Quote of the Day

Yeah, we know about lying with statistics

October 26, 2018 Analysis

“It is easy to lie with statistics, but it is easier to lie without them.” Frederick Mosteller (1916-2006)

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The Requirements of Intelligence (Both Military & Organizational)

January 5, 2017 Defense

From The Secret War: Spies, Cyphers, and Guerrillas, 1939-1945, by Max Hastings:   “The first requirement for successful use of secret data is that commanders should be willing to analyze it honestly. Herbert Meyers, a veteran of Washington’s National Intelligence Council, defined his business as the presentation of ‘organized information’; He argued that ideally intelligence […]

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Quotes of the Day on the Albany County Nursing Home

September 20, 2012 County Government

A couple of reactions to the latest Albany County attempt to build a new nursing home. Perhaps we’ll get into details later, but the only real change from the last version of the County’s application to the latest revision is an increased revenue estimate because they think the managed long-term care changes the State is […]

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Data and Stories; Stories and Data

September 16, 2012 Data

Quote of the day from Brene Brown: Stories are just data with a soul. And more personal stuff in a 20 minutes on Youtube talk, such as on vulnerability, along with research observations.

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Today’s Quote of the Day is About a Monkey, Politics and Democracy

August 24, 2012 Governance

Oddly enough, today’s quote of the day is about a macaque monkey that’s been running loose in Tampa, FL. And no, this is not about the upcoming Republican convention, to be held in Tampa. But it is about governance and democracy and finding ways to accommodate ourselves to others, including other primates, it’s from Jon […]

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Other People’s Money

May 16, 2012 Economics

The journalist character, Melissa Tregarthen in Justin Cartwright’s, Other People’s Money: “I am a number,” she writes. “I am a statistic. I am a sacrifice on the altar of the free market. I have no power, except the power of words.” This is immediately after being given the “chop,” being laid off.

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Wyckoff Heights, New York State, the PPACA, and the Supreme Court: What’s the Connection?

March 26, 2012 Economics

Yesterday in Once Again, Why Universal Coverge, I re-wrote what I written in 2005 and in other terms, even earlier: Because we take the half-step of expecting the healthcare system to provide care to all, but don’t go all the way, we have instead a hidden and half-baked system. The lack of universal coverage provides […]

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An Old Quote Recalled

March 23, 2012 Politics

In today’s New York Times, we find State Senate Race Spotlights a Feeble Democratic Party by Michael Powell. Powell recalls Meade Esposito, former Chair of the Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club in Southern Brooklyn which, in its good times, gave us two recent NYS Assembly Speakers. Powell’s own words are pretty good when he describes Esposito […]

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We Have a New Candidate for Humpty Dumpty

March 21, 2012 Budget

We said here that it seemed that the leadership of the Albany County Legislature was trying to cover their tracks by confusing everyone. Are they succeeding? Here’s the latest story from the Times Union. We’ll get to the substance later, but at least the State Health Department isn’t buying what Shawn Morse is selling: What’s […]

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Orwell on Political Language

March 19, 2012 Politics

Something tells me that this will be a good week to start with a reminder from Orwell: Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. George Orwell, Why I Write, 1946

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