Edward Snowden . A truly globalised hero and courageous patriot of the world. (Extended)

I believe to the fact that everyone have a right to their own privacy. In under no circumstances, that anyone can invade it for whatever reason it may be. Edward Snowden believes in this code and uses it to his advantage and equally manage our human rights under the surveillance of American security agencies.

Dedicated as a hero, Snowden should be praised and glorified as our global patriot. Having the courage and confidence to expose all those secret files to the population of the world, he received such compliments from nearly everyone. Except, obviously, to some agents that worked behind the scenes in these agencies that are fully disgusted and contemptuous. The world responded greatly of Snowden's actions and there are even movements being formed for the causes of human rights and the repudiation of espionage. Demonstrations also occur from many places around the world regarding the action the U.S should take in their reverberation for Edward Snowden.

Personally, maybe indefinitely, I can't speak for other people but, in my opinion, I will feel very intimidated and threatened if my privacy is invaded. I believe to the ideology that every one of us deserve a space where we are comfortable to do anything and everything without someone watching us every step of the way. The truth, in the end, is the most valuable thing anyone can have in terms of invasion of privacy and secrets. The U.S. Government will always deny this statement as they believe that monitoring their citizens and exposing their emails are the best strategies to look at other people's lives and eventually ruining it.

In my opinion, I believe that Edward Snowden deserve a medal for what he did. He truly justified the term ' privacy and human rights ' into the world. And people can see that, which is why exactly rallies are created to stop NSA and CIA to prosecute Snowden. When asked of his motivations to his actions, Snowden explained that " I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done nothing wrong." I fully supported this statement and one hundred percent agree. Great minds think alike, they say. And I do believe that Edward Snowden's concept of privacy and human rights are no different than mine.


Edward Snowden has to live in pain and pay the price (reputation, recognition, respect) in order to stood up for something that he believed in. He did that for all of us, as he also knows that he holds one of the major power to uncover the truth of what the U.S. Government is doing to humanity.

Even his father says that he did the right there. Further argument can be found here. Further to my research, I also found that Edward Snowden has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by a Swedish sociology professor. The article can be viewed here. Many people knows that he did the right thing and they also acted and supported his actions and decisions by creating political rallies and demonstration around the world to show their signs and that they are behind Snowden all the way.


"I think that the public is owed an explanation of the motivations behind the people who make these disclosures that are outside of the democratic model" was Snowden's response when asked what motivated him to do what he did. As one of many supporters of Snowden, I strongly argue that he did the right thing and intentions to deliver his message to everyone globally. Although with great power comes great responsibility, obviously Snowden will receive great critics and consequences from U.S. government.

I find it very ironic how the United States is the oldest country in the world that has the oldest regime, rules and convention about Human Rights but it is their own government that contradict their own laws. Imagine how Americans feel knowing that every single day they wake up, that they are not free even though it's a "free country". So many conflicts and issues are surrounding the U.S government and its citizens due to their disloyalty and dishonour for the people of U.S.A.

Snowden believes that his greatest fear, after all disclosures of the classified documents and evidence, is that nothing will change. He stated in the video below, in the interview, that despite everything he's been into and leaving everything behind, he's afraid that the people (civilians) will not put in enough efforts to fight for what they believe in and force their representatives to take a stand against the U.S. government for what they did to the American public. Snowden also declared how the in the future, if the people did nothing against this absurdity, that the power and policy will get even stronger, and by that time, there's nothing that even the citizens can do anything about it.

Through all his troubles, Snowden did received many supporters, which can be seen here. They all believe and approve his move towards the humanity, privacy and human rights of the people of America. The U.S. citizens obviously seen the damage their government did to their country and they thanked their hero for doing the right thing.

I also would do the same thing if I live in the U.S. As a democrat myself, I believe in the privacy rights of the citizen. And I do regard to the fact that if these such things would continue to happen in the future, eventually as technology get more advanced, the surveillance and filtering will be unstoppable. People will eventually live in fear and anxiety because they're afraid that no matter what, when, how and where they live their everyday lives, someone will always be watching. And it is an extremely uncomfortable feeling and bitter environment we would live in.

