News Day Round Up [June 14, 2017]

Congressman Shot:

Washington (CNN)Rep. Steve Scalise was shot Wednesday morning in Alexandria, Virginia, a House colleague told CNN, in what sources are calling an apparent "deliberate attack."

Rep. Mo Brooks told CNN he was on deck at a practice for the congressional baseball team when the shooting occurred. Scalise, a member of the House Republican leadership as the majority whip, appeared to have been shot in the hip and it appeared two Capitol Hill police agents were shot, Brooks added.

According to both congressional and law enforcement sources, the shooting appears to be a "deliberate attack." Alexandria police said earlier Wednesday they were responding to a "multiple shooting" in the city. The tweet also said the suspect is in custody "and not a threat." CNN has reached out to Capitol Hill police for details.

Brooks said there were a number of congressmen and congressional staffers lying on the ground, and at least one of them was wounded. The Alabama Republican said he used his belt as a tourniquet to help one of the victims.
He said the shooter appeared to be a white male but added that "I saw him for a second or two." He said the shooter was behind the third base dugout and didn't say anything.

"The gun was a semiautomatic," Brooks said. "It continued to fire at different people. You can imagine, all the people on the field scatter." [Source]

Recreational boating deaths spiked in 2016 in Alaska, Coast Guard reports

KTOO by Tripp J Crouse

Nineteen people died in Alaska while recreationally boating in 2016, according to a Coast Guard report released last month. That’s up from just 7 in 2015.

Four of those deaths were in Southeast Alaska, including one near Ketchikan.

Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mike McCallister commands the 17th District, which covers Alaska.

In an interview for A Juneau Afternoon, he urged recreational boaters to be prepared before going out on the water.

“What I would urge people who head out on the water to do is to first bring and wear a life jacket,” he said. “On an overall nationwide perspective, that has probably the single most important thing to reduce the number of fatalities on the water.” [Source]

Propeller problems postpone ferry Columbia’s return

KFSK by Joe Viechnicki

The 418-foot ferry Columbia was due to return to service June 28th with service from Bellingham, Washington to communities in Southeast Alaska. The vessel has been in a Portland, Oregon shipyard undergoing repairs to a propeller which struck an unknown object and was damaged last September.

“So there were some extensive repairs that needed to be done to the propeller system,” said Department of Transportation spokeswoman Meadow Bailey. “That requires a lot of lead time. The parts are manufactured in Germany and then there’s obviously the installation of the parts afterwards. So it took a while to make those repairs. And then we went and thought the repairs were successful and were testing the vessel and during that test there was another mechanical failure related to that newly installed propeller system. So we’re going to have to take the ship back and it’s, the vessel will be pulled back out of the water and they’ll be inspections made to the propeller system again.”

The Columbia was built in 1974. It can accommodate just under 500 passengers and 133 vehicles. The new target date for it to return to service is July 26th. The 408-foot ferry Malaspina has been filling in on the Columbia’s route and will continue to do so. But Bailey said there will be some impacts to people who have booked passage on the Columbia in June and July. [Full Article]

Social media is as harmful as alcohol and drugs for millennials

The word “addiction” brings to mind alcohol and drugs. Yet, over the past 20 years, a new type of addiction has emerged: addiction to social media. It may not cause physical harms, such as those caused by tobacco and alcohol, but it has the potential to cause long-term damage to our emotions, behaviour and relationships.

The harm lies in their change in behaviour. Their addiction means spending increasing amount of time online to produce the same pleasurable effect, and it means social media is the main activity they engage in above all others. It also means taking away attention from other tasks, experiencing unpleasant feelings from reducing or stopping interaction with social media and restarting the activity very soon after stopping completely.

We should also be concerned about the effect of social media on sleep and doing less “offline”, such as making time for work responsibilities and direct face-to-face social interaction. It has also been linked to depression and loneliness, both of which may be the cause or the effect of social media addiction.

Most of us rely partly on the ability to reflect on our thinking, feeling and behaving to form our own self-image. The problem with social media is that self-image relies mainly on others and their opinions. A recent study found higher narcissism (an exaggerated self-image of intelligence, academic reputation or attractiveness) in millennial college students, compared with previous generations. This does not bode well for a society where self-reflection is key to making informed and balanced decisions.

The digital age has changed the nature of addictions in millennials, who have replaced one maladaptive behaviour with another. Social media certainly looks as if it has replaced alcohol as a way of social interaction with others. It is perhaps no surprise that, over the past ten years, there has been a 20% rise in the proportion of 16 to 24-year-olds who are teetotal. Ten years ago it was 17%. It is now 24%. Spending time online now seems more desirable than spending time in a pub with friends. [Full Article]