Brain food for your week: Facts, and Opinions, that matter. Enjoy.
Reports:
The Dunblane massacre at 20: how Britain rewrote gun laws. By Peter Squires
Thomas Hamilton walked into Dunblane Primary School, near Stirling, Scotland on March 13 1996, armed with four legally-owned handguns and over 700 rounds of ammunition. In three to four terrible minutes, he fired 105 shots killing 16 children and their teacher, and wounding 15 more children. His last shot killed himself. In the 20 years since Dunblane, a great deal has been learned about preventing gun violence.
German economist challenges orthodoxy, inequality, by Noah Barkin
Marcel Fratzscher, in contrast to many of his German counterparts, does not believe the German economy and the rules-based governance – Ordnungspolitik – that has shaped it since World War Two is a model that others should emulate.
Trying (and Trying) to Get Records From America’s “Most Transparent Administration” By Justin Elliott Report
Documents are the lifeblood of investigative journalism, but these problems aren’t of interest only to reporters. America’s Freedom of Information Act is supposed to deliver on the idea of a government “for and by the people,” whose documents are our documents. The ability to get information from the government is essential to holding the people in power accountable.
Undersea Mining: scientists race to the bottom first, by Brooke Jarvis, OnEarth
Ask oceanographer Craig Smith what the Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the Pacific is like beneath all that water, and he’ll describe a strange undulating world far beyond the reach of sunlight, populated by an enormous array of bizarre-looking creatures, both huge and tiny, known and unknown. And he’ trying to get to them before the underwater miners.
Beyond silicon: the search for new semiconductors, by Thomas Vandervelde
Our modern world is based on semiconductors. But silicon – used in all manner of computers and electronic gadgets – has its technical limits, particularly as engineers look to use electronic devices for producing or processing light. The search for new semiconductors is on.
Whales with a Dam Problem, by Chelsey B. Coombs
The only resident population of killer whales in the Pacific Northwest befuddle biologists, because their numbers seem to be stuck at around 80 individuals. The stagnation, recent research shows, may largely come down to the fact that these orcas are picky eaters whose primary food source—salmon—are having population problems of their own.
Arts:
RIP George Martin, the Fifth Beatle. By Mike Jones
George Martin was so integral a part of the Beatle’s story that he was called “the Fifth Beatle.” – a moniker that, in the 1960s, was also given to their then manager Brian Epstein. In both instances, the accolade is richly-deserved – without Epstein the Beatles would have not won a recording contract, and without Martin they would not have made records.
Man Booker International 2016 Longlist. By Deborah Jones
Household, pseudonymous and new names are included in the longlist of 13 books in line for the prestigious Man Booker International Prize, released March 10.
Commentary:
Manthorpe: the prospect of war between Russia and Turkey is troubling. Above, the Bosphorus. Photo: Gryffindor/Wikipedia
Russia and Turkey eye each other with guns drawn, by Jonathan Manthorpe, International Affairs Column
Of the many disaster scenarios that could spring from the civil war in Syria, the prospect of war between Russia and Turkey is by far the most troubling.
The sound of white noise, by Tom Regan, Summoning Orenda Column
Sometimes, when I’m driving late at night to pick up my wife at a train stop, or on my way to some event in Washington (about an hour from where I live) I turn on conservative talk radio. Just to listen to the other side. And the angry voices fill my car.
Out of Time: Daylight (Saving) Delusions, by Deborah Jones, Free Range Column
Listening to rain lashing windows as I moved through the house changing time, I wondered, Do we think we’re magicians, able to “save” daylight any more than we can conjure an end to a storm?
~~~