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Donald Trumps revolting tweets about Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski Thursday make me think we might be witnessing a new version of a very old story about someone using the power of the gods to destroy his enemies, only to be figuratively destroyed by that same power because of his sins.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, I wrote often about Donald Trumps media mastery and the way he used it to shred his opponents. I marveled at the way he thrived in this transitional media era, which baffled so many other politicians and media operatives.

Just as American society is moving from a TV culture to a social media one, so was Trump able to skillfully use both media to his political ends. He could shift in a commercial minute from owning a cable TV interview with his improvisational talk skills, to blasting away on Twitter in the snarky tone of the dominant discourse there. How could a 70-year-old find such a pitch-perfect social media voice?

I believe those media skills not only played a huge role getting him elected, but also in revolutionizing political media at least for the short term.

I wondered, though, once he was in office, if those media skills could be used for governing.

After seeing Thursdays revolting tweets and the widespread outrage in response to them, I am certain Trump has lost control of the fire, and it is only a matter of time before his presidency is consumed by it.

Tweets like the ones he wrote about MSNBCs Brzezinski, coupled with a dozen or so he has written about other women in media and politics, offer an unfiltered look at the darkness and misogyny in his heart. Who could possibly want a man who tweets such things as the nations leader? These are well beyond mean. These are tweets intended to inflict real pain. Is this the person we want representing us to the world?

I have read all the psycho-histories of Richard Nixon. I thought they were pretty dark and sick. But they are not even a warm-up for what these tweets seem to be saying about the mind of the man holding all that power in the White House today.

What might be even more astounding is that Trump is taking the time to watch and tweet such things about a cable TV show and its hosts when millions of Americans are holding their breath wondering if they are about to lose their health care thanks to events taking place in Washington.

Id call it a Greek tragedy if there was any depth of character to the man playing with the fire of social media in this story. But it is still an archetypal tale.

I have to admit I felt some some empathy for Nixon after his fall. I think I understand the toll being a self-made man took on his psyche.

But I promise you this: After tweets like the ones today from Trump, I will feel no pity, weep no tears as the fire of social media that he once harnessed turns on him and takes its toll on his presidency.

david.zurawik@baltsun.com

twitter.com/davidzurawik

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Mika tweets show Trump has lost control of the social media fire - Baltimore Sun (blog)

Chinese censors have taken the unprecedented step of shutting down three major live streaming services, including one owned by Sina Weibo, the Twitter-like social media giant with 300 million users in both text and video format.

The action came ahead of a major Communist Party meeting that will have some significant changes in top leadership positions later this year. But media experts said the reason for this decision may be much bigger than the immediate political need and include the party's concerns about videos proving to be a stronger social media voice than text.

More bandwidth has given people more access to video, said Nick Admussen, Cornell University's assistant professor of Chinese literature. "I understand why they [Chinese officials] feel that this is something that they need to manage because more people are using it, and videos can travel more quickly, he said.

Two other companies affected by the latest round of restrictions include Phoenix Televisions ifeng.com and AcFun, who were ordered to undergo rectification and help create a cleaner cyberspace.

Explaining the reason behind the shutdown, the government said the video platforms were operating without licenses and showing content that violated the standards laid down by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.

"It is not uncommon in China for companies to violate rules that they dont think will be enforced and be able to get away with it for a long time," said Scott Kennedy, Director, Project on Chinese Business & Political Economy at the Center for Strategic & International Studies.

"{A] Lot of it is about actual inappropriate sexual content, not inappropriate political content. What basically they are looking at is content and looking for people who are behaving like television stations even though they are not," said Jacob Cooke, CEO of Web Presence in China, a Beijing based consultancy.

Media control

All television, radio and newspaper media is state controlled in China. But a section of live streaming platforms, which are run independently, had began to rob state TV of a big chunk of audience both because they reported real time events without waiting for clearances from high officials and they showed salacious and sexually provocative content. Authorities have a reason to fear they might emerge as independent TV far beyond government control even if they did not show much political news, analysts said.

Users of Chinese live streaming facilities constitute a virtual world of 325 million people. A significant number of people make videos, mostly with their phone cameras recording real life events or organizing special shoots before uploading them to some 200 portals.

The government decision still leaves a large section of live streaming services operational. They include major players like Huya, Panda.tv, Yinke, YY Live, Douyu and Huajiao. But Beijing's move will force these platforms, which often test the patience of censors with sexually and otherwise provocative content, to tone down their programming and cut out political discussion, analysts said.

This will likely mean a smaller audience seeking and running after TRPs resulting in the business death spiral for several platforms, analyst said. One such portal, Guangquan, which was once valued at $70 million, collapsed recently because of intense competition and high operating costs.

What went wrong

Industry watchers are debating how social media companies, which are known to be closely connected to the Communist party, went wrong and ended up being on the other side of the red line.

