Figures don't lie, but ...

... liars sure can figure; and so it goes.  As a statistician I can understand the utility of statistics, but people who have no business using statistics are making pronouncements and decisions based upon statistics. You are just a number, I am just a number, we are all just numbers. Once we become numbers, we are no longer human. We are just an abstract entity. Even with a discrete number we lose our identity to another set of abstract entities, percentages, means, medians, standard deviations. We may be part of a regression (or correlation) and we will never be able to find ourselves in there nor will anyone else. So what happens when a person is dehumanized? Well, it is easy to disregard them, to not care about them, it is easier to cause them harm.

So who are these miscreants who are dehumanizing us with their numbers; they are the statisticians, the pollsters, the economists, the CEOs, the politicians, etc. Do they even stop to think about who they effect, or do they just think about how the numbers will change? Do they even care? Not as long as the numbers support their position.

In addition, statistics are often fudged in order to gild the lilly. Take for example inflation. Inflation determined the amount of COLA that was applied to Social Security, but in the opinion of some these old geezers were getting too much money, so they changed the index. In the mean time, CEOs are hauling in millions. Take the unemployment figures that come out each month, They are based on the number of people collecting unemployment compensation, but when your benefits run out, you are no longer included in the unemployment figure. Ha, you are not only not human, but now you are not even a number! Need I say more?

Know It All Politicians

It never ceases to amaze me how politicians can be so certain of their conclusions. In the current controversy about whether or not to bail out the auto industry, both sides are so sure of their positions that it is scary. The Neocon free trader, let the market rule bunch say that the only thing to do is to let the big three go bankrupt, let the market rule. The other side says no, that if we let the big three co bankrupt, that will pitch us into a depression, put millions of people out of work, and we can't afford to let this happen. There are more issues than those mentioned above. There is the issue of our national security, of our ability to support ourselves and produce what we need. The auto industry is one of our last that produces any industrial products. Try to buy an American made TV or radio. Hell, we can't even clothe ourselves!

The only thing that I have not heard these know it all politicians and pundits say is "What if I am wrong, what are the consequences of my being wrong"? Don't hold your breath waiting for these arrogant SOBs to even suggest that they could be wrong. Someone needs to do an analysis of the possible alternatives and outcomes.

RepubliCONS Didn't Learn Their Lesson

The Republicans are the same old mean spirited hacks, they did not learn anything from the election. John Boehner, R. Ohio is already taking swipes at Obama because Obama picked Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff. I can see that nothing is going to change. The Slobbering Neanderthal Right Wing Wackos are going to go after Obama just like they went after Clinton. The politics of destruction is alive and well in Washington. We can see that it is all about their own hold on power that motivates the Republicans, it is not about the country. And they questioned Obama's patriotism?


While I did not vote for Obama, I think that it is time to give him support and a chance to see what he can do. That is how I treated Bush during his first term. Hell, Obama has not even been sworn in yet. However these Neocons are not about to do that, they rather see Obama and the country fail. Mr. Boehner, why don't you just keep your mouth shut?