61 Matching Annotations
  1. Jan 2019
    1. I still find myself stumbling when I try to talk to people about my experiences — as if I am once again standing before a stranger, punching keys on a machine I don’t understand, in a vain attempt to find a useful phrase that might bridge an ever-widening gap between me and him.
  2. Dec 2018
    1. A lot of membership pros will think, “All I am trying to do is get this guy to write a check for $1,200 to join, that’s all I want him to do. I don’t care that he is going to be a member for 20 years. That’s nice, but none of that matters unless I get him to write the first check,” Stackpole says. “And so, folks, especially marketing and membership sales folks, sometimes get frustrated with this idea [LTV], because it doesn’t seem to have any relevance to the immediate goal.” The traditional LTV calculation looks like this: (dues + nondues revenue) x average tenure = LTV But Stackpole says associations have greater ability today than ever before to track and assign a dollar value to nonmonetary engagement like committee service, knowledge contribution, grassroots advocacy, or anything else the association deems important. Adding those elements to the equation can reveal the long-term worth of an association’s most engaged members.
  3. Nov 2018
    1. When centralization arises elsewhere in an apparently decentralized system, it comes as a surprise or simply goes ignored.

      I feel like this same thing goes for decentralized economics (so-called "free market" capitalism), the media, and of course the internet.

  4. Oct 2018
  5. Nov 2017
  6. Sep 2017
    1. the first president whose entire political existence hinges on the fact of a black president

      This is essentially the thesis of this first section.

    2. The insult intensified when Obama and Seth Meyers publicly humiliated him at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in 2011.

      This statement is further supported by the fantastic reporting of Joshua Green in Devil's Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Storming of the Presidency. Buy it here: https://www.amazon.com/Devils-Bargain-Bannon-Storming-Presidency-ebook/dp/B0728KHFD5

    3. hoary

      hoar·y ˈhôrē/Submit adjective

      1. grayish white. "hoary cobwebs" synonyms: grayish-white, gray, white, snowy, silver, silvery; More

      2. old and trite. "that hoary American notion that bigger is better"

    4. But that is the point of white supremacy—to ensure that that which all others achieve with maximal effort, white people (particularly white men) achieve with minimal qualification.

      Nailed it.

    5. “When you’re a star, they let you do it”

      Finally, someone addresses the part of this statement that should cause actual outrage and condemnation, even if Coates fails to touch on the exact wording that turns his words into an admission of guilt. Grabbing people by the pussy is not scandalous, as long as they consent to being grabbed. It doesn't matter what someone wants you to grab, touch, or do to them, as long as they actually want you to do it. But Trump's own words reveal that his actions constituted sexual assault because, as he said quite blatantly and freely, "I don't even wait. When you're a star, they let you do it."

    6. white men

      Again, not disagreeing with Coates. But the term cuck has hardly been reserved for white men (or white people) alone.

    7. White supremacy has always had a perverse sexual tint.

      There is a fantastic and harrowing segment in the book Chokehold by Paul Butler that delves into all the sexual manifestations of whiteness and white supremacy. Definitely worth the $17. Here's the link to buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/Chokehold-Policing-Black-Paul-Butler/dp/1595589058

    8. his ideology is white supremacy, in all its truculent and sanctimonious power.

      I don't disagree that his personal ideology and/or perspective of the world is rife with white supremacy and its trappings. But I feel like this doesn't paint a complete picture of Trump's worldview, which undoubtedly includes infusions of egotism, narcissism, capitalism, neoliberalism, and other megalomaniacal or destructive ideologies.

    9. Their individual triumphs

      It took me a few readings of this paragraph to really catch what he's saying here. This seems like one of his responses to the question, "Are we going to tear down statues of Washington and Jefferson next?"

  7. Aug 2017
    1. NPR’s Story Lab, an agitating body within the organization meant to aid in the internal development of new shows and training resources

      This is a great idea to counteract bureaucratic lag in a lot of situations.

    1. We should empower those with different ideologies to be able to express themselves.

      Yes, but not when those same ideologies have proven time and time again to be nothing more than a rejection of research, compassion, and historical facts.

