Jeffrey Pomerantz

NPR’s Morning Edition ran a story about Joseph Nga, which is just amazing. He’s from Cameroon, he’s bilingual, he has two Masters degrees already and is working on his third, an MLS. He’s working a total grunt job at LC and he wants to be a director of a research library. Someone give this man a job, please? And pay him well, for heavens sake. Good grief, if only he.. Read More

I love conspiracy theories. I think I like them so much because they’re absolutely the opposite of science; they can never be falsified. Conspiracy theories are compelling to me because they’re self-sustaining and impervious to outside influences; they’re intellectual black holes. Myths Run Wild in Blog Tsunami Debate, from the NY Times On an “authority by community” note, this passage was of particular interest: Online discussion can evolve toward truth,.. Read More

I read this story the other dayand it’s been kicking around in my head since. I can’t decide if I think this is a demonstration of why mainstream media is useless or necessary. Blogs Provide Raw Details From Scene of the Disaster, from the NY Times On the one hand, mainstream media outlets will have what, one or a few correspondents in any given nation? I mean, honestly, how many.. Read More

God, I love my hometown. “Boston is for people who can grasp a mental map,” said Gail Sullivan, a Jamaica Plain architect and planner, talking to City Weekly last April. “It’s not for sissies.” And just because I’ve never included an image in a post yet, here’s the most feared map in Boston: You said it, we heard it, here’s proof, from The Globe (what, like there’s another one?)