" I don't want to live in a society that does these sorts of things [surveillance on its citizens]. . . . I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded. . . My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them." That was Snowden's explanation to the regards of his actions. Two of the most extremely powerful reasons why he did what he did. And I truly back that up.  We, as the conscious united population of the world, should know and understand this idea and apply it to our everyday life by showing our gratitude and acknowledgment to our globalised patriot Edward Snowden. Without whom, we would not be as free and exempt from the surveillance of these contradictory U.S. agencies. We should hail our hero. We should support and defend him together as we are stronger if we're united as the population of the world. Long live Edward Snowden.

Photo Source (1):
http://www.ndtv.com/news/images/snowden_protests_295.jpg

Photo Source (2):
http://www.niemanlab.org/images/edward-snowden-protest-cc.jpg

Photo Source (3):
http://wagingnonviolence.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/what-do-you-think-of-national-security-leaker-edward-snowden-poll-615x461.jpg

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yB3n9fu-rM

References:
Ritzer, George and Jurgenson, Nathan 2010 'Production, Consumption, Prosumption: The nature of capitalism in the age of the digital 'prosumer', Journal of Consumer Culture , vol. 10 no. 1, pp. 13-36.

Hollywoodisation

"One of globalization's most important consequences is the increasing difficulty in making clear distinctions between what is a local Asian film and what is a global Hollywood film, at both the material and the aesthetic level" (Klein, 2004)

I personally agree on what Klein has mentioned in response of the Hollywoodisation of Asian films in the entertainment industry. There are too many of them out there. Here are a few examples. Although the greatest example (in my opinion) that I could find, is the remake of "Infernal Affairs" a Japanese cat-and-mouse movie into the American blockbuster "The Departed". Martin Scorsese, the director of The Departed, received few negative criticisms from movie reviewers of how he tried to gain profit by remaking an idea that's already been done beforehand. Although the movie did won 4 Academy Awards including Best Director for Scorsese, many fans and reviewers still believed that Scorsese did this in pure intention to benefit himself a higher reputation and profit.

There are many advantages and disadvantages of Hollywood to try and do remakes of Asian cinemas. One of the advantages is to try and gain more viewers globally. As Asian films nowadays do not receive many worldwide recognition, Hollywood can bring that reputation to them. One of the disadvantages is that Hollywood can obtain more profit and fame for something that's not entirely original. It still happen onto this day because Hollywood see this as an easy target to bring more money (to keep their business alive) they see there are no dishonour in doing so.

The image below is also another interpretation of how "The Departed" came so close to re-model "Infernal Affairs". We can see clearly the scene from "Infernal Affairs" where both characters standing on the rooftop and the good guy is trying to kill the bad guy. "The Departed" also did exactly that. Again, I personally think lowly of Hollywood to keep remaking Asian films as there is completely no need for such a thing. But seems like, it will keep going in the future and will never stop. Whether it is for potential market gain or popularity recognition, it is still not an original idea therefore could be described as  stealing because they try to remake something that's already been done.

Photo Source (1):
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f239/darker_image/ifd.jpg

Photo Source (2):
http://cinematheque.leithermagazine.com/files/2010/03/infernal_departed11.jpg

References:
Klein, Christina 2004, 'Martial arts and globalisation of US and Asian film industries', Comparative America Studies, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 360-384.

Specular Economy

Specular Economy, as Marshall (2010) puts it is "where we collectively becoming more conscious of how we present ourselves and how others perceive us." The way I see it, is how I imagine someone thinking of me, thinking of them while thinking of me. It's a bit confusing, I know. Hence, it's called Specular as it's a reflection of impressions to other people of how we look and vice versa.

Facebook is a very useful tool that I will use an example. It's the most addictive social networking site in the world. With over 1.15 billion active users monthly, it has become quite clear why it's the number one social media app in this day and age. I am one of those 1.15 billion users. I perceive myself as a popular celebrity in the Facebook world among my friends. Funny enough, while reading Marshall (2010), I thought he was describing me. I, too, perceive others how they think of me and the way I present myself on Facebook has got me thinking quite clearly of what I should post. My personality and my 'Facebook persona' is quite different. I always put up positive inputs and thoughts on my Facebook status updates and profile. Even though, the situation in real life may not quite the contrary but I think deep and hard of why I should not combine my reality with my virtual life.

