Saturday, May 25, 2024

Saturday Good Reads - May 25, 2024


Matt Taibbi is the independent journalist who was part of the team that published the Twitter Files, exposing almost wholesale censorship at the major social platforms at the behest of the FBI and other federal government entities (euphemism for “the current Administration”). He operates Racket News, and he’s back at it, working with an organization called Undead FOIA. What they learned is that so called “anti-disinformation” programs, funded by none other than our tax dollars, have been put in place not so much to counter disinformation but to censor anything right of center, and perhaps even moderately left to far right of center, even if it’s not disinformation.  

A whole series of stories have been posted at Racket News:

 

Introducing the Censorship Files – Matt Taibbi.

 

FOIA Library: The University of Washington.

 

            Garry Kasparov Reigns from Aspen Institute Commission.

 

            “We Have Very Little Information about What Works.”

 

            “We Will Not Be Intimidated From Continuing Our Mission.”

 

            How the Intelligence Community Wore Down the Platform.

 

            Your Posts Replaced with “Dog Pictures, Quinoa Recipes, and Spots Scores?”

 

More Good Reads

 

Israel

 

The fight among the olive trees – Fin DePencier at The Spectator.

 

Israel Doesn’t Need Better ‘Hasbara’: It needs better friends – Richard Hanania at Tablet Magazine.

 

Decades of Denial: How Islamists Won the War Against Western Values – Amelia Adams at Clarity with Michael Oren. 

 

Why is Ireland rewarding Hamas? – Ian Doherty at The Spectator.

 

Culture

 

That Eerie Silence – Matt Taibbi at Racket News.

 

The Revenge of the Normies – Martin Gurri at The Free Press.

 

The Triumph of the Classical – James Stevens Curl at The Critic Magazine reviews The Language of Architectural Classicism

 

What My Soviet Life Taught Me about Censorship – Izabella Tabarovsky at Quillette.

 

Theology of Immigration – Brad Littlejohn at First Things Magazine.

 

My Failed Wild Garden and Inner Utopian – Eric Scheske at Front Porch Republic.

 

Poetry

 

At Melville’s Tomb – Joseph Bottum at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

Scripture as Poetic Sacrament – James Matthew Wilson at Public Discourse.

 

Campus Protests

 

Columbia’s Jewish Commencement – Michael Hoberman at Table Magazine.

 

American Stuff

 

Why Some U.S. Agents Are Contemplating Suicide – Joe Nocera and Michele DeMarco at The Free Press.

 

Faith

 

Christian Catholicity in a Digital Age – Samuel D. James at Digital Liturgies.

 

So What Happened to Jonah, and Why Does It Matter? – Michael Kelley at Forward Progress. 

 

Adam Poisoned Me – Stephen Steele at Gentle Reformation.

 

5 Notable College Commencement Addresses That Featured Faith – Clemente Lisi at Religion Unplugged.

 

News Media

 

From Paperboys to Algorithms: How Metrics Shape Modern Journalism – Brent Lucia at Far from Equilibrium.

 

Why Did Google Ban Winslow Homer? – Suzy Weiss at The Free Press.

 

Writing and Literature

 

Stories Hatch in Silence – Ann Kroeker at Story Hatchery.

 

Why Harlan Coben Decided Now was the Time to Bring Back a Beloved Character – John Valeri at CrimeReads.

 

How to Become a Writer – Ursula Le Guin at Literary Hub.

 

Heinlein’s Business Habits for Writers – via Harvey Stanbrough at Harvey’s (Almost) Daily Journal.

 

Once Upon a Time in the West (Ennio Morricone) – Steffi Vertriest



 Painting: Woman Reading to a Little Girl. Oil on canvas by Felix Vallotton (1865-1925)

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