News – Page 13 – Jeremiah Stanghini

When the Wisdom of the Crowd Fails

A couple of weeks ago the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (otherwise referred to as Obamacare) was constitutional. This ruling did not come without controversy because, as with most cases brought before the Supreme Court, there were people who disagreed with the ruling.

More to my point though, is that there was controversy because of the lack of agreement amongst the news agencies as to what the ruling was in the first few minutes that it was released. If you like political humor/satire, then you’ll definitely want to check out The Daily Show’s bit about the mixup. Interestingly, one of the best rundowns of what took place on the morning that the decision was released comes from the same website that is being hailed for its coverage of the decision.

As you’ll have seen if you watched the coverage, read about it, or clicked through to the clip from The Daily Show, CNN was the first agency to report on the decision — but — their reporting was wrong. Immediately after CNN reported the (wrong) decision, those with access to technology began perpetuating the wrong news to their social networks. Shortly after CNN incorrectly reported the news, SCOTUSblog put forth their interpretation and the subsequent major news agencies fell in line reporting the right decision. Even after this happened, CNN and FOX News continued to report the news incorrectly.

This situation brings to light what I see as a potentially major negative externality of our ability to connect with hundreds of millions of people in an instant (read: internet). As soon as the reports from CNN and FOXNews came out, everyone began telling everyone else the wrong news. This spread quickly. When the right information was thrown into the mix, it became hard for people to know who was right. Were CNN and FOX News right because they had it first? Were SCOTUSblog and other news agencies right because they took the time to read more than the first couple of pages?

Regardless of who’s right and wrong in this situation, it left people confused and unsure of whom to trust. Different news agencies were telling them different things (about the facts). Now, this happens on a daily basis, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating.

I’m beginning to wonder about the wisdom of crowds and it would appear that I’m not the only one. I came across an interesting article this weekend from David Leonhardt called, “When the Crowd Isn’t Wise.” There were some interesting points made by Leonhardt, particularly as they relate to how some folks have begun to trust the “wisdom of crowds” as showcased by websites like Intrade (an online trading exchange website where people can bet on events in a similar fashion to how people can buy/sell stocks).

Some folks think that the internet can be viewed in the same way (wisdom of the crowd). I’m not sure how I feel about this, especially when a well-respected news agency like CNN that’s been operational for over 30 years can make a mistake like this and set the internet ablaze. I like the last paragraph from Leonhardt:

After several years in which the market was often celebrated as a crystal ball, the Supreme Court ruling was a useful corrective. The prediction-market revolution, like so many others, initially promised more than it could deliver. But its not as if the old order was working particularly well.

Blogging at Genuine Thriving: Moving in a New Direction

When I first started this blog over a year and a half ago, my intention was to write ‘articles’ that could — theoretically — appear in magazines or newspapers. Of course, the quality of the writing and some of the series I’ve written (Who I’m Following on Twitter, among others) might render the articles unacceptable for print. As time passes and the amount of demands on my time grows, I’ve found it harder and harder to sit down and write a well thought out article. That’s not for lack of ideas, but more for lack of time.

This past week, I came across a couple of articles/posts on the internet (here and here) that made me rethink my ‘strategy’ for writing here at Genuine Thriving. Both of these posts were motivated by the recent “self-plagiarizing” by Jonah Lehrer. There seems to be opinions from both sides (he did vs. he didn’t) and others who think that the argument should be framed completely different.

As a result of some of these revelations, I thought I might change the way I write here at Genuine Thriving. Instead of waiting until I am able to dedicate enough time to write a well-thought out article, I might just write more posts similar to the one of my more recent posts with a mishmash of ideas. More accurately, I think I’ll begin doing a post whenever I get an idea.

Instead of waiting to fully cogitate on the idea, I’ll simply post the idea and my initial thoughts about the idea. In this way, the blog will serve more as a storehouse of ideas rather than a collection of seemingly well-thought out articles. I think by doing this, there will be a lot more posts in the coming future. I’m looking forward to this new switch and I hope you will, too.

