The Off Topic Topic

[Razgovory]

This popped up in my Facebook:

In your sister's defense the statement doesn't declare what country the statistics refer to.  In the US there were 12, 664 murders in the US.  8,583 were committed using firearms.  I'm not certain how many people were killed "by Obamacare", though I imagine the number is close to "0".

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

Yeah the gun people are posting more and more hysterical memes.

But it is true that assault rifles kill a very small number of people every year. There are just not that many of them floating around out there. Handguns are the big killers.

A) Define "assault rifle"
B) The ratio of handguns to semiauto rifles is far lower than the ratio of handgun deaths to semiauto rifle deaths.  Long guns, regardless of type, are just not good weapons for most criminal activity in a nation with an effective police force.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

On the subject of malpractice: http://www.propublica.org/article/how-many-die-from-medical-mistakes-in-us-hospitals

Seems like it is a difficult number to pin down.

[Syt]

In your sister's defense

It's actually my brother in law this time.

[Valmy]

A) Define "assault rifle"

Whatever definition was used in that meme.

B) The ratio of handguns to semiauto rifles is far lower than the ratio of handgun deaths to semiauto rifle deaths.

So? All relationships need not be linear.

Long guns, regardless of type, are just not good weapons for most criminal activity in a nation with an effective police force.

Indeed.

[Razgovory]

In your sister's defense

It's actually my brother in law this time.

I did a bit of digging and statistics apparently come from 2011 which predates when people could buy insurance from ACA exchanges.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

A) Define "assault rifle"

Whatever definition was used in that meme.

The Meme appears to be using the total rifle deaths from the FBI statistics.  I think they are somehow projecting some of the "unknown firearm" deaths onto rifles.  The FBI does not track what type of rifle was used.

B) The ratio of handguns to semiauto rifles is far lower than the ratio of handgun deaths to semiauto rifle deaths.

So? All relationships need not be linear.

No, but a significant difference between the ratios implies that supply of one vice the other is irrelevant.

[alfred russel]

I was thinking the same.

Me too. We are such a forum of nerds.

I visited the USS Constitution a few years ago. As a navy ship, the tour guide was in the Navy. I don't think our guide was yet 20, from Tennessee and of Asian descent, might have been just over 5 feet tall, and I'd bet weighed less than 100 pounds. Super extroverted and kept control guiding a group of about 20 people, but not your normal tour guide. Didn't put things in academic terms, used the word "we" a lot, as in, "this ship was undefeated. It went into battle 30 times, and guys, we were 30-0 with this ship!"

The juxtoposition of what the crew of the ship was and what it is in the current day was kind of cool/funny/jolting.

[lustindarkness]

Most of the world's problems we discuss here in languish could be solved by nukes from orbit. Lately it looks like we may need more nukes.

[Razgovory]

You know that was always a dumb statement.  When you are orbit around something, using a nuke a waste of resources.  You can just chuck large chunks of iron at something and you'll get a megaton size explosion when they hit the surface.

[MadImmortalMan]

It's expensive to get heavy things into orbit. A nuke is lighter than a big chunk of iron. Now, chucking rock off the moon or pulling asteroids maybe.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

You know that was always a dumb statement.  When you are orbit around something, using a nuke a waste of resources.  You can just chuck large chunks of iron at something and you'll get a megaton size explosion when they hit the surface.

Those would need to be very large chunks of iron to get to megaton levels.  The tungsten rods the Air Force planned to use (20ft long and 1ft diameter) would only have an explosive yield equivalent of 11.5 tons.

[lustindarkness]

Raz, if it makes you feel better, we can just send a nuke over to you in MO by truck.

[Syt]

Random factoid: between 1869 and 1913, eight out of nine US presidents had facial hair - McKinley was the only exception, and he was assassinated (but so was Garfield, who sported a proud beard).

[Liep]

Who was the last president that had facial hair?