    2. SWEs

      What's an SWE?

    3. Biological males that were castrated at birth and raised as females often still identify and act like males

      [CITATION NEEDED]

    4. clear biological causes and links to prenatal testosterone

      [CITATION NEEDED]

    5. They’re universal across human cultures

      [CITATION NEEDED]

    1. “While we do everything we can to be as transparent and objective as possible, there are pockets of America that see us as biased,” Sharockman said.

      There should be a "prove it" button or something that shows the user/highlights the relevant quotes, figures, data, etc. in the sources used to make the claim.

  8. Jul 2017
    1. It contained no uniform commitments and no enforcement provisions.

      So did the genocide and torture conventions, but that doesn't mean they aren't important or beneficial.

    2. I don't think the West needs to apologize -- or pay -- for having invented the steam engine.

      There's a bit more to our industrial dominance than the invention of the steam engine.

    1. The Iranian-Russian strategy is a nightmare for the entire Sunni Middle East. And for us too.

      Why is this a disaster for the United States?

    2. moderate and Western-allied, led by Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, Egypt and Jordan

      What is moderate about Saudi Arabia?

  9. Dec 2016
    1. Devine and colleagues (Devine & Monteith, 1993; Plant & Devine, 2009) argue that the motivation to break the prejudice habit stems from two sources. First, people must be aware of their biases and, second, they must be concerned about the consequences of their biases before they will be motivated to exert effort to eliminate them. Furthermore, people need to know when biased responses are likely to occur and how to replace those biased responses with responses more consistent with their goals.

      Necessary steps and conditions for addressing implicit bias.

    1. As this election fades into the distance, explanations for the outcome will become gentler and more opaque.

      True

    2. After coming into contact, for just minutes each day, with two more Latinos than they would otherwise see or interact with, the riders, who were mostly white and liberal, were sharply more opposed to allowing more immigrants into the country and favored returning the children of illegal immigrants to their parents’ home country

      This is incredible and seriously troubling. Do I do this?

  10. Aug 2016
    1.  Even if this is true for non-profits (which I think is debatable), being a for-profit news organization does not preclude it from being mission-driven too. New Jersey’s news landscape is dominated by hyperlocal digital sites in towns all across the state, all of which are for-profit. These sites are community anchors — vital to the information needs of residents throughout New Jersey — and are not “in it for the money” either.

      They may not be in it for the money, but that may change if they ever become successful businesses. They're not in it for the money because there is no money. Once that changes they will be beholden to the same fiduciary imperative and principles of financial sustainability that all successful corporate entities are bound by. The goal of an organization in a market environment is to 1) become and remain sustainable, and 2) increase shareholder profits. That will never change as long as the market dictates the conditions of an organization's continued existence. The only way to remedy this is to remove public services like journalism (and others) from the market altogether.

    1. The only thing that separates journalists from partisan communicators is impartiality.

      Yeah, okay.

    1. Are Serial listeners in it for the important examination of the criminal justice system? Or are we trawling through a grieving family's pain as a form of entertainment? These are questions much more easily posed than answered.

      Both, and we've been doing it for years every time we watch a famous trial on TV and show the defense/prosecution arguing their case in front of a judge and jury. Those arguments are far from objective, and attorneys have no obligation to refrain from introducing "evidence" that may be misleading or incomplete.

    1. One of the most classic rules of journalism — the reporter is not the story; the story is the story — seems to be impossible for Serial to follow.

      Is this really a rule worth following? Why?

  11. Jun 2016
    1. shield laws

      New Jersey has a Shield Law, which helped protect NJ journalist Frank Cahill of Parsippany Focus from being compelled to reveal his sources: http://parsippanyfocus.com/2014/09/25/judge-rules-parsippany-focus-publisher-protected-by-shield-law/

    2. [I]f the newsman is called upon to give information bearing only a remote and tenuous relationship to the subject of the investigation, or if he has some other reason to believe that his testimony implicates confidential source relationships without a legitimate need of law enforcement, he will have access to the court on a motion to quash, and an appropriate protective order may be entered. The asserted claim to privilege should be judged on its facts by the striking of a proper balance between freedom of the press and the obligation of all citizens to give relevant testimony with respect to criminal conduct. The balance of these vital constitutional and societal interests on a case-by-case basis accords with the tried and traditional way of adjudicating such questions,

      Balancing test for determining whether or not a reporter is compelled to reveal the identity of her sources.

