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Cops have killed 385 people so far in 2015, but look deeper at the numbers

Cop Shootings White vs. Black

385 people through five months is basically two people per day getting killed by a police officer somewhere in America, which is twice the rate of the past decade. That’s not good. Before you think it’s all “white cop vs. black, unarmed offender”… Continue Reading

This Cor Pan Facebook post from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 is terrifying

You likely know the tragedy of Flight MH17 by now, but you may not know this story about Cor Pan, a Dutch man. Because he was flying on Malaysian Airlines — and remember, Flight 370 was only a few months… Continue Reading

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Mass shootings are actually seemingly good for gun sales

Logic might indicate that, after something like Sandy Hook (where actual children were murdered), people might hit the pause button on buying guns, just as a general “whoa” thing. (The devil’s advocate approach is that “Well, I’m not intending to do that… Continue Reading

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Here’s a map of all the mass shootings in America, 1982-2013

You can’t extrapolate much from the clustered locations, just because they tend to be the same areas with higher populations (NorCal, SoCal, NE Corridor, Houston-Dallas). There’s a good deal more info here courtesy of Mother Jones, and there’s additional context and… Continue Reading

Alex Hribal stabbing case: if you believe the media coverage wasn’t that major, why? Is it because the weapon was a knife or because there were no immediate deaths?

If you go to Huffington Post this morning — a liberal publication, one might argue — the PA stabbing story from yesterday isn’t even above the digital fold. It is on CNN, although it’s not the top story — that’s the search… Continue Reading

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Can we solve the Morgan Harrington murder (the Metallica disappearance case) soon?

As of this past weekend, it’s been going on four years in the case of Morgan Harrington’s murder. If you don’t know the basic story, she was a Virginia Tech student attending a Metallica concert at UVA (in Charlottesville) in October… Continue Reading

Is Chicago safer, or is it a mirage?

Chicago has been almost the one-word association for U.S. violence over the past 30 months, but their 2013 data seems promising: crime’s down 16 percent and homicides are down 18 percent. New York, Houston, and Los Angeles also saw pretty significant… Continue Reading

This Trayvon Martin Nativity scene may have gone a little overboard, yes

John Zachary, a 57 year-old artist, does the Nativity installation for Claremont United Methodist Church every year (he’s a parishioner). This year, the scene features a slumped-over, bleeding Trayvon Martin. Here’s what Zachary had to say, via The Los Angeles Times: “He… Continue Reading