Prophets of the MEdia Dragon

Goulash will be served at Havel Avenue

The true cost of the royal wedding that the rich and powerful don’t want you to see The Canary
WHAT A TEACHER CAN DO: Winnie Yeung wanted to help her struggling student who wanted to tell his story. Now the world can read about a 17 year old who fled war twice — first in Iraq, then in Syria — to find peace in Canada. Via the Guardian’s excellent Upside section, which we’ve written about

When Spies Hack Journalism

Scott Shane – The New York Times – “For decades, leakers of confidential information to the press were a genus that included many species: the government worker infuriated by wrongdoing, the ideologue pushing a particular line, the politico out to savage an opponent. In recent years, technology has helped such leakers operate on a mass scale: Chelsea Manning and the WikiLeaks diplomatic cables, Edward Snowden and the stolen National Security Agency archive, and the still-anonymous source of the Panama Papers. But now this disparate cast has been joined by a very different sort of large-scale leaker, more stealthy and better funded: the intelligence services of nation states, which hack into troves of documents and then use a proxy to release them. What Russian intelligence did with shocking success to the Democrats in 2016 shows every promise of becoming a common tool of spycraft around the world…What does this mean for journalism? The old rules say that if news organizations obtain material they deem both authentic and newsworthy, they should run it. But those conventions may set reporters up for spy agencies to manipulate what and when they publish, with an added danger: An archive of genuine material may be seeded with slick forgeries…”

“This update to NIST Special Publication 800-37 (Revision 2) responds to the call by the Defense Science Board, Executive Order 13800, and OMB Memorandum M-17-25 to develop the next-generation Risk Management Framework (RMF) for information systems, organizations, and individuals.

What’s The Novel For The Social Media Age? ‘Fahrenheit 451’

Ramin Bahrani (who may not be objective, as he has directed a film adaptation of the Bradbury book): “In the novel, he imagined a world where people are entertained day and night by staring at giant wall screens in their homes. They interact with their ‘friends’ through these screens, listening to them via ‘Seashells’ – Bradbury’s version of Apple’s wireless AirPods – inserted in their ears.”

 Flannery O’Connor Biography Reveals the Famously Misunderstood Catholic | Lifestyle

Paul Engle was the director of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop  when the young O’Connor walked into his office asking to be admitted to the program. Engle writes: 

She came out of the red dirt country of Georgia. She walked into my office one day and spoke to me. I understood nothing, not one syllable. As far as I knew, she was saying, "Aaaaraaaraaarah." My God, I thought to myself, this is a retarded young girl. Then I looked at her eyes. They were crossed! Finally, I said, excuse me, my name is Paul Engle. I gave her a pad -- believe me, this is true -- and said would you please write down what you’re telling me. And she wrote, "My name is Flannery O’Connor. I’m from Milledgeville, Georgia. I’m a writer."

O’Connor, after all, grew up on a farm, and once taught a chicken how to walk backwards

O’Connor, after all, grew up on a farm, and once taught a chicken how to walk backwards.

Roger Scruton defends wine I call it a critique.  Here is another relevant take