Twitter: Who I’m Following, Part 8

It’s been quite awhile since I last did a post in my series of ”Who I’m Following” on Twitter. In fact, it’s been 6 months! That’s almost half as long as I’ve been participating on Twitter. In looking at the some of these old posts (see below) of who I’m following, I seemed to have unfollowed a number of folks. I wish I had kept a list of the people I’ve unfollowed, so I could offer reasons as to why I decided to unfollow some folks. Briefly, I can say that sometimes the reason is because the person isn’t very active on Twitter. Other times, it’s because I became frustrated with the amount of negativity (sometimes in the form of the person retweeting “trolls” or people being unnecessarily negative in the form of ad hominem attacks). I most certainly won’t be able to get to all the new people I’m following on Twitter (it’s approximately doubled!), so look for a few of these posts in the coming weeks (or months).

If you missed any of the earlier posts in this series, here they are:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

Here we go!

@bigthink: Big Think aims to, “help you move above and beyond random information, toward real knowledge, offering big ideas from fields outside your own that you can apply toward the questions and challenges in your own life.”

@wired: Wired is the digital home of Wired Magazine and it acts as a daily technology site.

@Austan_Goolsbee: Goolsbee is a Professor of economics and Economics at the Booth School of Business (University of Chicago). He is also the former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.

@R_Thaler: Thaler is a Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the Booth School of Business (University of Chicago) and the co-author of Nudge.

@brainpicker: “Brain Pickings is a human-powered discovery engine for interestingness, culling and curating cross-disciplinary curiosity-quenchers, and separating the signal from the noise to bring you things you didnt know you were interested in until you are.”

@changemakers: “The latest in innovation, social entrepreneurship, and how you can make a difference. Why? Everyone Can Be a Changemaker.”

@Ashoka: “Ashoka is an international citizen-sector organization that is leading the way to an Everyone a Changemaker World.”

@rickmercer: Mercer is a Canadian comedian and political satirist. He’s an alumnus of This Hour Has 22 Minutes and is currently the host of the Rick Mercer Report.

@jbarro: “I write on fiscal and economic policy issues at all levels of government. Areas of particular interest for me include tax policy, entitlements and public employee compensation.”

@mattyglesias: “Matthew Yglesias is Slate‘s business and economics correspondent. Before joining the magazine he worked for ThinkProgress, the Atlantic, TPM Media, and the American Prospect.”

@lifehacker: “Lifehacker curates tips, tricks, and technology for living better in the digital age.”

@TPCarney: “Timothy P. Carney is the Washington Examiner‘s senior political columnist.” Carney is also a prominent conservative voice.

@TheStalwart: Joe Weisenthal is the Deputy Editor Of Business Insider. “He previously was a writer and analyst for Techdirt.com, and before that worked as an analyst for money management firm Prentiss Smith & Co.”

@bobraeMP: Bob Rae is the current (interim) Leader of the Liberal Party (of Canada). He was previously the leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party.

@mediaite: “The site for news, info and smart opinions about print, online and broadcast media.”

@AmbassadorRice: Susan Rice is the US Ambassador to the United Nations. According to Wikipedia, she is not related to Condoleezza Rice.

@joshrogin: “Josh Rogin reports on national security and foreign policy from the Pentagon to Foggy Bottom, the White House to Embassy Row, for The Cable.”

@abumuqawama: “Andrew Exum is a Senior Fellow with the Center for a New American Security,” and “Abu Muqawama is a blog that focuses on small wars and insurgencies in addition to regional issues in the Middle East.”

@SlaughterAM: “Princeton Professor. Director of Policy Planning, U.S. State Dept 2009-2011. Foreign policy curator.”

@librarycongress: “We are the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts in our collections.”

@TheScienceGuy: “‘Bill Nye the Science Guy’ is an American science educator, comedian, television host, actor, mechanical engineer, and scientist.”

@BillCosby: “Bill Cosby is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist.”

@levyj413: “Jeffrey Levy is the EPA Director of Web Communications, Co-Chair of the Federal Web Managers Council, and Gov’t 2.0er.”

@Ed_Husain: “Ed Husain is a Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of ‘The Islamist.'”

@dandrezner: “Daniel W. Drezner is professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.”

@realjohngreen: I just wrote a post about John Green’s Crash Course in World History. Check it out!