I'm always tempted to just feel like letting it all out on my status update on Facebook whenever I feel that life is getting too hard. I believe that somehow, by typing a few words, I will get sympathies and supports from my fellow friends. But in a way, I thought to myself, it's a bit attention seeking and feels as if I am 'fishing' for likes and comments. Again, I am very careful when it comes to my public image and persona in the Facebook world. Also when it comes to comments, I make sure I delete any negative comments that might compromise my virtual public image. Some of my friends noticed, some don't. This just proves that as much as I love 'likes' and 'comments' on whenever I post a status, I only want the positive ones.

I started to think from another point of view. The way we see mirrors, is that we wanted to be perfect. We wanted to look good and desirable for other people to see and therefore interact with us. Wherever the mirror may be, it gives us this conscious and peace of mind when we know that we look glamour and flashy. Mirrors also helps us point out any weaknesses on and in our body, so we can pinpoint what it is and get rid of it as it ruins our image. The mirror then can be thought of as reconstructing us for its representation on the screen.

Hopefully that illustration and these pictures helps you to understand the specular economy and our daily lives of how we carefully perceive others and present ourselves. Especially online, people might have a lot of different ideas of how they look at us compare to reality. That is the exact reason why we choose carefully for our public image on the web. The specular economy has produced a new regime of personal presentation that we're only beginning to see its profound implications.

Photo Source (1):
http://mashable.com/2010/11/11/facebook-google-identity-column/

Photo Source (2):
http://images.smh.com.au/ftsmh/ffximage/2009/04/13/internet_wideweb__470x374,0.jpg


References:
Marshall, P. David 2010, The Specular Economy, Society, vol. 47, no. 6, pp. 498-502.

Participatory Media Culture

The Internet is known for many cultural and popularity influence to all of us, especially when it comes to social media. In this day and age, it is the source of interactivity for human behaviours towards each other. Beside its huge impact, it also has become a major part of our lives. It is our interactivity with these weapon of mass distractions that influenced us to become more connected virtually and less connected realistically.

With the combination of multimediality, virtuality, interactivity and connectivity, I chose Instagram, YouTube and Facebook to be the strongest influences of social media that has been distracting me from work and uni assignments. With the combination of over 2 billion users of these three powerful social media apps, it has become clear that they are the most powerful weapons of mass distraction in this generation.

Instagram is a social media app that allows its users to post photos and videos of nearly anything and everything that happens in our lives. It also uses a creative marketing strategy called 'hash-tags' which allow its users to type in any words that are relevant to the content we post via using the hash sign. YouTube is a social media website and app that let its users to post videos of any content that they desire, whether for entertainment or education. Other people then can view the videos and choose whether to 'like' or 'dislike' it. They can also comment their opinions based on their theory and/or experiences. Facebook is social media website and app that has overtaken the majority of human population's lives in just a few years. It grants its users to simply post any contents (photos, videos, links) to their friends and families to share with.

With the advancement of technology, users of Facebook and Instagram can now integrate their content via each social media, so if they post a photo on their Instagram account, it may also be posted onto their Facebook profile. Generally, younger people (age 18-29) from across the globe spent nearly triple the amount of time to social networking sites compare to the older age groups. This explains that younger age groups are more connected and have more interactivity with one another in comparison to their parents and/or grandparents.

From my experience, I check my accounts (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube) daily and have become addicted to each of the contents posted by my friends. To me, I mustn't miss a day to not check at least one social media app. Participatory media culture is definitely a growing trend in this day and age and with the use of social networking sites, users can interact and connect with one another without the use of gaming.

Photo Source (1):
http://mlksolutions.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/bombs2-680x274.jpg

Photo Source (2):
http://knowledge.creatingresults.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Pew-Social-Networking-Site-Use-by-Age-Feb2013.MarketingCharts.png

References:
Raessens, J. 2005, 'Computer games as participatory media culture', Handbook of Computer Game Studies, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass, pp. 373-388.