    1. The reporter's job should be, as fully as possible, to conduct interviews and seek information on the record

      All

    1. Exposing the Invisible spoke to him recently about this project and he describes how he found visuals to describe deportation of migrants that, for example, had outstayed their visa, a process that happens late at night using hidden infrastructure that was impossible to document. However, by using a range of techniques such as first-hand accounts, aeroplane spotting websites and working with an architectural studio to visualise these hidden spaces, he was able to generate a rough outline of the process.

      Could be applied to immigration reporting project and related efforts.

    2. What I try to do next is to ask them where exactly the photograph is rejected and where the border of rejection ends, defining the distance. For me, this is the disruptive element that forces the requester and the rejecter out of our established positions. It also allows ‘the photographed’ to draw their own perimeter of secrecy, be it legally established or imaginary. This element of the work is very much a performance. One in which both the photographer and the photographed stumble and look a bit surprised.

      Interesting tactic.

    3. Create a ‘map’ using the white space where you can place the company, institution or person you want to obtain information on. Explore the different options in the left hand menu to show the connections between companies, institutions, boards of directors and people. You can work on different visualisations at the same time.

      Mapping instructions & tips

    4. To access a list of worldwide registers, have a look at here.  Frequently used by investigative reporters for diverse investigations, the Panama registry of companies is a great tool for journalists and activists interested in issues pertaining to corruption and tax avoidance. LittleSis is a free database of who-knows-who of business and government. They define themselves as the grass-roots watchdog network connecting the dots between the world's most powerful people and organisations. OpenCorporates is a database which aims to gather information on all the companies in the world. The database currently offers information on 50 million companies in 65 different jurisdictions. Information that can be found on OpenCorporates includes a company's incorporation date, its registered addresses and its registry page, as well as a list of directors and officers. TheyRule is a website offering interactive visualisations of the biggest companies in the US, helping you see who has the power in each company and what the ties are between individuals at the top of corporations. TheyRule also provides data relating to various institutions and foundations, shedding light on who is hiding behind lobbies and think tanks in America.

      Great corruption watchdog tools and resources.

    5. Solving this puzzle usually requires a good deal of digging and fishing around through databases and records to peel back layers upon layers of fake companies that serve as fronts for criminals to secretly privatise their assets.
    6. Regardless of how complex these systems are and what levels of anonymity are established and maintained, money leaves a trail.

      Follow the money

    7. ICWATCH is a project created by Transparency Toolkit, a toolkit that provides a set of tools to collect data from various open data sources

      Google this later

    8. Share Lab, the Investigative Data Reporting Lab

      Good potential candidate for local/national partnership?

    1. obsolete podcasts

      Really?

    2. Authors aren’t privileged anymore because everyone writes commentary somewhere and everyone’s commentary shows up some place

      GOOD authors are still privileged.

    3. There seems to be no way out except deeper inside the sinkhole or to go cold turkey from the sound of our own voices.

      Or you could just read a book instead.

  12. Dec 2014
    1. what they did to terrorists and people who actively wished to do America harm

      "Of the 119 known detainees, at least 26 were wrongfully held and did not meet the detention standard in the September 2001 Memorandum of Notification (MON). These included an "intellectually challenged" man whose CIA detention was used solely as leverage to get a family member to provide information, two individuals who were intelligence sources for foreign liaison services and were former CIA sources, and two individuals whom the CIA assessed to be connected to al-Qa'ida based solely on information fabricated by a CIA detainee subjected to the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques. Detainees often remained in custody for months after the CIA determined that they did not meet the MON standard. CIA records provide insufficient information to justify the detention of many other detainees." – Page 12.

