Lies, damn lies, and statistics...........

 

Data can be biased: There is a widely held belief that data is objective, at least if it takes numerical form. In the hands of analysts who are biased or have agendas, data can be molded to fit pre-conceptions. 

-Aswath Damodaran, as culled from here

Sean Ono Lennon..................

 

.......................seeks refuge in humor.

This is one bandwagon........................

.........................I won't be getting on.  Talk about slippery slopes...

This may not be a "laugh out loud"......

.................................quote, but one wonders whether the authors were writing tongue in cheek:

"Therefore, the next U.S. president needs to encourage its regional partners, especially Saudi Arabia and the Gulf emirates, by providing policy guidance, know-how, and training to support these governments’ efforts to diversify their economies, manage retrenchment of social services, and trim unsustainable welfare programs."

-as extracted from this essay

We nourished your extremism............

An interesting take on the "endless capacity for masochism and self-loathing" that some tribes revel in can be found here.

Sign of the times....................................

On paying a fair share...........................

Scott weighs in with a ghost story.  Those pesky ghosts.......

Surely you jest............................

A new study from the University of Michigan: 

Results: Across all nine presidential administrations, infant mortality rates were below trend when the President was a Democrat and above trend when the President was a Republican. This was true for overall, neonatal, and postneonatal mortality, with effects larger for postneonatal compared to neonatal mortality rates. Regression estimates show that, relative to trend, Republican administrations were characterized by infant mortality rates that were, on average, three percent higher than Democratic administrations.

My conclusion: we should be very wary of academia.  What's yours?

thanks mungo

A most productive morning's work.......

Peter Sellers at his finest:  "We do not, and cannot, accept the principle that incompetence justifies dismissal. That is victimization."




Thanks Patrick