Category: News

Statistics vs Bill O’Reilly critics

I saw this link posted of a Huffington Post page that is parroting a Media Matters claim that O’Reilly is using fuzzy math, but I don’t get it…

oreillymathfacebook

Most of you probably caught why this is allegedly a dumb thing to say right away, but when I saw it I was left with a big “wtf?” until the person who posted it explained the accusation to me…

I commented on the posted item asking “what evidence do you have that countries with higher populations do NOT experience vastly more fatal accidents and fatal crimes?”. Then I received more understanding on what exactly Media Matters and the HuffPo are charging:

Stephanie: Did you watch the clip? He says that America’s life expectancy is lower than Canada because “America has 10 times as many people which translates into 10 times as many accidents, crimes…”

So what he is saying is that is this. Say Canada has 100 people and 5 die due to accidents and crimes. “America has ten times as many people and ten times as many accidents and crime”. Therefore, America would have 1000 people and 50 would die from accidents and crimes. Thus 5% die from accidents and crimes in both countries. His argument, therefore, makes no sense, as he argues that America has a lower life expectancy because the same proportion of people dies from accidents and crime in America as inCanada.

Ah, I see now… The 3 of them are creating a straw man argument by deleting the context of the original statement which is right there in the video in order falsely impugn O’Reilly for making an alleged fallacious statement.

The email noted “life expectancy in Canada under our health system is higher than the USA” and O’Reilly responded that this is to be expected because the USA suffers higher car accidents and deadly crime and not lack of medical care. No argument based on the statistical fallacy you describe was made because no statistics were given. O’Reilly is speaking colloquially, and not citing “10 times” or “10 percent” in any official capacity, but rather is making an astute and accurate observation that America’s life expectancy is lower (78 vs Canada’s 80) due to factors that have nothing to do with either countries health care system. He attributes the higher death by car and crime number to higher population, leading me to ask what makes

Obama website to display transparency contains entire pages blacked out

Irony: The $18 million contract to build a website to make federal stimulus spending transparent was released – with entire pages blacked out.

So much for change we can believe in:

Back in July, a software company named Smartronix landed an $18 million contract to build a Web site where taxpayers could easily track billions in federal stimulus money. It was just another part of the Obama administration’s ongoing effort to bring transparency to stimulus spending, we were told.

But it seems the drive for transparency doesn’t cover the contract itself.

After weeks of prodding by ProPublica and other organizations, the General Services Administration released copies of the contract and related documents that are so heavily blacked out they are virtually worthless.

Don’t believe us? Take a look.

ProPublica sought the contract under the Freedom of Information Act to find out what kind of site Smartronix planned to build and to assess whether it justified the cost, which Republican critics of the stimulus plan called “unreal.”

Ed Pound, the director of communications for the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, defended the redactions as “legitimate.” The Web site Smartronix is to build will replace Recovery.gov, the existing stimulus Web portal run by the transparency board.

“I’m not concerned about whether journalists are concerned about this,” Pound said. “We have been very transparent.”

The GSA declined to comment, but said in its response to ProPublica’s FOIA request that such redactions were allowed if material “involves substantial risk of competitive injury” to a contractor.

rahm door shut

Some sections of the contract were redacted in their entirety. They include:

In all, 25 pages of a 59-page technical proposal — the main document in the package — were redacted completely. Of the remaining pages, 14 had half or more of their content blacked out.

Fishy info

The Whitehouse is asking people to send “fishy” information they’re seeing online to flag@whitehouse.gov so the Obama administration can lay the truth-hammer down on any stray dis-info nails. In theory, I love the idea, but some Obama critics are freaking out about its Orwellian implications, like Obama is going to use these emails to come after anyone who’s talking smack about his HopeandChange master plan.

The White House cannot delete communications, nor keep information about citizens exercising their free speech rights. Linda Douglass admits the White House is Breaking the law.