@AmazingPics: This Twitter feed regularly posts some of the best photographs. You’ll want to see these.

@kellyoxford: Kelly Oxford’s current Twitter Bio: “Writer. Designed to make you feel like everything is going well. I am your Perestroika.”

@Randazzoj: “Joe Randazzo is currently the editor of the satirical newspaper, The Onion.” As you might think, his tweets are often sarcastic (and funny).

@KenJennings: Of Jeopardy! fame. He’s written a bunch of books, including Maphead. His tweets are often intended to be funny.

@sethmeyers21: “Seth Meyers currently serves as the head writer for Saturday Night Live and hosts its news parody program segment Weekend Update.”

@anjeanette: I found Anjeanette’s twitter feed as a result of this article. “The aspiring actress isnt afraid to let the sarcasm fly and sometimes thats just the sort of thing you need to pop up on your screen.”

@acarvin: “Senior strategist at NPR. Online community organizer since 1994. Former director of the Digital Divide Network. Writer. Photographer. Dad.”

@AJELive: “Breaking news alerts and updates from Al Jazeera English, a 24-hour news and current affairs channel.” By now, you should all know that I’m a big fan of different perspectives (here or here).

@brianstetler: A really good person to follow if you enjoy things in “meta.” Stetler reports on TV & Media for the New York Times.

@johmaeda: “President, Rhode Island School of Design, RISD, College, Museum, USA, 1877, Laws of Simplicity, MIT, Design, Art, Business, Technology, Life.”

@OMGFacts: As you might expect, this Twitter feed specializes in tweets that are facts that might “knock your socks off.”

@BuzzFeed: “BuzzFeed is a website that combines a technology platform for detecting viral content with an editorial selection process to provide a snapshot of “the viral web in realtime.”

@timoreilly: “Founder and CEO, O’Reilly Media. Watching the alpha geeks, sharing their stories, helping the future unfold.”

@jayrosen_nyu: “I teach journalism at NYU, direct the Studio 20 program there, critique the press and study new media. I don’t do lifecasting but mindcasting on Twitter.”

@daveweigel: Dave Weigel is a political reporter for Slate. While his main focus is politics, his tweets are often laced with humor.

@markknoller: Mark Knoller is a CBS News White House Correspondent. Similar to Stetler, he sometimes comments on what other networks are reporting.

I’m well past my self-imposed 1000 word limit, but I wanted to begin to squeeze a bunch more feeds into one post (because I have a lot to make up in this series). As always, I welcome your suggestions in the comments or tweet me!

Today (and Yesterday), It Snowed in Washington, DC

This morning, I woke up to some light flurries in the Metro DC area, but what I really want to talk about is yesterday’s snow-filled day. I spent most of the day in the office and the blinds weren’t open. I happened to leave the office and catch a glimpse of the outside — snow — lots of it. This is my first time living in the DC area and everything I’ve been told about living here is that snow is (not common). Having grown up in Canada and spent a great deal of time living in places where there are 4 seasons, the snow didn’t bother nor affect me, really — or so I thought.

As I understand the importance of physical exercise to maintain a clear-functioning mind, I make a point of working out. I also had a few errands that I needed to take care of. I started the car and then dusted off the snow, which was rather wet and heavy, before pulling out of the driveway and heading down the road. I live in a place where I have to drive on a two-lane road for about 5 miles (in nearly all directions) before there are lanes with which I can legally pass someone.

About 1.5 miles into the trip, I came upon a school bus. I know that school buses typically will go near (or less) than the speed limit on this particular two-lane road, so when the school bus was going ~30mph on a 45mph road, I still didn’t think too much of it. I made it to the end of the road, turned onto a road with two lanes (in both directions), and accelerated to the speed limit, before engaging cruise control. After about 2.5 miles, I “caught up” to traffic.

It wasn’t that there was a lot of volume, no. It was just that everyone was going particularly slow. At first, I grew a little frustrated with this, which is understandable. I grew up in the Greater Toronto Area. Heck, we even once had to call in the military to help with the snow (twice!) because there was so much of it. Suffice to say, I’m comfortable driving in snow. Moments after my frustration grew, it subsided. I quickly realized that these people were probably nowhere nearly as comfortable as I was driving in the snow. Once I arrived at this state of compassion, my frustration disappeared. I eventually was able to move around the crowd and drive at the speed limit, but that’s not the point I want to highlight.

