I actually did this storify right after the #beyondcomments event, but I’m pretty proud of it. So considering I did not get to do this assignment, and I already have this pretty sweet social media curated post, well…you get where I’m going with this. Without further adieu!

Am using Storify to narrate a protest in China last week. An important task to curate a story from the web and social media is fact checking, and source verification. Click the story here.

[disclaimer, this belongs in some kind of op-ed column/tirade in something like DigBoston]

I remember why I stopped reading the news.

And I also remember why I stopped writing about difficult subjects.

It is impossible (for me) to objectively state the absolute horrific crap that people do to other people.

And if/when I do read the paper or the news, I usually intentionally avoid the metro section. It’s… depressing. However, the recent article about ISIS and the enslaved Yazidi women was on the 5^th page of section A in the New York Times on Saturday and so there it was. Another nightmare happening in another part of the world.

Not only has yet another band of losers used religion to rape and pillage their way across a country, and justify those actions by some kind of opprobrious ‘fatwa,’ (oh yeah I’ll give YOU a fatwa, buddy!) or religious edict, but they are now forcing birth control on the enslaved women so that they can keep, well, raping them. Because in their religious code, the sacred text of some ancient and evidently morally corrupt persons, it says yes, you as a man can force sex on a non-believing female – until she becomes pregnant. Ah, but those sneaky ISIS terrorists! They’ve figured out not only how to torture but to Keep torturing one luckless half of a population in the name of God.

So, today’s question is, would it be worse to become pregnant by a twisted, feckless, brain-washed male and then be left semi-alone for 9 months locked in a room somewhere or is it better to have to be forced into a repulsive act several times a day? Hmmm. Maybe I’d fling myself over a fence too (like one woman did according to the NYT article –she survived). Although I have to tell you I may find some kind of stabbing implement and go after eyeballs when next shut.

I also remember why I stopped going to sunday school in my teenage years.  My upbringing was Episcopalian in the southern metropolis of Atlanta, Georgia. People went to church for social reasons, as well as spiritual. However, in the late 80s and early 90s, a ‘progressive’ strain of Episcopalian had started to outgrow its origins. Proponents were more like Baptists, those approached Biblical text more fundamentally than the ‘old school’ Episcopalians. I left soon after one of my mentors insisted all non-believers would sadly, but truly, end up in hell. Oh, and that women weren’t to speak in the church. See ya!

Yeah, so now I’ve done all this reading on social media and online about damaging and damning religion, and have given myself a rash. I’m enraged as usual. Again. But not like when I was 15 and angry at what Paul said to the Ephesians or when I was 25 and made myself literally ill by reading all the news on the Serbain war crimes. I am far more jaded now. And cynical. Hm, and maybe kinda hungry-

Is this why blueberries v chihuahuas makes the news? Because we.just.can’t.take.this.sh*t.

But seriously, the numbers of reporting kidnapping of women from the Yazidi region in Syria range from 4000 to 7000.  At least 1500 have been rescued by ransoms and a few amazing undercover individuals.

So, while Trump blows hot air and American Democrats fight over who is a better liberal candidate, some people have an every day hell that we cannot imagine. Or, if we do, sends us running to the nearest bar or therapist’s office.

Imagine this conversation by the water cooler tomorrow:

“No one deserves to get pregnant at the age of nine or 12, or be put into sexual slavery or sold. No one deserves that. It’s against humanity.” — Rozin Khalil Hanjool

Like, uh, yeah…wow

“Quran says the people who lose the capacity to use their brain, to see and hear the truth are worse than animals. All that the ISIS soldiers are doing is ‘haram’ (forbidden) and anti-Islamic”  World News By Day

Yeah, we think that too.

So, there Are women escaping,  (cue Charlize Theron, Jennifer Gardner and Xena), while far too few for my liking, the ones that have are powerfully demonstrating and lobbying to get their sisters, daughters and all Yazidis out of that giant mess of a hellhole. Here are a few heroines:

Nihad Bakarat Alawsi

and a very active Nadia Murad

there’s this awesome woman ( there wasn’t much to the source, but she gave me hope)

and most horrifyingly but defiantly, an 8-year-old girl who reportedly set herself on fire to stop the torture.

So, yeah, I hate reading the news. It’s horrifying.

But, these women that are ‘surviving’ after some of the worst, most horrific experiences on earth. They are brave, they are inspiring.

Maybe I will think of them for a second before the next time I comment on social media how much I like blueberry muffins. Maybe you will think of them before you comment on how offensive it is that your pupkins was compared to an inert pastry. Remember that some nightmares are very real. And some haven’t yet ended.

Find my article here.

(Submitted as an exercise in Motivated Reasoning and an example of how news claims need to be debunked and includes cherry-picked data.)

In news, we value truth, rigor, and awareness. These are unquestionable universals in modern society. In an information saturated environment, we are awash with perspectives, many of which are from under- or uninformed sources. The rise of the blogosphere has led to a proliferation of citizen journalism based on nothing but a singular perspective informed by nothing but confirmation bias and many times, radical views that no serious American would take seriously. And thanks to the “international” perspectives on life in the United States, the waters are further muddied with perspectives that aren’t even informed by an everyday experience in this proud country. Even worse, this has become fodder for the main stream media to feed off of. And so we’re left to the mercy of a media that stabs in the dark and makes claims largely based on indefensible sources.

The solution to this truly doesn’t lay in a messy conglomeration of independent voices vying for attention. What is needed is a combination of two things: a large, well-funded organization dedicated to producing relevant, up-to-the-minute news, and a voice that isn’t just an echo of every other media outlet; a voice that is controversial, as all truth tends to be in a world of media distortion.

We investigated the language that Fox News uses the most frequently in the context of truth. Do these issues matter to you?

A focus on what really matters: the Fox News Truth Language

Do you value a focus on family? What about a focus on the victims of crimes? How about God and love? As evidenced by this data, these are some of the core topics that Fox News cares about.

In the top list of words from the New York Times, instead you’ll find “democratic”, “headline”, “twitter”, and “celebrity”. Not quite a balanced and valuable view of the universe.

Now let’s look at the blogs that one might be tempted to retreat to given the lame stream media’s pathetic attempts to mislead and beguile you. The first thing you will notice is that the word “internet” is front and center. (The word “Google” isn’t far behind. Talk about a misleading liberal media super-power.) This is a community mainly interested in talking about themselves. For those of us who live in the real world, this should be a red flag. We need attention on real issues that affect real people.

You’ll find the word “opinions” high up on this list as well. That’s great if you’re not interested in objective reality and facts, but who has time to dawdle around in a sea of opinions when we have jobs to work, families to shop for, and taxes to pay??? You’ll also find “emotions”. This is now how one defines a valuable source of news.

So as it turns out, despite all of the attacks on the Fox News, they really do represent a valuable source of news, and an alternative to a media landscape gone awry. The data doesn’t lie. The liberal media does.

>.<

Today you have been handed a ballot. And you get to vote for something which, according to Thomas Jefferson, is even more important than your government.

Your news.

Please view the full project on FOLD:
How you can influence the media – and 10 reasons why you should

Team Cindy and Naomi:

On fold: Argument in favor of limiting the vote to the educated

I decided to do this week’s assignment using a photo essay publisher called Exposure. Here’s the link: https://ags.exposure.co/let-climate-change