More Guns, Less Violence

The AP is reporting on the correlation between societal violence and gun sales. Here's their "report:"

An analysis shows gun-related violence has fallen steadily since 2006 in Virginia despite record firearm sales.

Virginia Commonwealth University professor Thomas R. Baker compared state crime data for 2006 through 2011 with gun-dealer sales estimates obtained by the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

His analysis shows the number of gun purchases soared 73 percent in the six-year period, while gun-related offenses fell more than 27 percent.

Baker says the comparison seems to contradict the premise that more guns lead to more crime in Virginia.

In the world of the Associated Press, if violence drops while gun sales skyrocket, it happens "despite" the guns. In other words, the two are unrelated, and it is merely speculation on Professor Baker's part that the AP's hidden assumptions are contradictory.

Television is so often a vast wasteland, that the good programs really stand out. Over the past several weeks, Laurel and I have become enthralled with not one, not two, but three absolutely outstanding programs.

On the History Channel, we enjoyed watching The Men Who Built America, the story of the great capitalists of the late 19th and early 20th century; Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Morgan, Rockefeller, and Ford.

On PBS was an outstanding Ken Burns documentary, The Dust Bowl, the story of the great drought that parched the midwest in the 1930s.

Finally, back on the History Channel is Mankind: The Story of All of Us, a lengthy docudrama on the history of civilization.

All are lengthy, detailed, engrossing, and sure to shown in reruns over and over. Keep your eyes peeled on the guide, if these programs pop up they are worth a look.

Obamacare Job Losses

Here's a list of job layoffs resulting directly from President Obama's signature legislation:

Welch Allyn: 275 layoffs

Dana Holding Corp: $24 million in salary expense layoffs

Stryker Medical: 1170 layoffs

Boston Scientific: 1200-1400 layoffs

Medtronic: 1000 layoffs

Smith and Nephew: 770 layoffs

Abbott Labs: 700 layoffs

Covidian: 595 layoffs

Kinetic Concepts: 427 layoffs

St. Jude Medical: 300 layoffs

Hill Rom: 200 layoffs

How's that hope and change looking now?

Tragic

We have all seen the devastation wreaked by hurricane Sandy in New York and New Jersey. It's painful to watch my home state suffer so, but this is almost too tragic to comprehend:

Floodwaters from the massive hurricane smashed a New Jersey liquor distributor, causing tens of millions of dollars in damage to its supply of top-shelf alcohol, the company said. Yesterday, a sad mix of liquor and slush puddled on the ground outside Fedway Associates Inc.’s warehouse in Kearny — where the smell of red wine hung in the air as workers piled boxes and broken glass into an 8-foot-tall mountain.

First a hurricane, then a snowstorm, now a liquor shortage. I don't know if anybody can be expected to be THAT resilient.