On Monday, The New York Times published an article on murder rates that was misleading at best, and fearmongering at worst. "Murder Rates Rising Sharply in Many U.S. Cities," the headline screamed. The lede was just as alarming. It spoke of "a startling rise in murders" this year in cities "across the nation," chief among them Milwaukee, where the increase was said to be "precipitous" -- 104 homicides in 2015 thus far, way above the 86 reported for all of 2014. That is, indeed, a sharp rise.