mahiwaga

Mentioning ISIS was a publicity stunt and everyone clamoring about “radical Islam” fell for it hook, line, and sinker.

According to law enforcement, this guy’s profile has more in common with white U.S.-born mass shooters than with radicalized foreigners¹

Investigators Say Orlando Shooter Showed Few Warning Signs Of Radicalization • 2016 Jun 18 • Merrit Kennedy • the two-way • NPR

He mentioned ISIS so he could trend on Twitter and Facebook²

While it does seem that the shooter was a practicing Muslim, there’s still a big leap from a trolling asshole American mass murderer who happens to be a Muslim to becoming an ideologically committed agent of ISIS, unless you’re trying to promote the notion that all Muslims are de facto radical militants.

In any case, law enforcement seems to think the ISIS shout-out is a red herring.³

It is difficult and probably impractical to have draconian limitations on screen time, and previous guidelines have been based mainly on passive viewing of TV screens, but I’ve seen enough kids showing up with back pain and with headaches due to eye strain as well as dry eyes and blurry vision from excessive use of mobile devices, not to mention difficulty with sleep onset, as well as the many adverse effects of being sedentary that it’s clear that there should be some limitations.

A Reconsideration of Children and Screen Time • 2016 Mar 21 • Perri Klass, M.D. • New York Times

What with all the uncontrolled natural gas leaks, the probably decreasing utility of hydropower as droughts become more frequent, the pollution caused by oil and coal, you would think nuclear would look more attractive. But these plants are ancient and it takes decades to get new ones built even if you get past the NIMBY factor, so I guess California is going all in with wind and solar.¹

PG&E to close Diablo Canyon, California’s last nuclear power plant • 2016 Jun 21 • Samantha Masunaga • Los Angeles Times

A total anti-nuclear stance in general might be unreasonable, but closing down plants that are 30-50 years old and showing signs of structural deterioration and/or are sitting near active faults is probably not totally crazy. I don’t think Southern California Edison had to raise their rates catastrophically when they shut down San Onofre—mostly because wind and solar do generate a lot of power now—but prices have definitely gone up.²

While I don’t doubt anti-science nuclear power fear-mongering had a chilling effect on building new plants in the late 20th century/early 21st century, I honestly think the moratorium was mostly financial in nature, because of utility deregulation. Power companies couldn’t just arbitrarily raise rates to cover the costs of building new plants because they’d just get undercut. But the lack of a waste disposal site is also probably a big factor.³

Why The Economics Don’t Favor Nuclear Power In America • 2014 Feb 20 • Mark Cooper • Forbes

Nuclear Dead End: It’s the Economics, Stupid • 2011 April 18 • Christian Parenti • The Nation