Blogs and the Public Sphere.

The relationship between Blogosphere and the Public Sphere is interconnected. When we post a blog topic, it is subsequently jointed into the public community.  As a matter of fact, I believe that Public Sphere existed because of Blogosphere.

Any content we produced through our blogs, will generally and inevitably be going to the public sector of the community. It is the exact reason why most people write blogs, so they can inspire other people that reads their opinion and be intrigued and interested to see the topic from other's point of view. Although there are advantages and disadvantages of posting blogs online, I will get onto this in a later stage. My definition of the Public Sphere is that it's a network for communicating information and points of view. The ideas stored and given eventually becomes public opinion. Any issue/topic posted in any blog can be raised for a rational debate.

The advantages of posting blogs online to public community are the inspiration to other people using our words and ideas relating to the topic, the motivation and inspiration we can give to others to become more successful and/or confident through our post and it can help people understand us better by explaining our knowledge and experiences through our it. It also helps to gain our reputation through our blogs as more people enjoy their reading means more people will be follow and become more interested. Many bloggers around the world are known for their recognition by how many people reads their content and how many people commented on it.

The disadvantages of posting blogs online to public community are the concern of theft for intellectual property, plagiarism, copyright issues material and threats due to opinion differences. Although some people may not believe it, but these things actually do happen. Either they're lazy or feel intimidated, some people do steal other people's work and publish them as their own (plagiarism). In other cases, there are people that feel threatened by the blog posts as they feel the topic is too vulnerable and too attacking and therefore they retaliate in a threatening manner.

But what we have to think of is that no matter what we do, if we decide to post ANY content online of our work, it inevitably becomes public. Once it's out there, it stays there. None of us can do anything to stop it. We may remove it or report if somebody steals it, but somebody else might beat us to it. It definitely is one of the very first things to consider before we post anything online.

Photo Source (1):
http://capucinegros.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/jenny-holzer-0.jpg?w=545

Photo Source (2):
http://kalipoon.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/new-blog.png

References:
Bruns, A., Burgess, J., Highfield, T., and Nicolai, T. 2011 'Mapping the Australian Networked Public Sphere', Social Science Computer Review, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 277-287.

Edward Snowden . A truly globalised hero and courageous patriot of the world.

I believe to the fact that everyone have a right to their own privacy. In under no circumstances, that anyone can invade it for whatever reason it may be. Edward Snowden believes in this code and uses it to his advantage and equally manage our human rights under the surveillance of American security agencies.

Dedicated as a hero, Snowden should be praised and glorified as our global patriot. Having the courage and confidence to expose all those secret files to the population of the world, he received such compliments from nearly everyone. Except, obviously, to some agents that worked behind the scenes in these agencies that are fully disgusted and contemptuous. The world responded greatly of Snowden's actions and there are even movements being formed for the causes of human rights and the repudiation of espionage. Demonstrations also occur from many places around the world regarding the action the U.S should take in their reverberation for Edward Snowden.

In my opinion, I believe that Edward Snowden deserve a medal for what he did. He truly justified the term ' privacy and human rights ' into the world. And people can see that, which is why exactly rallies are created to stop NSA and CIA to prosecute Snowden. When asked of his motivations to his actions, Snowden explained that " I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done nothing wrong." I fully supported this statement and one hundred percent agree. Great minds think alike, they say. And I do believe that Edward Snowden's concept of privacy and human rights are no different than mine.

" I don't want to live in a society that does these sorts of things [surveillance on its citizens]. . . . I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded. . . My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them." That was Snowden's explanation to the regards of his actions. Two of the most extremely powerful reasons why he did what he did. And I truly back that up.  We, as the conscious united population of the world, should know and understand this idea and apply it to our everyday life by showing our gratitude and acknowledgment to our globalised patriot Edward Snowden. Without whom, we would not be as free and exempt from the surveillance of these contradictory agencies of U. S. A . We should hail our hero. We should support and defend him together as we are stronger if we're united as the population of the world. Long live Edward Snowden.

