"Some Things To Consider Later" Official Transcript
Episode 5
Aired April 26, 2007

ANNOUNCER: This is BOR, Public Radio.

("SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER LATER" THEME MUSIC)
MELISSA WORTHINGTON, CO-HOST: This is "Some Things To Consider Later." I'm Melissa Worthington.

ROBERT SCHEINSTEIN, HOST: And I'm Robert Scheinstein. Our top story: an Amish man has been killed in a ride-by shooting. From Pennsylvania, domestic affairs correspondent Miami Bohica has this report.

MIAMI BOHICA: Pennsylvania police reported that Amish farmer Ezekiel Kaufman was shot to death by three men riding by his house in a horse and buggy. Police have arrested three Amish men for the ride-by shooting and believe the murder was gang-related.

BOHICA: Authorities reported that Kaufman was milking one of his cows when a black horse and buggy drove up to his barn. Several men in the buggy opened fire on Kaufman with muskets, stopped to reload, and fired again before driving away at the high speed of ten miles an hour. 

BOHICA: The attackers were described as middle-aged bearded men in black suits with no buttons. In other words, the police could not identify them. However, Police officer Henry Arbour traced the hoofprints to a horse belonging to Jebediah Raber, the leader of a rival Amish gang called the Butter Churns.

OFFICER ARBOUR: The competition among the Amish for the sale of their quaint handmade products is fierce. All the Amish families have their own turf, and they fight to keep it. It seems that Ezekiel's gang tried to sell some quilts to tourists in the territory of the Butter Churns. That started a war that's been raging ever since.

BOHICA: After the shooting, members of Kaufman's gang gathered at the local church to vow revenge. Amish preacher Wilbur Hawthorne yelled a message to the Butter Churns.

HAWTHORNE: Yonder fellows carry no knowledge of the fury thou hast unleashed. Yay verily, we shall raise a barn of whoop-[expletive] on thy buttocks.

BOHICA: For BOR Public Radio in Pennsylvania, this is Miami Bohica.

WORTHINGTON: In other news, the US Labor Department released economic data today, but no one understands it. Financial correspondent Jeweep Kikigger has this report.

JEWEEP KIKIGGER: The US Labor Department released its latest figures charting the state of the nation's economy. The Labor Department frequently releases data including the strength of the job markets, the Gross National Product, and net exports. Much of it is hard to understand for the average citizen, but this time, even the experts are confused. Whereas many economists frequently disagree about whether the numbers indicate strength or weakness in the US economy, this is the first time that economists couldn't understand it at all.

KIKIGGER: Professor Archibald Gray, professor of economics at Harvard University, is one of those baffled by the results. 

GRAY: I've gone over the report several times, including the indexes and appendix. I have consulted with the leading economists in both this country and throughout the world. And none of us have the slightest idea what it means. I mean, they said the stock structure index has increased fifteen points, and the deflation barometric curve has declined. I've never even heard of those.

KIKIGGER: The Federal Reserve invited several leading experts on macroeconomics and microeconomics to try to analyze the Labor Department's numbers. Yesterday, Stephen Owens, the head of the project, stood before the reporters at a podium, flanked by hundreds of charts and graphs, and announced their findings; nothing.

OWENS: We got jack. We found so many contradictions and confusing data that half of our team had to quit early from severe headaches. I'll admit, we've been through this sort of thing before. Usually, we can look at the numbers and make things up, but this time we're stumped.

KIKIGGER: The incident has caused sharp criticism and questioning of the entire field of economic forecasting. Many economists have announced their intention to retire and become television weather forecasters instead. For BOR Public Radio, this is Jeweep Kikigger.

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