Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday January 4, 2018

Welcome to the start of the fourth year of Open Sources Guelph, and we’re going to kick things off with a discussion of last year! Or, to be more precise, we’re going to give out our annual awards in our annual awards special. For the last two years, we’ve taken the last show and handed out awards in four categories as we each saw them, and always resulting in eight winners. Of course, “winner” is relative in some of the categories, but to kick off 2018, we will give out the proverbial hardware in all your favourite categories.

This Thursday, January 4, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:

1) Worst Politician of the Year. “Hey!” you might be saying, “This one’s going to be easy, this year,” but you’re forgetting that last year that we gave “45” the Lifetime Achievement Award for this category. Instead, we’ll have to find other worthy candidates to be called the “worst”, and fortunately (or unfortunately) there were a lot of people to choose from. In 2017, from another failed businessman-turned-politician to a failed judge-turned-failed senate candidate, the worst came frequently and thoroughly.

2) Good News Story of the Year. Why yes, there was some. We had to take a two-day retreat in order to do the in-depth research necessary in order to find the good news, but it was found in any event. For under the surface of constant scandal, and controversy, and obnoxious tweeting, we managed to find a couple of gold nuggets, from the avalanche of progressive candidates coming out to run in the U.S. to better news for people making the least possible salary.

3) “Dumpster-Wreck” of the Year. Because of recent events, we thought it would be prudent to rename this category this year, but the intent of it remains the same: a news story so heinous, vicious, or unbelievably stupid it stands out above all the rest. Like “Worst Politician” this is a tough one, but when you turn on your TV every night, or if you’re a federal employee trying to get paid right or on time, then maybe the situation isn’t so tough.

4) Best Politician of the Year. Oh yes, there are some people out there doing good work, and to cap off 2017 we’re going to recognize two of them because after the year we’ve had, we all need something good to focus on. This year, we’re going to acknowledge the good work of the new opposition leader of the United Kingdom, and a mayor in a beleaguered American territory as two among the few politicians to break the odds, and do good work for the people.

5) Word to Retire. Following up on a new category we added last year, we will once again choose two words that should be permanently retired from our common political lexicon. One is an expression used far too often as a synonym for compromise, and the other is a phrase that’s expanded beyond its original, very specific, media definition to become utterly meaningless.