247 days remain until the November election
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• Trump spewed a bunch of crap again this week. Here’s just one example:
TRUMP: “You take the Pulse Nightclub. If you had one person in that room that could carry a gun and knew how to use it, it wouldn’t have happened, or certainly not to the extent it did, where he was just in there shooting and shooting and shooting, and they were defenseless.” — bipartisan meeting with lawmakers Wednesday.
THE FACTS: That’s a misrepresentation of the scene at the club in Orlando, Florida, where a gunman killed 49 people in June 2016. There was an armed police officer working extra-duty at the club, and he exchanged gunfire with Omar Mateen when the attack began. More officers arrived within minutes and also engaged the killer, who ultimately died in a shootout with police several hours later.
• GE unveils gigantic, 12-megawatt wind turbine: Although the first wind turbine for making electricity was built in 1888, 90 years later most wind turbines were still only generating power of a few dozen kilowatts on towers 25-30 meters high. Over the past 40 years, that’s changed immensely. The latest example is GE Renewable Energy’s new offshore machine, the 12 megawatt Haliade-X. It will be 260 meters high and boast a 220-meter rotor, from the hub to the tip of each blade. It will be capable of generating enough electricity to power 16,000 households per turbine. It will produce 45 percent more energy than any other offshore wind turbine currently available. It is expected to be ready in demonstration form in 2019 and begin shipping to wind farms as early as 2021. Its blades will be 25 feet longer than a football field.
• 10 films that would win if the Oscars had awards for empathy, resilience, and forgiveness.
• RAND study finds common ground for effective gun-law reform:
The findings, which are from RAND’s Gun Policy in America initiative, are based on a review of thousands of studies. The report examines the effects of 13 common gun policies on a range of outcomes, such as mass shootings, deaths, injuries, defensive gun use and involvement in sport shooting and hunting. [...]
The strongest available evidence supports the conclusion that statutes aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of children curtail unintended injuries to kids, self-injuries and suicides.
There is moderate evidence that background checks reduce firearm suicides and homicides, and that laws prohibiting the purchase or possession of guns by people with some forms of mental illness limit violent crime, according to the report. These is also some evidence that stand-your-ground laws – which allow individuals to use guns to defend themselves without requiring that they first attempt to flee, if possible – may increase homicide rates.
• What the above study shows most is that we need a lot more gun-related research.
TWEET OF THE WEEK
• Russians go mythical in contest to name their nation’s new nukes:
In just one day, the suggestions have been pouring in for Russia’s new nuclear weapons: “Kraken” for a new underwater drone capable of blasting coastlines with a nuclear device. “Balalaika” for a futuristic nuclear-powered cruise missile capable of circling the globe.
Russians are showering the defence ministry with ideas, relishing the online contest announced by President Vladimir Putin in his state of the nation address on Thursday.
Many of the entries on Friday reflected a certain wry dark humour. Someone suggested calling the missile “Sanction”, an apparent reference to western economic sanctions against Russia for its support of separatists in Ukraine.
• How to Ditch the News Feed Algorithm and Take Back Facebook.
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