Open Sources Guelph - August 27, 2015

"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." The faint praise of a middling bureaucrat in the wake of a tremendous humanitarian disaster still haunts us 10 years later on this week's Open Sources Guelph. In a bizarre bit of timing, we consider another burgeoning humanitarian crisis, this time in Europe with thousands of refugees trying to escape the chaos of Middle East conflicts. All that, plus the Ashley Madison hacks, and (naturally) all the latest campaign news form the meat of this week's show.

This Thursday, August 27, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz  and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:

1) Campaign Week #4. As phase 2 of the Duffy Trial wraps, the Conservatives are hoping to make up lost ground now that there are no new allegations coming out daily. They badly need to go on the attack because the polls are showing that the NDP are consolidating their Quebec base, looking to breakthrough in British Columbia, and over half the electorate now trusts the Tories less than they did four years ago. We'll cover all the latest election news as he wrap up the first month (sigh) of the campaign.

2) On Cheating and Hacking. A group of hacktivists dumped a whole lot of information about users of the cheaters dating site Ashley Madison, and it kicked up a maelstrom. From the status of high-profile alleged members like Josh Duggar and Eve Adams, to issues of privacy and morality, the info dump forces us to ask some deep questions about the nature of the internet and the vulnerability of personal information. Will the Ashley Madison hack be a wake-up call, or another hiccup as we shift to a privacy-less world?

3) The Worst Refugee Crisis in Europe Since WWII. That's what they're calling it as thousands of migrants from Syria and Iraq are overwhelming the governments of Macedonia and Greece as they try to escape the ongoing and endless war in the their own countries. Resources in countries along the Mediterranean coast are being taxed as refugees scramble desperately in their hope to reach Western Europe and salvation. What, if anything, can be done to ease the crisis?

4) 10 Years After the Storm. At 6 am on August 29,2005, Hurricane Katrina came ashore in the Gulf Coast and laid waste to the City of New Orleans. Initial reports that the storm missed the city gave way to one of the worst humanitarian disasters in American history. The bungling of the response, primarily the inaction of FEMA director Michael Brown, did irreparable harm to the administration of George W. Bush, and in no small way the effects of Katrina are still being felt today. What, if anything, did we learn from this chapter 10 years on?

Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.