I should have put it as "Texas is in the middle of the pack in the US". But there are at least a couple ways that could be challenged as well: (a) middle of a list of states is not the same as having equal populations above and below; (b) it raises the question of whether the U.S. murder rate is a reasonable benchmark.
On HN, really anything is subject to some kind of challenge.
I like comparing the two states because they are both big (and therefore not as subject to cherry-picking) and have fairly different governing philosophies.
At the end of the day, you don't choose a state based on minimizing your chances of lightning strikes. You stop climbing trees in the middle of a thunderstorm and you forget about it.
Maybe you'd choose specific cities or areas, but state is kind of ridiculous.
On HN, really anything is subject to some kind of challenge.
I like comparing the two states because they are both big (and therefore not as subject to cherry-picking) and have fairly different governing philosophies.
At the end of the day, you don't choose a state based on minimizing your chances of lightning strikes. You stop climbing trees in the middle of a thunderstorm and you forget about it.
Maybe you'd choose specific cities or areas, but state is kind of ridiculous.