Photo Source (1):
http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1373643!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/hong-kong-snowden.jpg

Photo Source (2):
http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/blogs/the_slatest/2013/06/13/snowdown_hero_poll_31_percent_of_respondents_say_nsa_leaker_is_a_hero_but/170426835.jpg.CROP.rectangle3-large.jpg

References:
Ritzer, George and Jurgenson, Nathan 2010 'Production, Consumption, Prosumption: The nature of capitalism in the age of the digital 'prosumer', Journal of Consumer Culture , vol. 10 no. 1, pp. 13-36.

Innovators or Pirates?

Many mashup artists and DJs around the world use remixes in order to re-create a music that suits their and many others' ears. They use beats, added vocals, drums, etc. But does this make them pirates? Or innovators? Think of it this way, if somebody has an idea to create something, but someone ELSE uses that idea to create something different and perhaps more alluring, does that make the latter a thief? Or a genius?

I begin to think that maybe this topic is not that black and white, there's a shady grey area in there somewhere. Similarly with music videos, if an artist or a recording company established one with their own design, music, lyrics, plot, idea and another artist forge a similar one but with their own music and lyrics, what would the audience think of the latter artist? Would they simply criticise him/her straight away or judge him/her or perhaps even praise him/her because the result is simply better than the previous artist?

Above illustration pretty much sums up everything about innovators and pirates (the left being innovator & the right is a pirate). After careful consideration and research, I have concluded my decision that they are indeed pirates. It doesn't matter if they change their design or lyric or words or images, if the IDEA is similar (or the same) , then it is stealing. Therefore, it makes them pirates. Idea is something that's extremely valuable and fragile at the same time, because lots of people can adapt that idea to make something more profitable to them.  Similarly with DJs and mashup artists, even though they remix a song that sounds a little bit different than the original, but it still CONTAINS the original part in their remixes. Even though, yes, they did use their own instruments but somehow it is not authentic. Therefore, technically speaking, they can't sell it to make profit to them because it's not 100% their idea. Pretty much only 50% that they contribute, really.

Us as audiences (consumers) can choose NOT to pay if such artists tend to do so because we know the product is not genuine. Unfortunately, there are many cases globally today that artists still charge consumers for their remixes. I disagree with this as I believe it's not legitimate.  Same with the interpretation below, (the right being innovator, the left being pirates), pirates are generally taking something from someone and uses it to gain acquisition from consumers. From the customers' point of view, we should know better and perhaps report those who does things this way and next time to point out that it is wrong. And they should not charge us a single cent for it.

Photo Source:
(1) http://static.lolyard.com/lol/people-vs-govt-fishing.jpg

(2)https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif7KGvajx-rtET05ZJ_u8wnCTryUJtsWwm9kggXZV10DhgRTa-B9eM_8-K2cXshGIoDGIT9OY299pX1HELysLz1ZTVnp01OwWoA7WmFBkQYRTK_bQxif6gh6-GvxSIpkl5sT5_bse9oTv4/s1600/Government+vs+The+People.jpg

References:
Martin, B, Moore, C and Salter, C. 2010, 'Sharing music files: tactics of a challenge to the industry', First Monday, vol. 15, no. 12.

Media Empires

We've all heard of Walt Disney, Sony, General Electric, Viacom and Fox Entertainment Group, just to name a few. They are all the alpha dogs of the media empire in the 20th century. Their logo and reputation are extremely well-known globally. Many have acknowledged their work and cherished their products all these years.

But what about Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, Hulu, YouTube? They are the new media empire that debuted recently, hence, the new alpha dogs in the 21st century. Media empires have changed drastically in response to the time and space compression of globalised technologies. For example, nowadays businesses use the social media to help promote their marketing and management strategies. Facebook & YouTube have contributed alot to companies around the world, by guiding them achieving their goals & objectives necessary.

