Random Articles of Interest

One could almost have predicted this?

The U.S. edition of the Daily Mail, a British tabloid and online publication, has dubbed the scoped hunting rifle used in the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk a “high-powered sniper rifle.”  It reads, “Kirk was shot in the throat by a high-powered sniper rifle while speaking to college students at Utah Valley University on September 10.”

Should deer hunters now be referred to as “snipers?”

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Bruce Bernhard recently commented:

Currently, New York State requires the purchase of any black powder firearm, including flintlock muskets, to go through a federal background check.

 
Now this may sound as overkill.  However, there actually has been several mass shootings of innocent victims using muskets as weapons, along with arrows etc. If you don't believe me, look it up.  I realize it was a while back (actually 17th century) but there may be some people still holding a grudge at what happened to their ancestors. 

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The Wall Street Journal featured an analysis of justifiable homicides in the US with the claim that there was a 59% increase in such incidents over the last five years.  "It's easier than ever to kill someone in America and get away with it."

Was this what is referred to as misinformation?

The chart tops out at 200 cases - not 200 per 100,000 - just 200 in each year.  This would qualify as a quiet year in Chicago.

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The former director of the Census Bureau, John Abowd, introduced an algorithm called “Differential Privacy” for the 2020 Census, and the Bureau itself revealed in 2022 that this algorithm caused overcounting in several Democratic states and undercounting in Republican states. Blue states including Delaware, Massachusetts, New York, Minnesota, and Rhode Island were overcounted. States like Florida and Texas were undercounted. Republicans believe the miscount led to their party having nine fewer seats than should have been apportioned.

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                        Just when you thought sanity might have returned

NYU Law School’s radical More Than Human Life program (MOTH) is promoting “nature rights.” MOTH participants are seeking to force the Ecuadorian Copyright Office to grant a copyright to a forest as the supposed co-composer of music called Song of the Cedars.

A three-judge panel of the Michigan state court of appeals was asked whether chimpanzees have constitutional rights just like people.  Chimpanzees are not “persons” in the eyes of the law, the appellate court held, denying the petition for habeas corpus filed on behalf of seven chimps by the Nonhuman Rights Project.