The first point, compassion. By putting myself in the shoes of the other drivers, I fostered a sense of compassion for their situation. Not only compassion, but empathy. I, too, (of course), had once never driven in snow and had to learn how a car behaved in the snow.

The second point, perspective. I would gather that a fair number of the drivers out on the roads in DC yesterday were not expecting to get into their cars after work to be greeted by a snowstorm. When they were, there could have been any number of reactions. Some may have cursed the snow because they wanted to make it home (or to the sports lounge) to see the college football national championship. Some may have wanted to race home to see their family. For others, the snow presented an opportunity to assume a new perspective on their situation. As I said earlier, snow is not a common occurrence in this part of the world. Weather has a way of reorganizing our priorities.

Twitter: Who I’m Following, Part 7

Finally, finally, finally. I have caught up my ”Who I’m Following” series to the actual people I am following on Twitter. Youll notice a decided conservative-flavor to these Twitter accounts because I noticed I was following a number of liberal folks. As a result, I wanted to make sure I was getting the viewpoint from the conservative side, too. If you missed any of the earlier posts in this series, here they are:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

So, without further adieu, here are the people I have followed since my last post.

@jonahlehrer: Jonah writes on psychology, neuroscience, and the relationship between the humanities and science. You can find his columns/posts on the Wall Street Journaland WIRED Science.

@sciam: Scientific American has been covering science news for the last 165+ years. A reputable source of science news for certain.

@UtneReader: The best of the alternative press are digests of independent ideas and culture. Not right, not left, but forward thinking

@Change: the worlds fastest growing platforms for social change, empowering millions to start and join campaigns for social change in their communities.

@counterparties: Counterparties is a curated snapshot of the best finance news and commentary. It combines what we [Felix Salmon and Ryan McCarthy] find interesting, overlooked, and important.

@jonasTSN1050: Jonas is one of my childhood friends (!) and he covers the Toronto Maple Leafs for TSN Radio 1050.

@RobLowe: Rob Lowe played one of my favorite TV characters, Sam Seaborn, and often tweets about an assortment of things including politics and Parks and Recreation.

@melissa_e_brown: I went to high school with Melissa she’s one of the smartest people I know. Shes just finishing up her MBA at Tuck and who knows what wonderful things shell contribute to the world.

@richardbranson: Richard Branson is probably one of the most successful serial entrepreneurs — ever.

@danecook: A hilarious stand-up comedian. One of my favorites from him was “Vicious Circle.”

@RepresentPledge: One of the most important documentaries — bar none. If you haven’t seen it, go see it — right now.

@LeafsBB20: Brian Burke is the current GM for the Toronto Maple Leafs and he’s got a reputation for disruptive tweets.

@odemagazine: “An international magazine for Intelligent Optimists about the people, passion, & possibilities changing our world for the better.”

@McCainBlogette: Meghan McCain is the daughter of former Republican Presidential Nominee, John McCain.

@JustinWolfers: He is a very reputable economist and has a number of appointments at universities and think-tanks.

@indecision: “Politics, election news and other jokes. From your friends at Comedy Central.”

@ThisIsSethsBlog: Seth Godin is one of the most influential people in business today, especially with regard to marketing.

@wsjgraphics: “Information graphics and data from The Wall Street Journal.” I’ve previously written about my affinity for data (in visual form).

@JenSiebelNewsom: Jen is the writer/director/producer of the documentary I mentioned earlier, Miss Representation.

@NelsonMandela: This is the Twitter account for the Nelson Mandela Foundation… “contributing to a just society by promoting the values, vision, and work of our founder.”

@sdwillia: I went to university with Shane and he currently works in the non-profit industry. He’s sure to do great things!

@AncientProverbs: This Twitter account provides proverbs and quotes. I do enjoy a good quote.

@DavidBrooksNYT: He is… “a political and cultural commentator who considers himself a moderate and writes for the NYT.”