Linda Douglas is a disaster

Some people are just not willing to give the Obama administration any benefit of the doubt at all and former ABC reporter turned Whitehouse media relations employee Linda Douglas is gonna set all ya alls straight, or something.

Unfortunately for poor Linda, her position has been a bit of a clusterfuck disaster.

Just because Obama said he “would like to see” a single payer Healthcare plan, doesn’t mean that was REALLY what he “would like to see”. Gawd u guyz. lol.

Glenn Beck calls Douglas a Disinformation Czar and introduced on two occasions his own disinformation Disinformation Czar, also known as Stu, the producer of his radio show…

the update:

Glenn Beck thinks Obama is racist

Beck is wrong, but it is more wrong for the shallow minded hippies who oppose him to brush him off as just a nut and an asshole so they don’t have to burn the calories actually defending the President they support.

Protesters constantly and illegally called for the murder of president Bush while he was in office, and hardly any such cases were prosecuted and a total of zero of them were the discussions of cable news shows and mainstream media reports of concern. Bush as Hitler was a popular meme among the hippie detractors and a small faction within those same hippie detractors are now trying to get that label stuck on Obama (though will no success as most of their fellow liberals like the guy). How come this wasn’t an OMFG moment back then, but now one dude says he thinks a President who attended a Black Nationalist church for 20 years might have a problem with race and this is the time to freak the fuck out?…really?

Glenn Explains His Statement made on Fox & Friends. Not by any consensus definition (Political Correctness Demanding There Be No Such Thing As A Black Racist) but by the standards that the Media has employed against whites there is no question Obama isa racist.

Still not satisfied? Beck continues explaining in a continuation of the clip above:

Shake Weight women exercise…I don’t get it

This Shake Weight exercise for women infomercial has gone viral because there are apparently thousands of morons and 13 year olds that see literally any clasped hand gesture to have a clear association with jerking off. I don’t get it at all. At no point in this video do any of the girls make a single motion that resembles penis stimulation in the slightest way, yet that exact imagery is obvious enough to a lot of people.

What? No one handles a penis like this. Not dudes, not girls, not your doctor or uncle when they tell you to keep it your little secret – no one. I dont understand it… It’s like how people call the Washington monument a phallic symbol. Huh? Whose dick is a cube with a pyramid head? Why are there supposed penises in everything these days?

Debbie Gibsons Pedo fans?

Debbie Gibson 80s hair tail and keyboardDebbie Gibson was before my time, but apparently she was some kind of sensation in the 1980’s. But Gibson recently talked to Fox News about how at just 16 the “Foolish Beat” singer was exposed to what Fox calls, “the very sinister side of showbiz”:

“It is very disheartening that there are so many older men that prey on young performers,” Gibson told Tarts in an exclusive interview. “The younger you are, the more innocent you are, the more wholesome your image is, the weirder the fans become in terms of older men wanting to corrupt little girls. Even the way the paparazzi stalk the younger artists is very different from following around adults – I find that very disturbing.”

But what is even more disturbing than dirty male “fans” was the fact that Gibson’s own peeps were often the ones on the prey.

“There would be older male record executives trying to take me to parties by myself but my mom always be like ‘she’s a sixteen year old girl, she’s not going into an atmosphere with over 21-year-olds and alcohol!’ I hadn’t had enough life experience for those situations,” Gibson admitted.

At no time in the article does Gibson mention pedophilia, which is sexual attraction toward pre-pubescent children.

Sexual attraction toward post-pubescent teenagers is called “being male” and pursuing a sexual relationship with a post pubescent teenager under 18 is called “being a sleaze”. Neither however are examples of “pedophilia”, and Gibson doesn’t seem to be responsible for the inaccurate word usage.

The term appears to be an editorial insertion by FoxNews.com column author Hollie McKay.