"I do think they are connected pretty deeply with the State, and that doesn't mean you can't have a squabble inside the family or different sides. It probably means that the authority will win out in one way or the other," Admussen said.

He said clearly, the government felt these companies were not doing enough to comply with government standards. "Media should have the surname of the party. They are just one family," Admussen said.

But the government may also lose quite a lot if it curtails the freedom of live streaming companies and social media outlets like WeChat and Weibo beyond a certain extent. Social media has become the eyes and ears of the authorities, telling them what is going on in this giant sized country, analyst said.

"Authorities also rely on WeChat and Weibo to take the pulse of public opinion on hot-button issues, and they cant do that if they totally kill off the platforms liveliness and drive away users," said Christopher Cairns, a scholar at Cornell University.

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China Applies Brakes on Live Streaming - Voice of America

Mr. Moore added that the company would be more comfortable arguing its case to British regulators over questions of its control over parts of the media industry than on whether it should pass the fit and proper test.

In a statement, 21st Century Fox welcomed the fit and proper decision, but said it was disappointed the British government still had reservations about its potential influence over the local media industry. It said that its takeover of Sky may now happen by June 2018.

The company has until July 14 to respond before the government formally refers the deal to Britains competition authority.

Almost immediately after it was announced in December, the proposed deal prompted concerns. Mr. Murdoch has long coveted total ownership of Sky, a satellite broadcaster he founded in the early 1990s. But the media mogul is a divisive figure in Britain, and a previous bid for Sky was withdrawn amid the hacking scandal that engulfed his British newspaper division.

Two politically independent regulators in Britain the Office of Communications, or Ofcom; and the Competition and Markets Authority began reviewing the proposed takeover, and attention quickly focused on whether the deal would limit consumer choice and whether 21st Century Fox executives met British broadcasting standards.

The Competition and Markets Authority said in its report that a merged company would control a significant part of Britains media landscape, including television, newspaper and online outlets. In response, Fox had made concessions to counter those concerns, though the British government in its separate decision said the remedies did not go far enough.

Karen Bradley, the culture minister, said Thursday that the investigation into the proposed deal had raised questions about whether the takeover would give members of the Murdoch family too much influence.

From a report issued by the Office of Communications in Britain.

The transaction may increase members of the Murdoch Family Trusts ability to influence the overall news agenda and their ability to influence the political process, Ms. Bradley said in a statement.

British officials did not hold back in their criticism of the sexual harassment scandal at Fox News, which led to the ouster of Roger Ailes, the former chairman of the network; Bill OReilly, the former Fox News anchor; and several other employees. In its ruling, Ofcom found that the scandal at Fox News had been extremely serious and disturbing, according to its report published on Thursday.

It seems clear that there were significant failings of the corporate culture at Fox News, Ofcom said in the report. Foxs response to the claims has been mixed. Some allegations were handled swiftly. But Fox was slower to deal with Bill OReilly, its star anchor.

The regulator zeroed in on the case of Mr. OReilly, noting that 21st Century Fox was aware of multiple cases that had led to settlements when it renewed its contract with him in February.

It pointed to a statement made by Fox on April 18 the day before Mr. OReilly was fired and a clarifying comment this month, saying it remained concerned that board members regarded Mr. OReillys settling cases personally as somehow a point in his favor.

Ofcom also chastised the company for the language it used to describe employee misconduct, saying that it tended to downplay the harm caused and was unnecessarily pejorative. In one example, Ofcom pointed to a May meeting with Fox, in which it described the continuum as going from appalling sexual harassment to regular dirty old man talk. (Fox later told Ofcom that the phrase was not intended to diminish the allegations.)

Mr. Ailes, who died last month, and Mr. OReilly repeatedly denied the allegations against them.

But despite scolding 21st Century Fox, Ofcom determined that the company was a fit and proper holder of British broadcasting rights. The regulator said it had found no evidence that the issues at Fox News had extended through 21st Century Fox, nor that any of the companys executives were aware of the misconduct before they were informed of it in July 2016, when Mr. Ailes was ousted.

Ofcom said it would review its position if new information became available.

One lawyer for some of the employees making sexual and racial harassment allegations rejected Ofcoms findings, saying that 21st Century Fox executives had known about the harassment before that date.

Fox has represented to Ofcom that no executive director was aware of any allegations of sexual and racial harassment at Fox News prior to July 2016, Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer representing several current and former Fox News employees who made sexual and racial harassment complaints against the network, said in an email. I can assure you that the veracity of that statement will be probed in our current litigations.

The extended review into 21st Century Foxs offer comes at a difficult time for the British government, which must eventually decide whether to approve or reject the takeover.