@ReihanSalam: “I write in the hope and expectation that people read people with whom they disagree to challenge their settled views. Suffice it to say, this isnt generally the case, but Im happy to continue behaving as though it is, as it is true of enough people to justify the effort.” (from here)

@KarlRove: Ken Wilber, a modern-day philosopher in his own right, has said that Rove has read Integral Theory.

@RameshPonnuru: “Ramesh Ponnuru is a senior editor for National Review, where he has covered national politics for 15 years.”

@NYTimeskrugman: I have written about following Paul Krugman before. Seems like I unfollowed him and refollowed him.

@gallupnews: “Gallup news and tracking data on politics, business, wellbeing, and the world.”

@DeepakChopra: Do I really need to tell you who Deepak Chopra is? Just in case I do, go here.

@sbnation: A sports network of over 300 blogs maintained by part-time writers who love their team.

@JoeNBC: Joe Scarborough is the co-host of Morning Joe and is a former Congressman from Florida.

@biologyofbelief: This is the official Twitter account for Bruce Lipton not to be confused with @brucelipton.

@HamOntCakeLady: Erin Andrews, (one of my sisters-in-law), is affectionately known as Hamilton, Ontario’s Cake Lady.

@cbellatoni: Christina Bellantoni is the Politics Editor for PBS NewsHour. She was also a fellow at the IOP this past fall.

@michaelbd: Michael is a Politics Editor for Business Insider and is a noted conservative voice.

@davidfrum: Frum is a former economic speechwriter for George W. Bush and clearly, is a noted conservative.

@TEDNews: “ALL the news from TED: TEDTalks, TED Conferences, the TED Prize and more.”

@McKQuarterly: “The business journal of McKinsey & Company. Our goal is to offer new ways of thinking about management in the private, public, & nonproft sector.”

@HarvardBiz: “The latest Harvard Business Review blog posts, Management Tips of the Day, Daily Stats, and more.”

And there you have it. You’re all caught up on the the accounts I’m current following on Twitter. As always, if you have any recommendations (based on the flavor of the people I follow in Parts 1 through 7), feel free to leave me a note in the comment section of tweet me.

Twitter: Who I’m Following, Part 6

Its been just about two months since I last updated the list of people Im following on Twitter. I thought today might be a good day to give a brief update. Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll try to catch “all the way” up to who I’m following. In case you missed the earlier posts:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

So, without further adieu, here are the people I have followed since my last post.

@LouiseHay: Louise Hay is the author of one of the most the most famous self-help books of all time – You Can Heal Your Life. It lends credence to the idea that your thoughts can affect your biology.

@GreatestQuotes: “A collection of quotes that will challenge, motivate and inspire you to be the best you can be.” Curated by Sinead Duffy, Personal Development Trainer & Coach.

@BuddyRoemer: He is a former Governor & Congressman and is currently running for President in 2012. He has bee notoriously held out of Republican debates, but has some intriguing ideas.

@CNBC: CNBC is a cable television business news channel. They are dedicated to covering business headlines and financial markets.

@levarburton: LeVar Burton played the lovable character Geordi La Forge from Star Trek: The Next Generation. He’s also a big proponent of literacy.

@justinptrudeau: Justin Trudeau is the son of the famous Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau. Justin has gone on to become a politician in his own right.

@nycole_turmel: Since the passing of Jack Layton, Turmel has filled in as the interim leader of the NDP. Shortly, the NDP will pick their leader.

@Dahlialithwick: Dahlia is a Canadian (eh?) and mostly tweets about issues regarding law and the court system.

@Number10gov: This is the account of the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron. I’m not sure, but I think the account will stay with the Prime Minister’s office, regardless of party.

@melindagates: Melinda Gates is the co-founder and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is the largest wealthiest charitable foundation.

@JimCarrey: Jim Carrey was born in Newmarket, Ontario (I lived there when I was younger!) and is one of the funnier comedians of today.

@TheLewisBlack: Lewis Black is a stand-up comedian and is a regular on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. His tweets are often funny.

@wordspy: “Word Spy is devoted to ‘lexpionage,’ the sleuthing of new words and phrases.”

