Required reading from around the web of the best, most interesting, or most though provoking things we’ve read:
O’Neil: DOJ’s New Religious Liberty Arm Set to Investigate the SPLC?
“‘A dangerous movement, undetected by many, is now challenging and eroding our great tradition of religious freedom,’ Sessions declared, adding that this movement ‘must be confronted and defeated.’ He also lamented that ‘one group can actively target religious groups by labeling them a ‘hate group’ on the basis of their sincerely held religious beliefs.’ Sessions emphasized that the new religious liberty task force represents a sea change from the Obama administration, under which federal agencies often used the SPLC ‘hate group’ markings. His direct reference to the SPLC in his remarks suggested that the new task force may investigate the left-wing smear group.”
Harsanyi: Let’s Debunk The Misleading Panic Over 3-D Guns
“The newest bugaboo of the gun control crowd is the bloodcurdling ‘3-D printer gun.’ Or, as Alyssa Milano, a self-styled expert on these matters, might call it: ‘downloadable death.’ Reporters at CNN ask, ‘3-D guns: Untraceable, undetectable and unstoppable?’ Even President Donald Trump tweeted that ‘he’s looking into 3-D Plastic Guns being sold to the public. Already spoke to NRA, doesn’t seem to make much sense!’ It makes plenty of sense. First of all, ‘3-D Plastic Guns’ aren’t being sold to the public. Nor are ‘downloadable firearms’ or ‘ghost guns.’ These things don’t exist. Data, code, and information is being sold to the public. There is no magical contraption that creates a new gun on demand. Sorry.”
Rodriguez: Study: Media Employment Down 23 Percent over Past Decade
“The Pew Research Center study found that 114,000 employees worked in the media industry—including in newspapers, cable, radio, and broadcast—in 2008, but that number fell by 23 percent to 88,000 employees in 2017. Among newspaper employees, the decline is much more significant. Employment at newspapers dropped by 45 percent between 2008 and 2017.”