Random video to put the “who the eff is Debbie Gibson?” question into context for this story:

Parents are joining Facebook. media notices

Oh Crap. My Parents Joined Facebook.
myparentsjoinedfacebook.com

What Happens When Parents Join Facebook – TIME

There’s no buzzkill quite like getting a friend request on Facebook from Mommy and Daddy dearest. Not to mention the philosophical quandaries that result: Do I accept? If I accept, do they go on limited profile? If they’re on limited profile, what do they get to see? Will they bug me and my friends? For many, the easier solution is just to bail on Facebook entirely.

When Mom or Dad Asks To Be a Facebook ‘Friend’ – Washington Post

Across the country, Facebook users are contemplating similar questions when they log onto their accounts. More and more moms and dads are signing onto Facebook to keep up with their offspring. Not only are they friending (or attempting to friend) their sons and daughters, they’re friending their sons’ and daughters’ friends.

Some, like Matt, take the requests in stride. He ultimately friended his dad. Others are less sanguine, voicing their dismay via online groups that decry parental intrusion and offer tips on how to screen out mom and dad. (“Just go onto their computers and delete their accounts.” “Just don’t add them as a friend or any1 that is a co-worker with ur parents duh.”) Even parenting experts are getting involved, offering their own tips on proper Facebook etiquette.

Teens to parents: It’s our Facebook – USA TODAY

In September 2005, Facebook opened its doors to high-schoolers, then in September 2006, to all comers — and coming they are.

That month, about 75,000 active users on the site were 35 or older, accounting for fewer than 1% of all active users, according to data provided by Facebook. By August 2007, the number shot up 4,700% to 3.6 million active users 35 and older. That accounts for about 9% of active users.

Living in the world without the usual social barriers between generations is causing a little discomfort for some and downright angst for others.

“Think about what it would be like if your mom or dad enrolled in your high school class,” says Steve Jones, communications professor at the University of Illinois, Chicago. “They don’t belong there. That’s the same feeling (children) have: ‘This is ours. This belongs to me. This is not for parents.’ ”

The generation that grew up with the Internet has “this sense of ‘This is not something you’ll ever get. You won’t understand what we’re doing. You’re going to ruin it. We’ll never be ourselves if there is an adult around here.’ “

‘Omg my mom joined Facebook!!’ – New York Times

At Facebook.com, I eyed the home page (“Everyone can join”) with suspicion. I doubted Facebook’s sincerity. What could a site created by a student who was born three years after I started mispronouncing “Henri Cartier-Bresson” want with me?

Realizing that these were cynical, mocking thoughts cheered me — I felt edgier already — and gave me the courage to join.

After I got my Profile page, the first thing I did was to search for other members — my daughter and her friends — to ask them to be my friends.

Shockingly, quite a few of them — the friends, not the daughter — accepted my invitation and gave me access to their Profiles, including their interests, hobbies, school affiliations and in some cases, physical whereabouts.

Cool parents opt out of Facebook – Seatle PI

Pretty soon, Facebook and I really opened up. I needed it constantly. I started to check the site as much as my e-mail. I shared my cell phone, address, gory details about my incompetence in the kitchen and every photo in which I don’t look supremely unattractive (my friends’ appearances notwithstanding). Browsing my friends’ profiles became a habit. Facebook is my drug. My hub. My swirling vortex of social chaos. It lets me stay in touch on my own time, on my own terms. I sail its pristine blue and white pages with the wind at my back and a clear view of my social landscape. What was life before Facebook? Did I ever actually keep a real live photo album? Call friends at home — on land lines? Send letters?

Forget e-mail and the Internet. Without Facebook, I’d feel … shipwrecked.

The whitest “Black icon” there was

Marc Lamont Hill is too bright a guy to be peddling this bad of a race-based FAIL. as O’Reo opined: dude lives his life non-culturally black, bleaches his skin white and chooses to in vitro 3 kids with 2 white parents and he’s a “Black icon”? um. how bout an “American icon” since there’s zero things “black” about him beyond his DNA.

Tonight O’Reilly read an e-mail from someone asking if Elvis is a white icon since his music crossed racial lines too. the answer is of course NO because that would be racist and reta–wait a tick…