This is a well-written post with many excellent suggestions for journalists covering homelessness in the media.
A journalist covering the homeless beat must focus on solutions, not just problems.
–Beat: How to cover the homeless, rushanthik.com, March 5, 2017; written by Rushanthi Kesvnathan
The Rights Track is an impressive podcast. Interview questions are well done, conversations are professional and the topic is well worth listening to.
The Rights Track: Sound Evidence on Human Rights
The Rights Track on Twitter
Amazon.com
Of By For is a documentary about the American political system. I enjoyed the film and recommend watching it…..but…..Yes, there’s a but…
Frankly, the interview conducted, the things said, and the history illustrated is BOTH important and frequently covered. I found myself thinking that I’ve seen another version of this movie a dozen times before and I can’t remember the names of any of the other films.
Then Dan Rather spoke.
Dan Rather made some very heartfelt comments about the loss of a spine within the American press. He commented on the loss of checks and balances that the press is, theoretically, supposed to provide and the fact that ‘reality television’ can be done without consequence while true hard journalism comes with the potential of facing a lot of very hard, expensive and potentially career ending consequences – even with the journalistic work is good, professional, ethical and legal.
This reminded me of Puerto Rico’s “most trusted journalist” as covered on the Daily Show: La Comay on SuperXclusivo. Perhaps we need more puppets asking questions and fewer journalists acting like puppets.
Of By For resources:
Amazon.com
This quote is a good example of the creepy…not scary, but creepy…nature of this book. Some of these stories may stick with you in rather unsettling ways:
“He had read books, newspapers, and magazines. He knew that if you ran away you sometimes met bad people who did bad things to you; but he had also read fairy tales, so he knew that there were kind people out there, side by side with the monsters.“
–M Is for Magic
This collection of stories was inspired by children’s stories, fairy tales and the like. However, this is Neil Gaiman – the stories are excellent, but they are not for children.
Amazon.com
I usually don’t post from my cellphone, but these quotes stood out:
“We shouldn’t have to explain that the punishment for even the most heinous crimes in our country is not a public execution without a trial.”
“We shouldn’t have to explain why we fight back when we are attacked.”
–This Is Why We’re Mad About the Shooting of Mike Brown , Jezebel.com, written by Kara Brown
Amazon.com
I find articles like this one fascinating because I rather enjoy mulling over the possibility of owning my own self-sufficient farm – and all of the decisions that go along with that lifestyle.
The first, and most important, challenge in starting up a farm of any kind is deciding what will be raised or grown on the land. My family owned and operated an apple orchard. This is a far cry from cattle (of any kind) but an easy jump to Maple or fruit trees (of any kind), or even crop-based farming.
Yet, running a farm and running a self-sufficient farm are two very different things; which brings me back to this article: John Seymour was a well known and well-respected expert in self-sufficient agriculture. In these quotes, pulled from his 1976 book The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It, he presents a nice illustration of many key items to be considered when establishing a self-sufficient homestead.
Quotes:
“Cow or no cow? The pros and cons are many and various for a self-sufficient homestead.”
“If your garden gets plenty of cow manure, your soil fertility will continuously increase, along with your yields.”
“But a serious counter-consideration is that you will have to take on the responsibility of milking a cow…Milking a cow doesn’t take very long — perhaps eight minutes — and it’s very pleasant if you know how to do it and if she is a quiet, docile cow — but you will have to do it.”
“Bear in mind that practically any garden crop that you grew for yourself would be good for the animals too, so any surplus crops would go to them. You would not need a compost pile — your animals could be your compost pile.”
–Start a 1-Acre, Self-Sufficient Homestead, Mother Earth News, by John Seymour