@Steele_Michael: Michael Steele is a former RNC Chairman. He is a contributor to MSNBC (often representing the conservative viewpoint).

@anamariecox: She is currently a Washington correspondent for GQ and often has interesting commentary on the political debates.

@fourthofjulie: Julie is one of my friends from SVSU. She currently works for the American Red Cross.

@DalaiLama: The Dalai Lama is the most influential figure in Tibetan Buddhism. His “reign” has lasted over 60 years!

@MaddowApp: This twitter account is aimed at iPad users, but during “The Rachel Maddow Show,” it often tweets links to articles of which Maddow is referring.

@joestiglitz: Stiglitz won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001 and is a very well respected academic.

@AliVelshi: I used to watch Ali back when he was on ROBTv (Report on Business Television). I always found him to be very intelligent.

@gatesfoundation: From the Twitter account: “We work to help all people lead healthy, productive lives, focused on health, poverty, and opportunity.”

@aaker: I listened to a lecture of Prof. Aaker (look for it in my upcoming post in the series “What’s On My iPod, Part 6.”)

@SSIReview: The Stanford Social Innovation Review: Informing and inspiring leaders of social change.

@BillGates: Bill Gates doesn’t tweet very often, but when he does, he often, “shares cool things he’s learning.”

@jack_welch: Jack Welch is one of the preeminent businessmen of our time. It’s great to be able to follow his commentary via Twitter.

@EconBizEd: Tweets to articles in The Economist that have to do with news or insights for business education.

@ECONdailycharts: I like to view information by way of charts, so it’s great that The Economist has an account dedicated solely to charts.

@EconBizFin: Tweets from this account are from The Economist and have to do with business, finance, or economics.

@ModeledBehavior: This is the Twitter account for a blog and there are often tweets about the economy, business, and finance.

@Humblebrag: This account retweets Humblebrags. As is made clear on their about statement, “Humblebrags are different from brags.”

@LaMonicaBuzz: Paul La Monica tweets — often — about stocks (what’s up, what’s down) and the economy. He’s quite a barometer for the market.

@Richard_Florida: Richard writes about social and economic theory. He’s current a Professor at the University of Toronto.

@Nouriel: Roubini is a rather famous economist. In fact, he predicted the collapse of the US housing market and the worldwide recession.

@felixsalmon: Felix Salmon is a noted finance blogger for Reuters. He’s won awards for his scientific reporting.

@GOOD: “GOOD is the global association of individuals, businesses, and nonprofits powering what works.”

As I said earlier in this post, I’ll do my best to catch up to the updated list of who I’m following in the next couple of weeks. As always, if there’s someone you think I might like to follow, leave me a comment, send me an email, or tweet me.

Twitter: Who I’m Following, Part 5

It’s been almost 3 months since I last updated the list of people I’m following on Twitter. I thought today might be a good time to begin to update that list. In case you missed the earlier posts:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

So, without further adieu, here are the people I have followed since my last post.

@joshrogin: Rogin covers national security and foreign policy for Foreign Policy (magazine). He often tweets his column and other things that come up in the news that have to do with national security or foreign policy.

@MHarrisPerry: Melissa Harris-Perry is a professor of political science at Tulane University. She guest hosts for Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell from time-to-time. She’s also writes for The Nation.

@DylanRatigan: Dylan Ratigan is the host of The Dylan Ratigan Show. He also, somewhat famously, went on quite a rant about the political system in the US.

@SeumasMilne: Naomi Klein has high praise for Milne. In her book The Shock Doctrine, she said that Milne turned The Guardian‘s comment section into a “truly global debating forum.”

@Thom_Hartmann: He hosts a progressive radio show that has nearly 3 million listeners a week. Interesting to me, before being a nationally syndicated radio host, he was a psychotherapist.

@RBReich: He served in the Ford Administration and as the Secretary of Labor in the Clinton Administration. Currently, he’s a professor at Berkeley.

@donnabrazile: In 2000, Donna Brazile became the first African-American woman to lead a presidential campaign (Gore). She’s currently a professor at Georgetown University.

