[HPFGU-OTChatter] Canadian editions, Moore, Jarmusch

[Shaun Hately]

On 4 Aug 2003 at 12:51, Kathryn Cawte wrote:

> But that figure is (apparently) accurate (according to the guy who was
> knocking the film that you sent a link to) for total gun *deaths*. I
> honestly don't remember him saying the figure was specifically homicides -
> of he did then the scripwriting was inaccurate.

No, it's not accurate for total gun deaths.

And the film definitely says gun homicide anyway - whether that's an 
inaccuracy in scripting, or in the numbers used, it's inaccurate, and I 
expect better of a documentary film.

Back to the first point. What the site says is:

"After an email tip, I finally found a way to compute 11,127. Ignore the 
FBI, use Nat'l Center for Health Statistics figures. These are based on 
doctors' death certificates rather than police investigation, and give 
figures about 2,000 higher than FBI.

Then -- to their gun homicide figures, add the figure for legally-
justified homicides: self-defense and police use against criminals. 
Presto, you have exactly Moore's 11,127. I can see no other way for him 
to get it."

If that is what Michael Moore did (and I don't know if it is - all I 
know is somebody claims it yields the same number), there's two issues 
there.

The first is that it isn't a number for total gun deaths - it explicitly 
excludes accidents and suicides, for example.

But if it's a figure for *gun homicides* then for fairness of 
comparison, Mike Moore should have used figures from the other countries 
that included justifiable homicides as well as murders. He didn't. 
Comparing 'like with like' is a basic standard of accuracy.

If he added in the way described, we have a situation where he either 
chose to unfairly inflate US figures in comparison to other countries, 
or at the very least, he was totally careless about ensuring the figures 
used were compatible. Either way, I expect better from a documentary.

I mean - I really wonder. Am I unique in expecting documents that claim 
to be factual, to actually make reasonable efforts to be factual?

Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that 
need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia