Archive for June 14th, 2016
After Sandy Hook we said never again.
And then we let 1,000 mass shootings happen.
Read the 11 facts about USA gun violence
More guns is highly correlated with more homicides, more suicides, more domestic violence
In December 2012, a gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and killed 20 children, six adults, and himself. Since then, there have been at least 1,000 mass shootings, with shooters killing at least 1,140 people and wounding 3,942 more.
The counts come from the Gun Violence Archive, a database that tracks events since 2013 in which four or more people (not counting the shooter) were shot at the same general time and location.
The database’s researchers comb through hundreds of news stories, police reports, and other sources each day and individually verify the reports. Still, since some shootings aren’t reported, the database is likely missing some shootings, and some are missing details.
Vox’s Soo Oh created an interactive map with this database. It shows the mass shootings that have been verified since the Sandy Hook shooting:
At what point is our own inaction a form of culpability?
Are mass shootings increasing? It depends on which definition you use.
Using one common definition — shootings at a public place in which the shooter murdered four or more people, excluding domestic, gang, and drug violence — they appear to be getting more common, according to an analysis from Harvard School of Public Health researchers.
But not everyone agrees with this definition.
Northeastern University criminologist James Alan Fox, for example, defines mass shootings more widely, as any shooting in which at least four people were murdered. Under those terms, mass shootings don’t appear to be increasing.
Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health call the definition Fox uses too broad, since it catches domestic, gang, and drug-related shootings that aren’t usually considered mass shootings in layman’s terms.
The Gun Violence Archive is even broader — counting not just murders but injuries, too.
Even under this definition, it’s worth noting that mass shootings make up a tiny portion of America’s firearm deaths, which total more than 32,000 each year.
And the US has way more gun violence than its developed peers:
According to United Nations data compiled by Simon Rogers while at the Guardian, the US had 29.7 firearm homicides per 1 million people in 2012, while Switzerland had 7.7, Canada had 5.1, and Germany had 1.9.
But why does the US have so many more gun homicides than other developed countries? One possible explanation: Americans are generally much more likely to own guns.
The US makes up about 4.4 percent of the global population but possesses 42 percent of the world’s civilian-owned guns. And the empirical research shows that places with more guns have more homicides.
Criminal justice experts widely recognize that America’s unusually high levels of gun violence are a result of cultural and policy decisions that have made firearms far more available in America than in most of the world.
For the US, that means not just more mass shootings, but more gun violence in general.
Update on February 18, 2016: Vox’s map originally used the Mass Shooting Tracker, which began contributing its data to the Gun Violence Archive in 2016.
The newer Gun Violence Archive database uses a slightly narrower definition of a mass shooting, not counting the shooter as one of the four-plus victims needed to qualify as a mass shooting.
A community for those who like to be alone, grown out of a blockbuster TED Talk
Scott Drummond had been in the Air Force for 8 years.
It was 1994, and he was eligible to become a commissioned officer, the Air Force’s version of a manager. The average person gets the job after three interviews.
Drummond interviewed 16 times over the next ten years before he got the job.
Looking back at his career, Drummond — now a director of inspections with the Indiana Air National Guard — can see that he lagged about ten years behind his peers as he rose through the ranks.
At the time, he couldn’t figure out why. But today, at age 47, he attributes the gap to “starting slow and finishing strong,” thanks to his introverted nature.
He knows he doesn’t have an outgoing, traditionally commanding personality — but he also knows that he is driven and qualified to lead. During group activities, he finds a corner and devises his own strategies. He “researches the crap out of everything” and creates detailed plans of action.
Drummond found a deeper understanding of his personality after watching Susan Cain’s TED Talk, “The power of introverts.”
This talk has been watched nearly 12 million times since Cain gave it — and helped many introverts realize that being quiet is not only normal, but something to be celebrated.
The response to her talk led Cain to start a new web community: Quiet Revolution.
It’s a place for introverts to share their stories, find like-minded people and read advice written specifically for them.
“I decided to start it because the response to the TED Talk and my book [Quiet] was so overwhelming and so heartfelt,” said Cain. “The talk unleashed questions like: How can I remake my life according to this new idea?”
Patsy Z shared this link. ·
We were just watching Susan Cain‘s #TEDTalk on the power of introverts today and I see this blog post in my feed…
The site covers 3 main categories — kids, life and work — and offers content designed to unlock the power of introverts and make sure that quiet kids don’t grow up feeling inferior.
There’s advice for introverts on rocking the job interview;
an essay from a quiet mom on the difficulty of making small talk at children’s birthday parties;
a listicle of strategies for introverted teachers;
and interviews with notable introverts, like author (and fellow TED speaker) Brené Brown.
Launched in June, the site’s content has grown steadily over the past few months. Traffic has exceeded Cain’s expectations.
“The site is supposed to be a place of community,” Cain said. “It’s not just for the introverts, but for people who love and work with introverts.”
Community is generated through the Quiet Revolutionaries section, where introverts can tell their personal stories. Drummond, the military officer, decided to share his story here in the hope that others may learn from him the same way he did from Cain.
“[Her talk] helped me understand I’m not alone — that other people have the same struggles and issues I have,” said Drummond. “That was key to helping me communicate better with people. Had I known that 20 or 30 years ago, I think I would be much further ahead in my career.”
Others who’ve posted as Quiet Revolutionaries, like Melissa Ng — a 28-year-old entrepreneur from Queens, New York — also credit Cain with helping them flourish. In 2010, Ng co-founded PianoVerse, a center for learning and playing music. But she found owning a business difficult because of her quiet nature. Cain’s talk helped her shed her fear of trying again. She credits this revelation with her starting a second business, Lumecluster, which makes 3D-printed masks.
“I realized I’m not the same scared person I used to be. I don’t feel any different. I’m still quiet … but I’m OK about it,” she said. “I hope someone reads [what I wrote] and thinks, ‘I don’t have to lower myself. I’m not going to let someone else define my standards for me.’”
Coming up next: a series of “Quiet Life” videos talking to well-known introverts, and offering how-tos on helping quiet children thrive and growing in a corporate culture designed for extroverts. A series of e-courses is scheduled to launch in September, starting with one on parenting quiet kids. But for now, Cain is happy to see the emotional outpouring happening on the site. She hopes it’s a place people can find comfort.
That’s true for 37-year-old Kate Groves from Melbourne, Australia, who works with an NGO that improves healthcare systems in developing countries. She’s always known she’s an introvert — the thought of getting called on in class or being part of a brainstorming session sends shivers down her spine. Cain’s talk inspired her to speak up for herself and her fellow introverts.
“I think introversion was always considered a negative when I was at school and starting my career,” she said. “When you are so used to the word being said in a critical way, it’s hard not to see it as a defect.”
Thanks to Cain’s talk, she feels more comfortable telling her colleagues she’d prefer time to consider ideas before group discussions. And she’s become better at making small talk.
“I think the more access introverts have to different ideas and shared connections about our personalities, the more comfortable we will be in our own skin,” she said. “I love the idea of someone connecting with my story and maybe feeling a little more normal knowing that we have shared experiences.”
Adonis Diaries 