@politifact: Politifact is a project where the staff, “fact-check statements by members of Congress, the White House, lobbyists, and interest groups.” This is very helpful in judging the validity (or truth) of some of the things said by people involved in politics.

@NationalDebt: “The National Debt Clock ran out of digits so start following the debt daily on Twitter. (+) or (-) means up or down from previous day’s debt total.”

@BigBang_CBS: This is the Twitter feed for the popular TV series, The Big Bang Theory. I rather enjoy the characters and so too, does famous astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.

@Mason_SOM: I’m currently (2011-2013) a graduate student at George Mason University in the School of Management (MBA program). This is the twitter feed for Mason’s school of management.

@NickKristof: Nick Kristof is a two-time Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the New York Times. He’s known for “bringing to light human rights abuses in Asia and Africa.”

@wolfblitzercnn: Wolf Blitzer is CNN’s lead political anchor and is often seen as the host of CNN’s The Situation Room, which, in its current iteration, airs from 4pm to 6pm weeknights on CNN.

@jeremyscahill: Scahill is the national security correspondent for The Nation. He also wrote Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army.

@David_Gergen: Gergen is a Senior Political Analyst for CNN. He’s also the Director for Public Leadership and a Professor of Public Service at the Harvard Kennedy School.

@Revkin: Revkin writes the Dot Earth blog for the New York Times. “Dot Earth tracks relevant developments from suburbia to Siberia.

@Eugene_Robinson: Robinson is a Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the Washington Post. He’s also an MSNBC analyst and author.

@davidaxelrod: David Axelrod was the chief strategist for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. Afterwards, he remained a senior advisor to President Obama.

@TheCharter: “The Charter for Compassion is the result of Karen Armstrong’s 2008 TED Prize wish.” Check out the video of the TEDTalk.

@ladygaga: I’m sure you recognize the name (Lady Gaga). I decided to follow (and subsequently look into her message) when I first clicked onto her twitter profile and found that she was quoting Osho.

@Pres_Bartlet: President Bartlet is the fictional character from the television series: The West Wing. Whomever tweets from this account captures the essence of how President Bartlet would tweet, in my opinion.

@NassimHaramein: Nassim Haramein is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. I highly recommend checking out his work. You can start with his website, but if you can, I’d get a copy of “Black Whole.”

@TheFix: Chris Cillizza writes for The Washington Post and is a contributor to MSNBC. He often live-tweets the debates or other important political events.

@chrisrock: Chris Rock is one of my favorite comedians, especially when he does bits like this one that speak to the dysfunctional nature of some of the things in this world.

@johnlegend: I was first introduced to John Legend’s music during my undergraduate degree. I can be quite particular about the music I listen to, but for the most part, I like Legend.

@neiltyson: Neil deGrasse Tyson is one of the more accessible scientists of today. He has made many appearances on talk shows (including The Daily Show) and even a guest spot on “The Big Bang Theory.”

@BillyCrystal: My first introduction to Billy Crystal was in the movie When Harry Met Sally… A great movie, indeed. Interesting fact: Billy Crystal has hosted the Oscar’s the second most number of times (currently 8, soon to be 9, which is well behind Bob Hope with 18).

@farrellybros: The Farrelly Brothers have made some hilarious movies through the years (written and/or directed). I wonder if The Three Stooges (movie) will prove to be as successful.

@MyInfographics: This twitter account focuses on tweeting infographics, particularly those from their own site, which is a collection of the best infographics from around the web.

@hillharper: Hill Harper is best known for playing a character on CSI, but I initially followed him because of his inclination to empowering tweets.

I’m nearing my self-imposed word limit of (1000 words), so I’ll end this post for now. It’s worth noting that I’ve gone through and “purged” some of the accounts I’ve followed in the past (including some of the accounts in this post) and subsequently, added a slew of new accounts. Look for some of them in Part 6 of this series. And as always, if you have suggestions, leave a comment, send me an email, or tweet me.

Remembering What’s Important to You: Lessons from Hurricane Irene

With much of the East Coast preparing for the potential effects of Hurricane Irene, I can’t help but think of what an opportunity this could be for many people. I keep hearing the figure 65 million people being quoted as how many that are potentially affected by this storm. That’s just about 20% of the population of the US (think: 1 in 5 Americans). That’s a lot of people. I would call this an opportunity for some because of the chance these people will be given to reflect on what’s important to them. Let me explain.

