Tag Archives | tragedy

Tragic Events In The News

By on December 14, 2012 in News 12

Fred Rogers. Photo: KUHT (CC)

There’s only one news story that matters today: the shooting massacre at an elementary school in Newtown, CT. We’ll leave the breaking news coverage to others. For now we appreciate Deanna Zandt‘s tweeted suggestion of this advice to parents from Mister (Fred) Rogers:

In times of community or world-wide crisis, it’s easy to assume that young children don’t know what’s going on. But one thing’s for sure — children are very sensitive to how their parents feel. They’re keenly aware of the expressions on their parents’ faces and the tone of their voices. Children can sense when their parents are really worried, whether they’re watching the news or talking about it with others. No matter what children know about a “crisis,” it’s especially scary for children to realize that their parents are scared.

Some Scary, Confusing Images
The way that news is presented on television can be quite confusing for a young child.

… Read the rest

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The Blue Eyes Of Terror Challenge The World To Respond

By on July 25, 2011 in News 28

473px-Anders_Behring_Breivik_(Facebook_portrait_in_suit)Move over Osama bin Laden—I know you already have had in the physical sense —because you now have an emulator who borrows your tactics and inverts your ideology.

Anders Behring Breivik, is Norway’s candidate for the new world’s top living evil-doer and terror supremo having admitted to killing 93 young people and blowing up buildings in Oslo.

While Bin Laden castigated crusaders, Breivik salutes them in a 1518 page manifesto of madness. And his lawyer has rationalized his murder spree in a similar way to those who defended Al Qaeda as defending Islam.

The two are almost carbon copies. The Norwegian posted videos on You Tube while Bin Laden relied on TV communiqués.

One was killing in the name of Islam, the other in the name of Christianity.

Foreign Policy reports, ”Breivik’s lawyer said that his client admitted to the killings, but rejected ‘criminal responsibility.’” He described Breivik as being motivated to carry out the attacks by a desire to force radical change on Norwegian society.… Read the rest

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Analysis: Science Of Predicting Change Enjoys Fertile Times

By on March 17, 2011 in News 0
Armenian presidential election protests at Liberty Square in Yerevan. Photo: Serouj (CC)

Armenian presidential election protests at Liberty Square in Yerevan. Photo: Serouj (CC)

An interesting analysis from Kate Kelland via Reuters:

Times of change can be drastic — revolutions topple dictators, extreme weather kills tens of thousands and market crashes plunge people into poverty — but for scientists studying complex systems they are fertile ground.

“Complex systems can include societies, financial markets ecosystems like lakes or coral reefs, and even the brain,” said Marten Scheffer of the University of Wageningen in The Netherlands.

Few would want to predict the outcome of uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, or of financial crises or natural disasters, but scientists say there are common traits in seemingly diverse systems that point to “tipping points.”

Identifying and analyzing these, they say, can help people see the risks inherent in an interdependent world more clearly and take action to mitigate them.

“Complex systems can include societies, financial markets ecosystems like lakes or coral reefs, and even the brain,” said Marten Scheffer of the University of Wageningen in The Netherlands.

… Read the rest

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