Saturday, April 07, 2018

Where there is a smoke there is elephant in a room


Police raids over violent Hunter bikie war

Woods
In a section of Long Island woods known as a gang hangout, MS-13 marks its turf with “503,” the country calling code of El Salvador. The gang also has buried bodies in the woods. (Natalie Keyssar for ProPublica)

Sharing Henry's story

“If Henry is killed…” Those are the first four words in ProPublica’s harrowing story about a teen locked up in a New Jersey detention center.
seeds-and-diet
Few sources have more at risk than Henry in getting his story told — of a former MS-13 gang-banger who cracked in Long Island, writing a high school essay about the violent trap he was in, getting the help of a teacher and eventually authorities who promised him a spot in the witness protection program if he turned in fellow gang members.
HenryHe did. Then the U.S. reneged on its promise. ICE grabbed him and stuck him in a center with other, suspicious MS-13 members. Today, he is scheduled for a final hearing before an immigration judge, who will decide if he should be deported to his native El Salvador and face a threatened death sentence there.
We spoke with ProPublica immigration reporter Hannah Dreier and with Adriana Gallardo, who helped transform Dreier’s narrative into a separate, hard-hitting social story with Twitter cards, photos and Facebook videos of Henry’s texts. That full interview is here.
But first, welcome to the Poynter Morning Mediawire. Here are the stories that may affect your day:
 

Why do dictator and incompetent leaders fancy themselves to be inpirational public speakers ... Life is poetic inside the comedy of da death of Stalin ...


From governance to cinema, the Party is always at the forefront of innovation. Glory to @TheWrap for highlighting our excellence! #TheDeathOfStalin
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The Presidium sees no problem with the current political environment, but apparently Comrade @Aiannucci is having a difficult time writing comedy these days... #TheDeathOfStalin #NowPlayingNationwide

Elephant caught ‘smoking’ on camera leaves scientists baffled Independent. ??? Watch this video– what is going on here?
China needs more water. So it’s building a rain-making network three times the size of Spain SCMP


Are Lithuanians obsessed with bees? BBC


People are freaking out that Facebook’s Android apps collect call and text data — but Facebook says it got permission Business Insider 


BEWARE FORSAKING RULE OF LAW:  Talk about crime and societal breakdown . . .


I HAD BEEN RELIABLY 
INFORMED THAT THE SCIENCE WAS SETTLED: Scientists discover ‘new organ’ hiding in plain sight.


 Cascade of Lava, is a project by photographer Michael Shainblum captured several photos of lava pouring out into the ocean in Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii. The double rainbow one is just…

Shainblum also took some photos during the solar eclipse last year.

trinity chapel cambridge


Kim Jong Un Is Willing to Hold Summit With U.S., China Says Bloomberg. So much for China having no influence…

Too Many Experts Can Hurt Your Innovation Projects Harvard Business Review - Looks like overgeneralizing from a skewed sample. While I hate resorting to stereotypes, the reputation of doctors, even among doctors, is that they are generally risk averse and not very good managers (this may be partly a function of the intense academic demands resulting in them being less able to participate in organizations where you can observe how people behave in groups and develop some skill in navigating them). The pattern I have observed with “experts” in “innovation projects” is that they are most often geeks of some sort and are not able to identify with typical users, be they individuals or staffers in particular corporate roles. They are temperamentally willing to fool around with things that are novel precisely because they think novelty is fun, and so they perceive the behavioral cost of learning new things and having to change behavior as not even a cost but a benefit. By contrast, most mere mortals want things that work and are reliable and don’t want to change things unless there is a very compelling reason to do so.




FCW - March 28, 2018

It started off as $3 billion. Then it was $250 million. Ultimately, the passage of the fiscal year 2018 appropriations omnibus confirmed funding for the Modernizing Government Technology Act's central fund will debut at $100 million. "I think it is a good start," said former Federal CIO Tony Scott, "and while small compared to the size of the problem, it will allow for some projects to be funded and prove out the underlying concepts." In a joint statement, Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), MGT's co-sponsors, applauded the funding included in the omnibus. The $100 million, which covers the back half of the fiscal year, supports the Technology Modernization Fund, housed by the General Services Administration. Compared to the roughly $90 billion in governmentwide IT spend, much of which goes to maintaining existing systems, "it's a drop in the bucket, but it's a step in the right direction," said Mike Hettinger, a former Hill staffer and currently a lobbyist specializing in procurement and IT issues.