A tweet last week by Carol Fenton led me to an article in the Vancouver Province by Nathan Griffiths which begins with a seemingly shocking statistic:Roughly 40 per cent of online ads offering escort and sex work services in B.C. included language indicating child sex trafficking, according to a new pre-print study from SFU.The article also includes this blurb from the … [Read more...] about No Ground Truth: Sex Trafficking and Machine Learning
Michael Moore Tries to Rescue Us From Guns
The gun control debate has been raging lately, and now filmmaker Michael Moore has arrived to save the day with his proposal to repeal and replace the 2nd Amendment. I read it over, and of course it would be very bad for gun owners. That's tempered by the fact that it is also very stupid.Join me in a whirlwind tour:The inalienable right of a free people to be kept safe … [Read more...] about Michael Moore Tries to Rescue Us From Guns
A Libertarian Watches “Narcos”
My wife and I had been pretty much ignoring Netflix's Narcos series because it didn't quite interest us enough to justify expending our valuable TV-watching time. And as a long-time opponent of the war on drugs, I wasn't sure I was ready for a series where DEA agents were the heroes. A few weeks ago, we finally decided to give it a try on the theory that a series that ran six … [Read more...] about A Libertarian Watches “Narcos”
COVID-19 is Not Endemic and the Fight is Not Over
I just saw an article at Reason arguing that the government should stop making COVID-19 tests free. It begins with this dubious statement:The consensus among scientists and lawmakers after two years of pandemic mayhem is that COVID-19 is officially endemic. That's good news for those of us looking to move on with our lives, but it also means it's time for society to make … [Read more...] about COVID-19 is Not Endemic and the Fight is Not Over
Covid Stats Dump – 2022-01-29
I usually tweet out Chicago-area Covid stats, but I thought I'd try something different today and post the information here on my blog. Most of the charts and maps are pulled from the wonderful Covid Act Now website. They take a lot of data and make it easy to understand.The national picture is looking extremely bleak, with the exception of Maryland, which is looking merely … [Read more...] about Covid Stats Dump – 2022-01-29