The Idea Farm's Blog

  Monday’s Supreme Court showdown in NetChoice v. Paxton and Moody v. NetChoice will determine whether states can forbid social media companies from blocking or removing user content that goes against platform rules. The state laws at issue also allow individuals to sue tech companies for alleged violations. The Florida and Texas laws are loosely written, but officials from both states say the laws will keep social media sites from unfairly muting conservatives and others. Social media platforms have insisted for years that they don’t discriminate against right-wing speech. Signed in 2021 by Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida’s SB 7072 prohibits tech platforms from suspending or banning the accounts of political candidates in the state, with violations carrying steep possible fines of up to $250,000 per day. It also allows individual social media users to sue platforms if they believe they have been unfairly censored or “deplatformed.” The Texas law, signed in 2021 by Gov. Greg Abbott, m...

Poetry has been used as a glorious expression of sentiment, an avenue for creative idiom, and a of sharing thoughts and emotions throughout the ages. Today, through online communities and blogs, a collection of stanzas can unite people all over the world. Whether you’re a aficionado of classic poetry or more into the modern age, here are blogs and communities perfect for taking pleasure in verse. Deep Underground Poetry This free platform lets you share and publish poems, lyrics, short stories, spoken word and performance poetry. You can also meet other poets, writers and spoken word artists, get critique and improve your writing, take part in poetry competitions and host your own. Every comment you make has a link to your own submissions. Leaving interesting, helpful critique is a great way to get more people to read your work. My poetic side My poetic side was created for the poetry community. Select the "Community" tab to read full poems written by other community members ...

Kevin Palomino - Journalism Scholarship Winner WASHINGTON, Dec. 14, 2023 -- The National Press Club, the leading professional organization for journalists, has chosen  Kevin Palomino  of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, as the recipient of its Lewis Scholarship for Spring 2024. The scholarship provides housing and a $4,000 stipend to support a student journalist of color interning at a news media outlet in Washington, D.C. Established in 2022, The Lewis Scholarship was founded by the family of former Washington correspondent Robert "Bob" D.G. Lewis. It is awarded to one undergraduate student journalist of color each fall, spring, and summer semester. Students must secure a journalism internship in Washington, D.C., to be eligible, along with  other requirements . "The Lewis Scholarship provides me with an opportunity to grow as a journalist," Palomino said. "During my internship this spring, I plan to use my lived experiences as a first-generation DACA student to diver...

  Rather than 'speaking' about using a trauma-informed approach with children in foster care, " The Seven Core Issues Workbook " aid parents in understanding what that means and how to better implement those techniques in daily life. It's the perfect vehicle to understand their own elements of loss and trauma and strengthen their parenting knowledge about children experiencing trauma and loss. It's also a great resource for those anticipating fostering or adopting, and for parents already on their life-long parenting trip. Therapists will find the workbook useful in working with clients or as weekly assignments so clients can better understand what they bring to their parenting. This workbook is a companion to the authors' original book, " Seven Core Issues in Adoption and Permanency ." It's intended as a hands-on tool to guide families through the healing process as they learn what they bring to the parenting experience so that they have a d...

  A sweet love story about the twilight years. If Haruf (who died November 30, 2014 at age 71) hadn't titled his previous book Benediction (2013), that might have been perfect for this one. It's a slim novel of short chapters, and it would seem to bring the cycle of books about small-town Holt, Colorado, to a close. This isn't a dark night of the soul but one filled with hope and with second chances. Here's how it opens: "And then there was the day when Addie Moore made a call on Louis Waters." Addie is 70, a widow, and she was close with Louis' late wife. She and Louis don't really know each other that well, other than as nodding acquaintances, but she has a novel proposition: she wants him to sleep with her. Not to have sexual relations, but just to have someone with whom she can talk and share and make it through the night. He appreciates the risk she's taken in making the request, and he agrees, though on their first night he's filled wit...

The United Nations is holding a memorial ceremony at the General Assembly in Manhattan, New York on January 27, 2023, and other memorial events are scheduled around the globe. “The story of the struggle to save tens of thousands needs to be a part of the chronicles of the people of Israel,” said David Gur, 97, one of few survivors still alive. “It is a lighthouse during the period of the Holocaust, a lesson and exemplar for the generations.” Gur is the author of the memoir, “Brothers for Resistance and Rescue” where he recounts how the Jewish underground broke him out of the central military prison in a rescue operation. Brothers for Resistance and Rescue -  Gefen Publishing  House Hungary was home to around 900,000 Jews before the Nazi invasion. Its government was allied with Nazi Germany, but as the Soviet Red Army advanced toward Hungary, the Nazis invaded in March 1944, to prevent its Axis ally from making a separate peace deal with the Allies. Over the next 10 months, as ...

Instagram is Helping You Focus With Quiet Mode Instagram is launching ‘Quiet mode’ to help people focus, and to encourage people to set boundaries with friends and followers. Once enabled, you won’t receive any notifications, your profile’s activity status will change to ‘In quiet mode’ and we’ll automatically send an autoreply when someone DMs you. Instagram users have told them that they sometimes want to take time for themselves and are seeking ways to focus at night, while studying, and during work or school.  With quiet mode one can simply customize hours to fit your schedule and once the feature is turned off, we’ll show you a quick summary of notifications so you can catch up on what you missed. ‘Quiet mode’ is available to everyone in the US, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and Instagram hopes to expand to more countries soon. Instagram Supports Teens’ safety with Updated Parental Supervision Tools Instagram aims to help parents be more aware o...