Baltimore Riots - There was much coverage last week regarding the riots that occurred in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray while in the custody of the police, the lack of information revealed by investigators. As is usually the case, I think, the riots aren't really in response to that particular incident, rather that incident was the igniter for a community that has had a history of dealing with oppressive experiences. I read much about these over the past week. The three articles I thought the most compelling - "Camden Yards and the Baltimore Protests for Freddie Gray" at by Dave Zirin at The Nation, "As Riots Follow Freddie Gray's Death in Baltimore, Calls for Calm Ring Hollow" by Ta-Nahesi Coates at The Atlantic (all of Coates stuff is incredibly thought-provoking) and "Few Conservatives Take Police Abuses Seriously" by Conor Friedersdorf. I don't necessarily agree with everything here (the issue seems much too complicated for that to be realistic), but I found each of these to be compelling and worthy of consideration.
"Facebook is Eating the Internet" by Adrienne LaFrance - I have grown more and more disillusioned with Facebook, as I have written before. This piece hits on a few of the points why - Facebook's continued tinkering with their algorithm, controlling how a user sees information in his/her News Feed; and the fact that it is so dominant that nearly half of adults who use Internet get their news solely from Facebook (you get an echo chamber, you get an echo chamber, everyone gets an echo chamber). When it comes to the echo chamber issues, it could be said that it applies to all social media (which gets me thinking about all of that as well). But Facebook directs so much of the traffic on the web when it comes to news, and it changes its algorithm to continue to be involved as "the" portal for how people access the web, that it makes me a bit cautious thinking about who is in charge of information (and thinking we should all be a bit more aware that dynamic.
A couple quick hitters:
- Bernie Sanders announcing his candidacy for President (while understanding that realistically he has little shot, hoping he can force the country to have genuine conversations about inequality that is being avoided).
- A short argument from Ken Rosenthal about unifying baseball rules and adding the Designated Hitter to the National League (I liked his argument, there's a lot of truth to the advantage AL teams get in team-building from having that DH spot. I also think the fact that a DH is used in the minor leagues, even for minor league teams of NL teams, and in college, is a sign that having pitchers "hit," isn't best for the game going forward.),
- Finally, this interview with Admiral James Stavridis (former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO) by The Millions, is absolutely wonderful. One quote from Admiral Stavridis - "I think, in the end, we solve global problems not by launching missiles, it’s by launching ideas. So as a tool for understanding the world and for understanding how you can change the world, I find fiction incredibly important." A longer read, but very much worth it.
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