My favorite article of the day is this one from The Australian, a newspaper that is particularly sensitive about not traumatizing the Muslim population; so much so that they completely miss the larger aspect of the story they report:
1193 cars torched on New Year's Eve in France
What makes this story sublime for me is that car torching is a common form of protest in France by the disgruntled and impoverished Muslims who live in the areas surrounding Paris. There is no mention of that in this story, though, as the arsonist/protesters are referred to as "young revellers" and "youths". "Gangs", even.
Here's another: 2 teens on West Side among 15 shot, 3 fatally, on New Year's Day
See, in my day as a reporter, we would have been asking the police and city hall why gun violence is particularly present in Chicago, the city with the most strident gun control laws in the nation. [It used to be tied with Washington D.C., but the District apparently will only prosecute poor blacks for rifle accessory possession, not wealthy whites. Ergo, the gun control laws are not equally enforced, thus making the law more or less moot. Well, unless you're a poor black person.]
In a related story [oh, if only I were an editor], we have this from the local area:
Gunman robs Kent restaurant, takes owner's vehicle
What is left unmentioned is how this could be, given that the commercial area of Kent is a gun-free zone. I would also be wondering what law enforcement would recommend in this regard, as Kent has no police department and residents and business owners can expect a 20-30 minute response time from the state authorities. After all, the robber escaped in a rare and highly recognizable vehicle along a well-traveled route, and he was still able to get away.
Is it possible that there are people in our society who will not respect gun-free zones or gun control laws? If so, what protection may the law-abiding seek, especially when one lives in an isolated town with no police department?
Here are two stories that really should go together in a larger article, especially of interest if you're a parent currently paying tuition, or if you're a recent grad paying a mortgage-worth of student loan installments:
After Arrest, a Wider Inquiry on SAT Cheating
and
Tulane University has admitted that it sent U.S. News & World Report incorrect information about the test scores and total number of applicants for its M.B.A. program. The admission -- as 2012 closed -- made the university the fourth college or university in that year to admit false reporting of some admissions data used for rankings.