Catalyst Radio: Carol's Ferals equips cat lovers with education and tools to help ferals

Feral cats mate three times a year, and every cat can spawn thousands of feral kittens over the course of just a few years. Carol Manos of Carol's Ferals joins us on air today to talk about where the problem of feral cats comes from and how she and volunteers are humanely trapping and fixing them, then releasing them back into the wild. Tune in to hear Carol debunk myths around the "free kittens" box and what ferals look like.

The song on the show is "Cat Confidence" by Monte Farber and Amy Zerner with original music by Luigi G. Colarullo.

MEDIA ANALYSIS

Hewlett-Packard lab finds that popularity and influence do not correlate in social media
A recent finding by Babbage, Hewlett-Packard's social media lab, found that while it is easy to measure popularity in social media by the number of subscribers on Twitter, that does not necessarily equate to influence. Influence is defined as how often subscribers click on links that a user shares or resyndicates the original message and shows that for news organizations, it's one out of every 318 that is rebroadcasted. Politicians enjoy an even lower ratio.
[More: The Economist]

16 hours of closed circuit footage released
In spring of this year, election protests in Moldova took over the Twitterverse and subsequently became big news around the world. Moldovans were protesting the election results, claiming corruption, while the government cited the incident, especially with how quickly it spread on Twitter, as provocation by another country. Last week, 16 hours of closed circuit footage from government cameras were leaked. 
[More: Center for Future Civic Media, Romanian Center for Investigative Journalism]

FCC tries for out compromise for net neutrality
Since a ruling earlier this year that the FCC does not have any legal purview over Internet traffic, it has been trying to reassert its authority over net neutrality. After much quibbling between mobile and cable companies and Internet services such as Google and Skype, the FCC has announced a compromise that requires mobile and cable companies to disclose how they manage wired services such as cable and DSL and cannot quarantine certain areas of the web. They have more leeway to control wireless services like mobile networks as they see fit.
[More: Associated Press]

CALENDAR

Urban Lights
6 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 10 in Heartside (S. Division)
If you missed the UICA's Holiday Artists Market, the Heartside district will have a similar spread of artists on Division tonight. Shoppers can browse for one-of-a-kind gifts created by local artists while exploring Grand Rapids' growing arts district.
[More]

The Bloom Collective's winter open house
Noon - 5 p.m. on Satuday, Dec. 11 at The Bloom Collective (617 Davis NW)
The Bloom Collective will be providing hot beverages and treats as visitors browse the new zine library and other media materials. A potluck and discussion is planned for 3 p.m., where attendees will talk about recent political oppression in the U.S, specifically in the midwest where organizers have been targeted by the FBI.
[More]

Carol's Ferals adoption event at Centerpointe Mall
11 a.m. - 4 p.m. on Saturdays, Dec. 11 and Dec. 18 at Centerpointe Mall (28th and Beltline)
Carol's Ferals will be holding an adoption event tomorrow outside of the Old Navy at Centerpointe Mall. They hold an adoption event every fourth Saturday after the holiday season.
[More]