As part of my New Year’s media diet resolution, I’m trying to seek out a broader selection of news than the mono-crop that trending news algorithms tend to serve up. To that end, I’m going to try to find five stories every day that are generally interesting and not on any viral lists.
- “A drug bust was marred by a suicide bombing in Kabul. Was it ISIS, or the ‘mafia’?” (Washington Post) – Max Bearak finds that sometimes a terrorist attack isn’t what it seems.
- “Russia’s dysfunctional funeral business gets a makeover” (The Economist) – Strapped for cash amidst an energy slump, Putin is looking to bring one of Russia’s underground economies into the light: undertaking.
- “Skyrocketing Bitcoin Fees Hit Carders in Wallet” (Krebs on Security) – Online criminals are abandoning bitcoin because of high transaction fees. “Sometimes we have to pay as much as 5$ from every 1$ you deposited,” complains one credit card scammer.
- “Iran Bans English in Primary Schools to Block ‘Cultural Invasion’” (Reuters) – Ayatollah Khamenei said, “Western thinkers have time and again said that instead of colonialist expansionism … the best and the least costly way would have been inculcation of thought and culture to the younger generation of countries.â€
- “This short story dispenser helps you pass the time with literature” (The Verge) – A French publisher is installing machines in places like airports that print out short stories (measured as 1-, 2-, or 5-minute reads) to give people something to do other than stare into their phones.