Prime Minister Theresa May was unable to win a majority in parliamentary elections this month, and politicians in Britain are focused on the beginning of negotiations to leave the European Union, leaving little time to consider the proposed takeover. Opposition lawmakers, and some inside Mrs. Mays Conservative Party, have balked at the deal.

21st Century Foxs attempt to buy Sky is part of the companys efforts to keep pace with digital rivals like Netflix and Amazon, which have used their streaming services to win over consumers increasingly accustomed to watching movies and television shows on mobile devices.

The acquisition of Sky, experts say, would give 21st Century Fox not only a pan-European satellite network and rights to content including English Premier League broadcasts, but also control of Now TV, Skys online streaming service.

Follow Mark Scott on Twitter @markscott82.

A version of this article appears in print on June 30, 2017, on Page B1 of the New York edition with the headline: Murdochs Big Prize Slips Away Again.

Excerpt from:
Setback for Murdoch in $15 Billion Sky Takeover - New York Times

County has yet to approve new system, local nonprofit offering to step up to help with issue in Newberg

As the Yamhill County Sheriff Office prepares to largely wash its hands of dog control in the county at the end of the week, officials and organizations are working to establish a new system.

Although county officials are still working out a new solution, the sheriff's office is recommending that the county enact a new system focused on reuniting lost pets with their owners over licensing enforcement and turning over licensing to area organizations and nonprofits, according to Capt. Chris Ray.

Cities in Yamhill County could opt into this system or fall back on whatever ordinances they have on the books, though Ray noted that some cities already have had to do this for the past several months.

"Ultimately, since after July 1 we will no longer have dog control personnel ... a lot of that is going to have to shift to the municipalities to whatever their policy is going to be for handling dog control issues in their city," Ray said.

The sheriff's office announced several months ago that it intended to end its longstanding dog control system, which historically has financially supported itself through licensing fees and citations. However, Ray noted that the system is no longer able to sustain itself as personnel costs far outpace those traditional revenue sources.

Newberg began relying on that program in 2014, when it cut its own animal control officer position to save up to $90,000 per year. The county has since largely handled dog control while the Newberg Animal Shelter Friends took over the local shelter.

As of July 1, the sheriff's office will no longer have staff or funding for dog control, though the records keeper for the program will remain with the sheriff's office and be available to assist the entities that take over licensing in the future.

The problem with that plan is that county ordinance currently prohibits county agencies from sharing information with the nonprofit organizations that would now take the lead.

Although Ray hoped a new ordinance would be approved by July 1, the Yamhill County Board of Commissioners was not slated to take up such a proposal within that time frame as of press time. Meanwhile, Ray said the county has extended its contract for 10 kennels at Pet Stop Inn in McMinnville through September.

Newberg city staff did not respond to a request for an interview by press time on how the city plans to handle dog control in the future.

Local organizations to fill role

The plan envisioned by the sheriff's office, modeled after a system in Deschutes County, would rely on local organizations and nonprofits to handle licensing and focus on getting lost dogs back to their owners rather than enforcing dog control with citations. The sheriff's office would still handle dogs that pose safety issues for the areas of the county that it serves.

In practical terms, that means that no one is currently responsible for picking up a stray dog when a resident finds one, according to Rebecca Wallis, president of Family Pet Partners a nonprofit most visible in the county for operating three "Lost and Found Pets" Facebook pages in the county, including one serving the Newberg, Dundee and Dayton areas: http://www.facebook.com/lafpondo/.

With the sheriff's office vacating that roll, Wallis said her organization is planning to fill in with volunteers able to respond to reports of found dogs and able to use the nonprofit's various snares, traps and microchip readers to get dogs back to their owners a process that often takes minutes , she said, and rarely more than 24 hours.

While Wallis said the group primarily has been offering support to return lost pets to owners and help financially struggling pet owners keep their pets, the group is now proposing to take the lead on dog control and licensing in various areas of the county, including in Newberg.

She said this plan would take pressure off of police departments that neither have the funding or staff to suddenly take custody of the issue.

"We have to do this," she said. Family Pet Partners has to be able and capable of doing licensing, doing the lost and found pick-up of dogs, so that way we don't have to rely on the police department to do it."

She said the group is specifically proposing that the city post Family Pet Partners' contact information, website and social media pages on its website as the place where residents should go for dog control assistance.

In addition, Wallis has proposed that Family Pet Partners take over licensing under the supervision of the Newberg-Dundee Police Department, which would allow the city to keep the revenue for licensing with some funds being used to support Family Pet Partners' operations.

While Ray said veterinary clinics have been doing some licensing and hoped they would continue doing so, Wallis envisioned that Family Pet Partners would have a staff member available to offer licensing at regular hours as well as "amnesty events" that will allow dog owners to license their dogs and get the required vaccinations without the normal fees.

She said the group has volunteers who can house dogs with kennels at their homes, but they may call on local shelters as needed.