Many people go about their daily schedule without much thought for what happens outside of this schedule. This is not to say that there’s anything wrong with this, but just to say that this is common for most people. They get up in the morning, go to work, come home, watch TV, go to bed, and repeat. Unless there is something that shakes up this routine, many people will continue on in this way for a long time. Layman’s terms of Newton’s 1st law of motion says that an object in motion tends to remain in motion. In this instance, the object is the person fulfilling the routine. Unless something interferes with this “motion,” the motion will continue.

The prevailing opinions about events like these tend to revolve around words like disaster. While this viewpoint is understandable, I would hasten and suggest reading the wise words of “We’ll See.” My point in raising the idea that an event like Hurricane Irene can be seen as an opportunity for some is that this shake-up, this wrench in their otherwise “object in motion,” could allow someone to see that they aren’t necessarily doing what it is that they want to be doing. Maybe they’re working at a job that they aren’t passionate about. Maybe they don’t know what their passion is. Maybe they aren’t spending enough time with their spouse and kids. Maybe they don’t have a spouse and want one. Maybe they wish they could have travelled to Europe, Asia, South America, or Africa. Maybe they wish they could have travelled to (or within) North America.

There are any number of things that could be realized as a result of an act of nature such as this one. Not everyone has the willpower to take a break (or unplug) from their routine to see the things that they wish they were including in their lives. Maybe it’s the synchronicity of an event like Irene that some people need to be able to see the things that they’re missing out on in their life. While it may not seem like it at first, this is wonderful! Remember that there are those of us who, even when the wrench obstructs our object in motion, will condemn the wrench for wrecking our routine rather than take a step back to examine what the wrench’s purpose might be.

The News Will Happen With Or Without You

Times Square, New York, NYC, Manhattan, downtown new york, ny, There are many people (myself included, sometimes) who get caught up in the news. “Did you hear what happened? No what happened?” In the age of 24-hour news networks, the way in which the news in conveyed can be very compelling. Meaning, it’s not necessarily the content that’s attracting us, but the vessel by which it is delivered. Because of this compelling nature, we can sometimes (myself included), be so compelled as to follow the news — religiously.

I have nothing against the “news” as factual messages being conveyed, but I do think that sometimes, one can take their knowing the news a little bit too seriously. What do I mean by this? Have you ever met someone who couldn’t go 2 hours without getting their update from CNN, FOX News, or MSNBC? Again, there’s nothing inherently wrong with people wanting to be informed, in fact, I’d encourage it, to a point, of course. (See my post about baby chicks following a mother hen for more on that.) Staying informed can be an important way to know what’s going on in the community, the state/province, the country, and the world.

Do you ever get the sense that sometimes, these people (or you?) feel that if you don’t follow the news, something really big might happen and you’ll miss it? While that might happen, when “big” things happen, you don’t necessarily need a news outlet to tell you about it. Yes, if you were watching the news, you’d know the second it happens, but nowadays (with everyone following the news by the second), they are bound to bring it up in conversation. “Hey, did you hear about the tsunami in Japan?” “Did you hear about the earthquake in Virginia?” These types of things get talked about.

Unless it’s your job, (and maybe even if it is your job), I’d bet that you probably could use a break from the news. About a month ago, I wrote a post asking, “When was the last time you unplugged?” I wrote that post particularly for those of us that have a habit of staying very connected to our electronic devices. I’d encourage you to go back to that post and substitute electronic devices for news. The same basic message still applies. Taking a vacation from the news is sometimes just as important as taking a vacation from your electronics (and usually goes hand-in-hand).

Taking this break from the news may just clarify for you what type of news you want to be consuming. You may find that after taking a break from the news, you really don’t want to get Google! News updates for every time an article is written about Sarah Palin or every time someone mentions the US Department of Defense. You may find that you want to start reading more positive news sources like Ode. Most importantly, I hope that by taking a break from the news that you realize — it never ends. The spigot of the news is a powerful force… a never-ending source.