But what are the major differences in 'old', 'new' and 'social' media, you might ask? Well, all in all, old and new media are converging. Old media is slow, isolated and imposing. New media is fast, simple and offers greater diversity of ideas & viewpoints. While with social media, the opportunity and access are unlimited and diverse. This proves how media changes over the years and us as users have to be able to adapt to it otherwise we will get left behind. Disney, Murdoch, Hearst are few examples of new media great empires. Seems to me, that today it's a bit harder to imagine if the social media empire would be able to climb such height.

But they are trending. They are getting there. They're more stronger than ever. In the next decade or so, things would drastically change, as how things are with media, in general. Contestants such as Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Vox, AOL, are the big dogs in this battle to claim the throne of social media empire. It's hard to name who would win, but then again, it's hard to say who will not. Technology has contributed lots of its power to each of these companies, but it's a matter of who will distribute them and uses it to their great advantage. Everything is never as it seems, they say. Well, we might just have to wait and see as time will tell soon enough.

Photo Source:
(1) http://www.wayneming.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Building-A-Social-Media-Empire-In-5-Steps.png

(2) http://fasthorseinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/old-vs-new-media.jpg

References:
Nederveen Pieterse, J 2004, 'Globalization: consensus and controversies', Globalization and culture: global melange, Rowan & Littlefield, Lanham, Md., pp. 7-21.

The new era of Rugby Football goes global

As we all know, Rugby Football has and always will be the toughest & most physically-demanding team-sport in the history of mankind. Rugby Football is well known for its two distinguishable types: Rugby League and Rugby Union. Today I have chosen to blog about Rugby Union first. Rugby Union is the older one out of the two. It was first established in the early 19th century (1845 to be exact). 

What does this has to do with globalization, you might ask? Well, I would like to explain using the illustration of a recent Rugby Union highly-anticipated match that has brought cultural, social and media impacts on Australian soil. It is the match of British & Irish Lions vs. Australian Wallabies. It was the match we've all been waiting for. With every four years, the nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland choose their best players and combine  them into one team, hence, the inception of British & Irish Lions. 

Their 2013 tour to Australia consists of three test-matches, with each test-match being held in major Australian cities (Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney) respectively. What interests me the most, is the fact that with every test-match, the atmosphere has always been favoured to British & Irish Lions, even though it's being held in Australia. The first two test-matches, the overall attendance were no more than 56,000. The last test-match was 83,000. With almost every single living soul in the stadium are wearing Red (to support the Lions) and synchronised chants that matches the signature symbol of the Lions, it's almost as if making the Australian Wallabies team feel like a "home-away-from-home". This automatically linked to both Ethnoscapes and Mediascapes as it made a huge impact visually and also the transnational distribution of correlated people. 

With a reference to Thompson ( Rantanen, 2005 ), he suggests that "globalization is a process in which worldwide economic, political, cultural and social relations have become increasingly mediated across time and space". Obviously, this is connected to Cultural Flows as how different cultures and different social backgrounds have been somehow interconnected in another country based on their ideas of sport and post-modernism. With the fact that Lions supporters and squad travel 15,000km and still be able to somehow overpower and overwhelm the Australian spirit, that once again proves how globalization has taken major impact in the sport industry. 

This is a short clip of over 83,000 souls chanting the Lions. 

Photo Source: 
http://tourism.atdw.com.au/Multimedia/Original__9407547_WATC_2013_British__Irish_Lions_Tour_Emirates_Western_Force_v_British__Irish_Lions_LOGO.jpg

References:
Rantanen, T (2005), "Theorizing media and globalization", Media and globalization 2005, Sage Publications, London, pp. 1-18.

I'll just leave this here

Source: http://bhaque.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Blog-meme-2.0.png

Introduction

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening Ladies & Gentleman!

My name is Rio (like Rio Tinto, Rio de Janeiro, the movie RIO - about the bird).

Currently I'm studying Bachelor of Arts with a major in Media & Communication at Deakin University in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

There are many reasons why I created this blog, one of them is to explore further for what does Globalisation really means to everyday people and how it affects us in so many ways. So each week, I will be uploading new topics and issues towards Media and Globalisation.

That's about it all. So bare with me because there are lots to cover in weeks to come. I do hope you enjoy your stay and thank you for your time for looking at my wonderful blog.

Thank you and come again!

Cheers.