Newberg Animal Shelter Friends President Crista Eberle provided an emailed statement that did not specifically detail the role the shelter would play in the new system, but cited the shelter's growing role in connecting pets with owners since 2015, including 100 pets reunited with owners last year.

"We are actively discussing with county and city officials how we can best serve our community as dog control processes evolve," she said. "Our mission as a no-kill shelter is to provide a caring environment for homeless animals, and to find them nurturing homes."She invited Newberg pet owners to attend an open house at the shelter located at 1591 S. Sandoz Road from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 8, where volunteers will be on hand to give tours, answer questions and offer $10 microchipping along with other activities. More information is available at https://newberganimals.com/.

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Sheriff's office to stop dog control July 1 in county - Pamplin Media Group

Smart Controls LLC of Fairview Heights, IL recognized this problem, and developed a line of multi-protocol controllers built around Echelon's FT 6050 Smart Transceiver. "We rarely see building automation systems today with a single protocol installed," said Smart Controls President David Kniepkamp. "Whether it is the integration of a variable frequency drive, a chiller, or a boiler with a different protocol than what is installed in the rest of the building, hybrid systems are here to stay. With the addition of the BACnet protocol on the FT 6050, we are now able to manufacture a true multi-protocol controller supporting BACnet/IP, BACnet MS/TP, and LON on a single hardware platform. The MP series controllers come standard with all of these communications protocols, with no pricing penalty. With these controllers, system integrators or building owners don't have to worry about supporting multiple manufacturers and programming environments or be forced into a specific protocol."

Large design-build mechanical contractor, Western Allied, agreed. According to Alan Slabodkin, Vice President, "Another major advantage of utilizing Echelon's Free Topology BACnet/IP bus is the elimination of all the switches required for the traditional methodology of installing BACnet/IP. Many manufacturers are attempting to install switches in their controller so the installation can be daisy chained. Every single switch is a potential point of failure to take the network down. With Echelon's Free Topology BACnet/IP bus, even if a controller were to fail, the network remains intact. Compared to traditional BACnet/IP wiring, Echelon's Free Topology BACnet/IP bus has eliminated node limitations, ring communication wiring, and hundreds if not thousands of potential switch point failures."

The FT 6050 is part of Echelon's IzoT platform for embedded control systems based on the Echelon ISO-standard LON protocol and Free Topology (FT) architecture. The FT 6050 provides a bridge between existing communications used in commercial building control devices and the IP connectivity the Industrial Internet of Things brings. The FT 6050 enables industrial developers to have a choice of communications protocols such as LON, BACnet, or Modbus while also enabling new and emerging IP connectivity requirements. Products built around the FT 6050 can act as either LON or BACnet devices, or both at the same time.

About Echelon Corporation

For 25 years Echelon (NASDAQ: ELON)has pioneered the development ofopen-standard networking platformsfor connecting, monitoring and controlling devices in commercial and industrial applications. With more than 110 million devices installed worldwide, Echelon's proven, scalable solutions host a range of applications enabling customers to reduce energy and operational costs, improve safety and comfort, and create efficiencies through optimizing physical systems. Echelon is focusing today on two IoT (Internet of Things) market areas: Creating smart cities and smart enterprises through connected outdoor lighting systems, and enabling device makers to bring connected products to market faster via a range of IoT-optimized embedded systems. More information about Echelon can be found at http://www.echelon.com.

About Smart Controls LLC

Smart Controls was birthed out of the Aerospace Industry in 1992. The innovation, precision manufacturing and reliability demanded in the Aerospace Industry has continued to propel Smart Controls to be a leader in the Open Systems Building Automation Industry and has created a following of repeat customers for decades.

About Western Allied Corporation

Western Allied Corporation has been an industry leader in mechanical contracting (cooling, heating and ventilation) in the Los Angeles basin for generations. Founded in Santa Fe Springs, California, Western Allied has continued to do business from the same address since 1960.

Echelon, the Echelon logo, LON, and IzoT are trademarks of Echelon Corporation that may be registered in the United States and other countries. Other product or service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.

This press release may contain statements relating to future plans, events or performance. Such statements may involve risks and uncertainties, including the risk that Echelon's offerings by themselves or combined with other applications or offerings do not perform as designed or do not offer the expected benefits and savings and other risks identified in Echelon's SEC filings. Actual results, events and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Echelon undertakes no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

CONTACT: Lucie Mann Echelon Corp. lmann@echelon.com

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/large-multinational-media-and-entertainment-company-selects-flexible-building-control-system-powered-by-echelon-system-on-a-chip-300481407.html

SOURCE Echelon Corporation

http://www.echelon.com

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Large Multinational Media and Entertainment Company Selects Flexible Building Control System Powered by Echelon ... - PR Newswire (press release)