Category Archives: uncategorized

William M. Briggslaments the abuse of statistics in many of its applications. But I really think that he undermines his case when he attacks “classical statistics” itself rather than its abuse. Such abuse is definitely all too common in many … Continue reading →

I have always thought that if anyone had a brain the financial world should have collapsed when the US “debt ceiling” was first enacted, since it amounts to a declaration of total financial irresponsibility by the largest participant in that … Continue reading →

In this sports roundtable at The Atlantic, Patrick Hruby, Jake Simpson, and Hampton Stevens discuss their reactions to the prospect of Lance Armstrong’s upcoming interview with Oprah Winfrey, and I must say I’m most closely aligned with Hruby. The best … Continue reading →

Ta-Nehisi Coates’ writing at The Atlantic often hits the nail for me (thank you Izabella). Here he discusses the fact that (contra Django) the sentiment of ex-slaves appears to have been significantly less vengeful than that of those who now … Continue reading →

It’s no insult to Obama to say that TIME’s “Runner-Up”, Malala Yousafzai would have been a better choice than the boring predictability of giving a second nod to a re-elected president. Actually if Obama has a second year to own … Continue reading →

The Guardian has  jumped on one particular response from Peter Higgs during an interview with a Spanish newspaper in which Higgs criticises Richard Dawkins over anti-religious ‘fundamentalism’ “And exactly what kind of ‘fundamentalism’ is that?” asks Jerry Coyne. Well actually there are … Continue reading →

In a recent article in The New Atlantis,  Austin L Hughes addresses a number of instances of scientific hubris, tags them with the popular label “scientism”, and asks: Is scientism defensible? Is it really true that natural science provides a satisfying … Continue reading →

This story by Joshua Foer about John Quijada, his invented language, Ithkuil, and it’s adoption by a cult-like group in Russia is fascinating on many levels.  Quijada seems much more realistic and modest regarding the significance of his work than others who … Continue reading →

Watch this and sign the petition. It has been obvious for decades (and given the history of alcohol prohibition it was obvious before the whole thing started) that the insane war on drugs was causing more harm than the use … Continue reading →

For once I find myself agreeing with Briggs! His post on the debate between Sam Harris and William Lane Craig (neither of whom I really cared to hear more from) prompted me to actually watch it – and I did … Continue reading →

Dying Federal Prisoners Rarely Granted ‘Compassionate Release,’ Study Finds | ThinkProgress. The overall statistics may or may not be justified and in any case may not be attributable to one person, but to overrule both the regional director and the … Continue reading →

Life’s real value « The Philosophical Primate. Since I see no external source of value in the world, I do have to consider value as something assigned by humans rather than existing independent of human opinions. And I see its … Continue reading →

Robert Reich is right about this and if Obama screws it up I’ll move to Canada and never vote for him again.

Jeffrey Goldberg at The Atlantic has what seems at first like a good idea. But what percentage of UN reps would endorse the principle that every person has the right to voting citizenship in some state?

As a number of people have pointed out, the US’s fiscal “cliff” is no such thing. The ending of the Bush tax cuts on Dec 31 might perhaps slow down the recovery a bit and require budget rollbacks in a … Continue reading →

Is anything more important than this?

Robert Wright has a thoughtful response to those who refuse to support the “lesser evil” in an election. An election is not the same as an opinion poll. It is where an actual decision gets made, and failure to select … Continue reading →

Links are provided in a NYTimes article by Nicholas Kristof. Nothing is more important for global security and general decency at this time than to increase the education and financial independence of girls and women.

‘In VP Debate:Ryan Told 24 Myths In 40 Minutes’ (cf ThinkProgress). But it did become apparent in that debate that there is just one clear issue that separates the slates in this election – namely whether to slash the future … Continue reading →

A couple of Calgary Math Ed students have announced on LinkedIn that they are starting a Concept Study of Fractions. This is a good idea as the topic is often challenging for students and I suspect that one reason lies … Continue reading →