    2. skimming

      Shocking...

    3. the very people who put their lives on the line to give them the freedom to stand tall upon said high ground without fear of attack.

      You can't be serious. You really can't. In what way were the CIA interrogators "put[ting] their lives on the line" in any way? Furthermore, their actions, which were in violation of both the U.S. Constitution and international law, did nothing to preserve anyone's "freedom." If anything, they've actually hurt the United States' moral standing in the world and set us up to lose the "freedom" that you so desperately cling to.

    4. Without access to the 6 million CIA documents they studied I can’t disagree, though I feel no compulsion to assume its validity either.

      From the way you talk about the findings in the report, it's painfully obvious that you've never actually read the Executive Summary. The report, which began as a bipartisan effort but became overwhelmingly Democrat once the Republicans began resigning from the Committee as the facts continued to come out. Bipartisanship aside, however, the report is bursting not only with internal communications and memos, but emails and statements that came directly from CIA and intelligence officials themselves. We're not talking about some second-hand account of what was said. They've included direct quotes and statements (as heavily redacted as they were).

    5. Surely with modern medical technology we can begin to quantify pain somewhat, but it will always remain subjective to the individual receiving it.

      "In the first half of 2003, the CIA interrogated four detainees with medical complications in their lower extremities: two detainees had a broken foot, one detainee had a sprained ankle, and one detainee had a prosthetic leg. CIA interrogators shackled each of these detainees in the standing position for sleep deprivation for extended periods of time until medical personnel assessed that they could not maintain the position. The two detainees that each had a broken foot were also subjected to walling, stress positions, and cramped confinement, despite the note in their interrogation plans that these specific enhanced interrogation techniques were not requested because ofthe medical condition ofthe detainees. CIA Headquarters did not react to the site's use of these CIA enhanced interrogation techniques despite the lack of approval." – Page 101.

      There is absolutely no question that being forced to endure this type of treatment qualifies as "severe pain." Anyone who pretends otherwise is either lying or unfit to make such an analysis.

      Here's another gem from the report: "CIA records indicate that one of the detainees, Mustafa al-Hawsawi, was later diagnosed with chronic hemorrhoids, an anal fissure, and symptomatic rectal prolapse." – Page 100 (emphasis added).

      Yes, you read that correctly: RECTAL PROLAPSE. I don't know what kind of porn you watch, but it takes quite a bit of effort to cause an anal prolapse – way beyond what any sane or rational person would consider "severe."

    6. Yet we seem ready to allow for the subjective opinions of those who merely read about it to define it for us. Why?

      You're right, we shouldn't rely on the "subjective opinions" of those who have no experience in the medical field. Instead, here is a press release from the organization Physicians for Human Rights, which includes an expert analyis of the CIA Torture Report from qualified medical professionals.

    7. More importantly however is why should it matter? Recall that we are committed to killing the enemy. They are no longer valued as human to us. Why are we allowing their feelings to impact how we destroy them?

      Because it's inhumane to treat people like that and, more importantly, our entire system of international law and order is (theoretically) based on a set of preremptory norms, from which no derrogation is permitted under any circumstances whatsoever. The principle is known as jus cogens, and it includes an absolute prohibition on heinous crimes like slavery, genocide, aggression, and torture, among others. I certainly don't want the men and women I served with to be subjected to those types of tactics (or worse) if they're captured, and if we use them then we have to grounds to ask (or express outrage when) other nations or entities use them against us.

    8. Until that point violence will occur and if you don’t want your tribe wiped out, the most efficient way of ending the aggression is with wiping out the enemy.

      The tactics used by the CIA and other intelligence officials, not to mention those used by many servicemembers in the process of interrogations, don't keep us safe.

      "As the Study describes, prior to the attacks of September 2001, the CIA itself determined from its own experience with coercive interrogations, that such techniques "do not produce intelligence," "will probably result in false answers," and had historically proven to be ineffective. Yet these conclusions were ignored." – Page 3.

    9. When a country commits to war

      The war was illegal under international and U.S. law.