The Danger of A Single Story...

I pulled the scheduled post on p-i-n diode technology. It will appear on Monday.

Nigerian Novelist Chimamanda Adichie spoke at TED on a subject from which I title this posting (and give her credit), related to the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut yesterday. It is east of Danbury, for me merely 30 - 45 minutes drive from me in New York.

Ms. Adichie was speaking on the power of ignorance with respect to stereotypes. Linda Christensen, following this theme as well, encouraged her African American and Latino students to express their experiences in personal essays.

We are getting bits and pieces of a story and calls for reactions; bills. All that may come to pass eventually, but some things to consider, as a single story isn't the full picture:

• Doomsday: a lot of angst and hype about next Friday being suddenly 10¹⁰⁰ years into the future with imminent, hypo thermal death to the universe. At least that's the conventional science regarding the universe's end -- and NOT the hype. The good news is by THAT distant time, we'll all be gone (and I no longer blogging) when this occurs: just not next Friday.
• Active shooter training: we're going to have to think about this. Places like Israel search you before you enter...the mall. That's not comfortable for US residents to think about, just as taking off our shoes and pat searches in airports still are not comfortable post-9/11, but we may have to think about and earnestly consider things we'd rather not.
• Mental health: it amazes me that we'd never think of walking about with an obviously broken arm, pierced skin, blood streaming out of an open wound, yet we HIDE mental health issues. We stigmatize those that want to seek help as if admittance of a problem would be "career limiting." We spend more time on Facebook and "words with friends" when we need to speak to one another; see a play versus a movie; go to dinner at a restaurant and talk to one another.
• Gun control: we're going to have to debate this (unlike both candidates' dodge in the last election cycle). Debate: A formal discussion on a particular topic in a public meeting or legislative assembly, in which opposing arguments are put forward. Instead of dismissing occurrences as "isolated"; this is becoming too frequent to ignore.

And one in particular, who can no longer...