first time a social media campaign was able to change policy in the conservative villages country even if it was only short lived it heralded a societal shift in speaking of sexual harassment more openly and that marks a turning point My concluding remarks in conclusion I what I tried to show in this presentation today is that online media remains a contested space where different collective actors within the Iranian transnational public sphere construct realities conspire against one another and co-opt narratives I would also like to point out how as a result of wanting to maintain a hold on what gets out of the country the Iranian government has proposed a drastic internet nationalization bill to further curb and restrict citizens access to the internet meanwhile there are regular internet shutdowns targeting local areas in protest to make it difficult for news of the uprisings to reach the outside in real time as is happening today as we speak in Huzestan So with this I just want to conclude saying how the internet and the online space is a crucial contested space where different forces battle to have the larger voice the louder voice Thank you Thank you so much for such a fascinating discussion. I love where your PhD is going and I particularly love the empirical richness of your work here So unfortunately we actually don't have any time for questions we're totally out of time. I didn't know if you had planned to speak for so long and I didn't want to interrupt you because you were I mean I was engrossed and I'm sure Omar was engrossed in conversation as well but this is something I think we definitely need to continue this conversation as your chapters progress Can you just give one minute to Omar if he has any comments that you want to make before we have to wrap up Yeah sure I'll be quick given the time constraints first Ahul I also wanted to congratulate you on your work and the way that it is developing it's very fascinating indeed and I want to say that your work is much more interesting and fascinating than you are presenting it in a way which is where I want to push you because you begin and conclude with the idea that the internet is a place of contestation site of political struggle but what you're presenting is so much richer than that because we know that the internet is such a space in various contexts around the world the challenge for you is to kind of think more specifically about Iranian digital culture particularly as it relates to activism which you know which in the empirical part you're already doing but you can present it and you know kind of speak back to theory in a much more enriching way as you explained in relation to the like when you talked about who the Iranian online public sphere is it's a very unique public sphere because of the role of the diaspora because of the interaction between the digital and mainstream sources and because of the geopolitical situation that makes any discussion on Iran kind of leak into the geopolitical imperial and so forth that makes feminist activism perhaps particularly challenging and its analysis so what I would suggest is kind of you try to avoid like talking about social media or the internet kind of in broad terms especially that actually your case studies are also in terms of like the historic context you're looking at case studies from different times and social media themselves have changed in that time and kind of anchored more concretely in the interviews that you're doing and perhaps like the idea of the hashtag is more important than like how the question is the question of how do your interviewees you know how do these activists conceive of the hashtag as an activist tool in relation to to feminist to feminist activism like you talked about disability you talked about perhaps the connection between across time and across like these different sectors within Iran outside Iran you talked about emotion and how like they associated with anger so perhaps there's space for a typology that you can bring forth in relation to how activists deal with the hashtag also you know like the visuals that that are attached to this hashtag like there it's a very particular also visual culture like the pictures that I've seen with the women you know like taking up space extending their arms the embodiment yeah like so so that is I think where like the kind of the really the value and the richness of what you're working on kind of comes across so I would kind of stay away from thinking in broad terms about the internet and social media and to theory like you know all these western theorists whether they're talking about social media or about the public sphere like they didn't have Iran you know in mind when they were theorizing so why should you or us like spend time kind of thinking about how they apply or not just you know speak back like yes okay you know Habermas and Berlin but the richness of what you're doing the contribution of you know what you're offering is actually much richer so I would start with like with an ethnographic sensibility in which you're doing but you know bring it out more as you as you as you go along I'll email you with some suggestions as well for kind of you know books that might be helpful for your project but yeah thank you for sharing your research with us thank you so much yes thank you very much thank you thank you so I just want to give the final floor to you if you want to say anything before unfortunately we have to end the discussion because there's another one coming up right away so we might be kicked off but do you have any final I'm very sorry that I went so much over time before but I think it was because I had to take time to change the pages I apologize for that so yes now thank you so much for your comments Omar and I think absolutely you're right I need to focus more on I suppose I don't like to use the word extracting but to figure out as you say why Iranian women's rights activists and journalists etc are using social media how they are using it more more specifically in terms of theorizing I think as I say also in the beginning as I said there is very little theorization within the Iranian context so I'm trying to find I guess what I'm trying to do is find a theory that I can anchor my research in but I definitely do take your point that I need to focus more on the actual research as in why Iranian women's activists are using social media and I hope to be able to expand that and this chapter that I presented is part of another I mean there are two big chapters within my thesis separated into two so I suppose what I need to do is then edit it better to really be able to place everything together but no thank you so much thank you Amanda as well for giving me the time to speak and yeah if anyone has any questions please feel free to email me I'm very sorry there was no time for Q&A don't worry about don't apologize I think just to quickly echo Omar's point too as you know as anyone who does research on communities that western theorists did not have in mind when they were you know they were building these concepts or whatnot I think it's I think Omar is right in thinking foreground your empirics right in a way that how does that experience you think about these concepts instead of foregrounding the concepts themselves and you might then adopt you know what some feminist like Christina Sylvester for example talks about the collage making where when she's trying to make sense of empirics she grabs concepts from here and there to help but it's all about prioritizing your fieldwork first right and how that helps you make make sense of what's going on so it might not just be Halberstam or it might not be Berlant itself but it might be a few different concepts but yeah that ethnographic sensibility that you know I think that's key and I felt like in your presentation that's where you came to your fore and that's where things got really interesting is when you were exploring the richness of this community and what you know what does that tell us about social organizing of political mobility about activism about social network so those are my two cents I'm abusing my position of chair to to say that to yes don't be afraid to you know to to prioritize your empirical research you have such an important thing to say or lots of things to say theory empirical otherwise so yeah so good luck and I can't wait to see how your research progresses can't wait to see this in print thank you so much thank you very much all right thank you everyone thank you Omar so much for your really thoughtful comments and for being a part of the series and thank you for your presentation and to you the audience for coming and listening in so I'm sure if you have any comments or questions like I said you can you can pop her an email or follow her on social media everyone have a great afternoon thanks for so much thanks so much for tuning in take care bye