2020 reading goals are a thing…

…and my thing this year is currentness. At the turn of the year the idea occurred to read only new books for a year. As a sort of experiment – and to just take a sample of what the current state of (literature/publishing) seems like to me.

So far in 2020, only The Heap–released on the 8th of January and authored by Sean Adams–has piqued my interest (review coming). I’ve finished titles I started in 2019 — Samantha Power’s Education of an Idealist (review coming) and (making progress on) Matthew Walker’s Why We Sleep— but it turns out I don’t really get excited about a lot titles being dropped each Tuesday. Which makes today a big day.

THREE books were released today that I’m interested in; the two above and American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins. My parameters for this year’s reading are essentially: (a) did the book get released in the last 14 days? -and- (b) do I think it might be worth reading? As of today I feel a lack of reading material is no longer imminent, and look forward to future publications in 2020.

why i’m here

Last year, a fair number of Facebook employees objected to management’s decision to treat targeted, civic misinformation campaigns as just another source of revenue for their platform. Some 250 or so employees challenged the view of their company’s CEO, signing their names to the statement, which ultimately found its way into the public eye. The authors of the letter raise good points and I believe they are right on nearly every count.

Where they err is in the twice-repeated line, “this is [still] our company.” Clearly it is not. Instead, the company is owned and managed by those prioritizing revenue to the detriment of a well informed electorate. Equally clearly, this moves Facebook even further away from a company I want to be affiliated with.

Which is among the reasons why I’m here: because I no longer want to be there. I’d rather not be a part of the mass increasing the platform’s gravity. The most compelling reason to be on the platform these days is because most everyone else is. That, and it is free – but both seem too weak as incentives these days.

What else should be done when something is free and not worth the expense?

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An Impeachment Trial began today in the Senate. I saw none of it. The folks at Lawfare recently delivered Podcast Episode 495 outlining what to expect in terms of the pomp and ceremony at the start, as well as the procedural and political machinations to follow; I will assume that everything has happened so far as they described they would. I am much more interested in the outcome than I am in the play-by-play commentary.

Currently reading: The Heap. Sean Adams
Currently listening to: Charles Mingus’ Mingus Ah Um.