Joey's Reading for January 15, 2017

I have too many books out from the Hamilton Public Library at this time, and this means my online reading is getting scaled back.

Here's some of my more interesting online readings of the best few days.

  1. John Yemma of the Christian Science Monitor is always a good read - seriously, I can't think of the last time I didn't feel rewarded reading his posts. This week, he introduces to the cover story about besieged Christian communities of the Middle East:

Recent years of war and unrest have pushed Christians in the Middle East to the brink. In particular, the brutal reign of the Islamic State group has battered the once-substantial Assyrian Christian communities of Iraq’s Nineveh Plains, as Kristen Chick details in a Monitor cover story (click here) ... as these minority communities fade, the Middle East becomes culturally poorer.

  1. Introducing Indivisible a radio show with rotating hosts that is a partnership between US heartland public radio stations, WNYC, and The Economist. The show will air during the first 100 days of Donald Trump's presidency. More details from Current: WNYC, MPR to launch call-in show with rotating co-hosts
    I'll be tuning in.

  2. Jason Allen on Wednesday's school closure meeting (accommodation review in bureaucratic double-speak). Needless to say, it was a disaster, which is what we should expect when people are asked to participate in engagement theatre against their own interests.

Staff attempted to offer opening remarks, lay the ground rules for the discussion, and present complex data on too small slides. However, they quickly lost control over the process as participants began to stand and ask questions. Without being provided a microphone, attendees instead shouted their concerns from the floor.

  1. San Antonio independent news site The Rivard Report goes non-profit. I can certainly relate to many of the feelings and challenges expressed by the site founder.

  2. Why open data needs to be “Citizen literate”. Andy Dickinson's insightful commentary for the open data community reminding us that open data must work for general citizens.

  3. WYNC's Freakonomics Radio this week is an interview with Trevor Noah. (I have yet to warm up to Noah's anchoring of The Daily Show) A good listen, here's WYNC's description of the show: "The Daily Show host grew up as a poor, mixed-race South African kid going to three churches every Sunday. So he has a sui generis view of America -- especially on race, politics, and religion -- and he's not afraid to speak his mind."

  4. Erik Wemple, Washington Post media critic, and one of his many posts on the infamous Trump press conference. Guess who’s now accusing others of spreading ‘fake news’

  5. Society of Professional Journalists - on Trump Dossier - To Publish or Not to Publish. A good discussion of the ethical considerations of Buzzfeed's publishing of the unverified information in the infamous Trump dossier.