I've seen some bad news stories in my time, but this one takes the cake.

misANTHrope said:

Why in the world does this person have a job writing news copy?

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Because journalistic standards are in decline?

Sorry guys, that article is actually my fault. I let my 3 year old play with my computer and he apparently found some way to submit what he typed up.

I have to think that anyone who walks "right up" to a counter with an SKS probably isn't much of a threat. It's the man who walks to about three feet away from the counter with an SKS who worries me...

Icebones, that is most definately an SKS, not an m1a or m14. I could get into why it isnt either rifle, but I wont as it serves no point. Now, on to wording...They call it an assault weapon. Well, it doesnt have a pistol grip or a detachable magazine. Also, it looked like the reporter at the police station was holding a .223 round, which would be 5.56x45, which is in fact longer than a 7.62x39. Kinda sad, but its media, I have very low expectations.

That reporter ain't dumb. He was smart enough to figure that the rifle was either LOADED or maybe UNLOADED.

"According to sources close to the investigation the Sky is falling, after having been shot down by exploding bullets from a rather large gun."!

Post self removed.

He must have been carrying Extreme Shocks in there... aren't they the only ammunition that explodes on impact?

Or, that would be capable of piercing AND exploding on impact at the same time?

I'll take some of those exploding bullets for my 9mm... take that all of you guys who say that my 9mm may get bigger, but your .45 never gets smaller!

The level of thinking involved bothers me more than the abuse of my poor, injured language.

3" Bullets, guys! Don't you know that the SKS is an anti-aircraft weapon!!!!!!!

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That's what the scope is for, shooting high altitude aircraft.

All newspaper articles (including nationally circulated magazines) are written for no higher than an eighth grade reading level.

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And, apparently, a 2nd grade cognitive level.

IIRC, the 7.62x39 complete round is between 2-1/4" to 2-1/2" long, depening upon the particular bullet. The first ".30-cal" class round that breaks the 3" length is the 7.62x54 Soviet round.

The first ".30-cal" class round that breaks the 3" length is the 7.62x54 Soviet round.

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Are those the one's that are sharp on the front end?

They Id'd the weapon wrong. IMO it is a Dragunov. And it does fire the 7.62x54, which as foghorn advised, roughly 3"+ long.

...it was loaded with bullets bigger than three inches long and sharp on the front end...

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Man - Those sharpened bullets must HURT!

A dragunov! it does actually look like something other than an sks in that picture, at least significantly longer barreled than my SKS was.

don't be silly, EXTREEEM SHOX aren't sharpened fully, just in sections., that's why the super-ballistic hydro-wave pressure can work. it needs to force all those individual sharp points surronding the dull center to EXPLOOOODe into a forty inch wide, quarter inch deep wound!

I think it's just a longer barreled SKS sans bayonet. You can make out the bayonet attachment band just behind the front sight. As to the article; it actually pained me to read it. The only thing that came to mind was the mental image of 100 monkees banging away on 100 typewriters, and turning out something much more coherent than this piece of drivel.

I didn't know that the news media hire 8 year old journalists!

I was scared when I read that article, but then I read the part about the bullets being sharpened at the end! My god! That's legal?!

We need to make sure all bullets are flat so that they don't hurt as much when they hit you.

Man, is English even required anymore to write the n00z?

I laughed out loud at that. Heh. Just when you think you've seen it all...


-T.

Editors will scale articles down in an attempt to meet this ridiculous low standard of reading. I know; I used to write for a local newspaper until I got fed up by people telling me that "ludicrous" and other such words are too "high brow" for the general reading public. I'd blame the editor rather than the author.

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Interestingly enough, the Flesch-Kincaid grade level for the above snippit comes in at 7th grade readability level.

Seriously though, the grade-level reading score of a document does not meaningfully impact its ability to convey logical information until one reaches the extremes of the grade-level spectrum or until one is discussing topics that are inescapably complex (for example, the metaphysical ramifications of Existentialism). An 8th-grade readability level is more than sufficient to accurately convey information if the author is appropriately skilled in his craft. The "dumbing-down" of modern media is not a result of seeking a roughly 8th-grade readability level, but rather is a result of pandering to the demands of most people. Sensationalism sells. A media outlet is not interested in conveying useful data; on the contrary, a media outlet is interested in maximizing public consumption of its product and the easiest and most effective way to accomplish this goal is to sensationalize their stories.

Media's embrace of the lowest common denominator is not the root cause in this case, but instead is the symptom.