August 13, 2026

Archives for May 2011

When headlines state the obvious…

Random number generators and cable news commentators

The source of all those exit polls, hot air, statistics, and prognosticators fodder… xkcd: Sports. See also “Mark Twain.” (“There are lies, damn lies, and then there are statistics.”)

Why did the GOP lose NY-26? Not the reason you think.

The winning Democrat only won with 47%, just one point less than Barack Obama got in the district in 2008. Not exactly an awe-inspiring performance. Democrats won only because a third-party candidate—self-proclaimed tea partier Jack Davis—spent a reported $3 million of his own money. Absent Mr. Davis as a spoiler—he got 9% of the vote—Democrats […]

Smart: ‘I know that you know what you did was wrong’ | The Salt Lake Tribune

Brian David Mitchell has been sentenced to life. “I don’t have very much to say to you,” [Elizabeth Smart] said as Mitchell sat with his eyes closed, hands clasped and singing softly. “I know exactly what you did. I know that you know what you did was wrong. You did it with a full knowledge. […]

Is Botox Mom the Most Recent Example of Yellow Journalism In America?

Maybe this is old news to you, but I’m a little behind the curve on non-political new, so it’s news to me: the “Botox Mom” story was a hoax. Thank you, Yellow Journalism for putting fake news front and center. You heard about it on ‘Good Morning, America,’ ‘Inside Edition,’ and, if you live locally […]

What is do you think the state is for?

“The state is the great fiction by which everybody tries to live at the expense of everybody else.” Frederic Bastiat Discuss.

From the WSJ: “Republicans and Mediscare”

The reality is that Medicare “as we know it” will change because it must. The issue is how it will change, and, leaving aside this or that detail, the only alternatives are Mr. Ryan’s proposal to introduce market competition or Mr. Obama‘s plan for ever-tightening government controls on prices and care. Republicans who think they […]