Guns Don't Kill People: Follow Up

I went online to The Disaster Center at http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/dccrime.htm and looked up the D.C. statistics taken from the District of Columbia's 2005 Cities crimes and Rates as reported in the FBI's September 2006 release of the "UCR for Metropolitan Statistical Areas" (MSA). Go to the link if you want to see actual numbers. I calculated the number of violent crimes, divided by the year, times one thousand, getting to the number of violent crimes per 1000 people in a given year. Here is a table so you can visualize this data. In Mr. Gillespie's interview, it was mentioned that D.C. gun laws have not helped to lower the violent crime rate. This would appear to be true, as it has fluctuated minimally in either direction, seemingly at random. You would not necessarily be able to pinpoint the year the gun laws came to be unless someone told you. Remember, the number of crimes is per one thousand people.



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How 'bout going to New York?

New York City is HARDLY Bryn Mawr, but it's a nice enough town, I guess.

I know this is hardly Serious Journalistic Business, but since we are Serious Journalists, and travel is a part of our Business, it's relevant. I was talking with Ew yesterday and the possibility of meeting in NYC at summer's end came up. What do you think? Want to come with? Some of our very favorite people live in New York, and so do their couches. Let's take advantage of that!

(People who live in New York: wouldn't it be cool if we all came and visited you? In New York? En masse? Can we stay on your couch?)

Email me at kalipeterson@gmail.com if you're interested and we'll talk dates. ...Go on

Guns Don't Kill People

With the recent Supreme Court decision regarding gun regulation and the Second Amendment here is a collection of work from our lecturers:

Reason's articles on the topic can be found here.

Reason.tv:


National Review Online's editors wrote this:

For decades, localities around the country — the capital, New York City, Chicago, and many of its suburbs — have violated their residents’ right to keep and bear arms. Each of these locations directly or indirectly bans handguns.

Today the Supreme Court, in a ruling that is faithful to the Constitution, struck down the handgun ban in the nation’s capital. This ruling is the beginning of a long process — it will not affect bans in Illinois or New York — but is a good sign in itself.

Philadelphia Inquirer localized with this.

Does anyone have stats on the effectiveness of gun laws?

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There's Nothing On The Prompter

Here's a clip from the exalted CNN. Anchor Kyra Phillips had no script and no prompter.

I've been there. One of my first broadcast stories I did in college was, what some might call, a train wreck. As I recall the story was a consumer piece comparing the prices of goods on-campus versus off-campus. I bought an assortment of goods at the different stores to assess price differences. I had boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch (arguably the greatest cereal known to man) and candy bars. The prompter went out mid-sentence and my face could best be described as "fearful."

Lesson: Read your script and have a general understanding of the point of what you're reading. All too often we see anchors just reading the work of the producers and writers. When something messes up they are lost.
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Isn't She Beautiful

I remember learning about Greek mythology in 7th grade. That is how I vaguely remembered Aphrodite, when I saw a statue of her in The Great Hall at Bryn Mawr College. What was so stunning about Aphrodite (statue is apparently Athena), was not only her beauty, but the gifts, or offerings scattered around her.

I was confused at first; here I am in the hall, a wide open space in front of me, and in the corner I spotted a statue of a woman with bright gold painted eyes and lips. My curiosity encouraged me to seek out this woman. Soon I was no longer paying attention to the statue but the things around her. There were notes apologizing to Aphrodite, cards made in her honor, and two items that stood out more than the rest. At her feet rest the box of an ept pregnancy test and on her outstretched arm a black thong hanging for the world to see. While there were many more random items, those were the ones that stood out in my mind.

The ladies of Bryn Mawr must have a tradition with this statue of Aphrodite. I only wish I had captured it on film. ...Go on

Politics Killed the Radio Star

According to TV Week, MTV will be taking political ads for the first time. Thoughts? ...Go on

The Value of a Life

I saw this story on yesterday's video podcast from Nine News in Sydney. A man has put his life for sale on eBay after the break-up of his marriage. The lot includes his home, job, friends and household items. There was no mention if silverware is included. As someone living at home and still in search of a job, I wonder how much I could garner for my life.
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The Happy Network

In my ongoing effort to make an all-positive news network, I submit this video of the world's ugliest dog.


The dog looks like a burn victim.

I would have thought about rephrasing the statement: "We are the world's ugliest dog owners."

I take it back. Apparently Gus, the dog, has gone through a lot. I feel sorry for the three-legged dog. This story wasn't as happy as I'd hoped. Where's that sneezing panda?
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My Eyes

Will the lawsuits never end? Reuters reports that a woman is suing Victoria's Secret for damage to her eye allegedly caused by a metal clip that "flew off" the underroos whilst she put them on. Macrida Patterson was on the Today Show with her lawyer describing what happened.



I have a few issues with this story. First, I don't like seeing the words "52-year-old woman" and "thong" in the same sentence. Second, there's a reason you get underwear WITHOUT metal. I hope this doesn't lead to warning labels on underwear.

CAUTION: May cause blindness.

If I were Patterson I would have gone on the Today Show with an ultra sexy eye patch. She drove herself home from work after the incident, went to the hospital the following day and missed work due to the incident. She had to put some ointment in her eye.

The other day I had an eyelash in my eye that was excruciatingly painful, sadly there is no one I can sue over it.

Finally, I would like to file my lawsuit against whoever made Lycra and Spandex. While the material suits a very small percentage of people, the large majority aren't "fit" to wear it. Therefore, I allege mental anguish and retinal damage. I'll see you in court. ...Go on