43% of All Statistics Are Made Up
Kiss kiss, bang bang: A rash of shootings has brought Las Vegas into the spotlight recently. For more than a decade local media boasted that between 5,000 and 6,000 people moved to the Valley of the Dollars each month. But nobody seemed to take notice that all the incoming Vegans were not doctors, lawyers and casino executives. Many were second chance people who had issues with theft, drugs, rock and roll, and violence. Gang members from the streets of other large metropolitan areas moved with the flow and as local population topped two million, big city problems became part of the new Las Vegas.
The gun violence is not unique to the Valley. Bucolic campuses in Virginia and Illinois have been hit with gun violence. Yet spineless politicians continue to pander to the gun lobbies while the proliferation of weapons continues. Said lobbyists are so frightened on both sides of the aisle that despite the gun violence wreaked on the American public, nary a word of solving the problem has passed the lips of any candidate. Until Americans grow a spine the violence will continue.
Hershey, Utah? Probably the best know name associated with Utah is Senator Orrin Hatch. But the state that gave us crickets, BYU, and a basketball team named the Jazz has cut a sweet deal with chocolate company Hershey. America’s largest manufacturer of chocolate and other sweets announced recently that it will accept an incentive from Utah and build a distribution center in Ogden, just north of the City of Salt. To date Ogden was best known as the home of Weber State University.
What good can possibly come of such a move? Will Reese’s Pieces become Tabernacle Tidbits? Will Hershey’s Kisses become Brigham’s Busses? Will the Great Salt Lake be renamed Sugar Central? Possibilities are endless.
Demos look like dummies: Say what you will about the Democratic presidential nomination race. It is colorful (no pun intended), offers two strong candidates running neck and neck, and well organized. Well, maybe not so well organized in the Silver State. Dems had a convention last weekend and rented a room at Bally’s that could hold up to 5,000. Problem was more than 10,000 showed up. I suppose that is better than holding a convention where nobody came, but not by much.
Perhaps the parties should share leadership. The Republican frontrunner, Sen. John McCain is a military man from Arizona. He could have given the Democrats some sound advice on organization. Instead this fiasco reeked of “Ready, fire, aim.”
Turban Warfare: Did Hillary’s campaign leak a picture of Barack wearing an African turban to the news media? If so (or if not), this is a story because? Who cares? At the risk of being accused of plagiarism of one of Senator Obama’s lines, this is the silly season in politics. Dump the minutia. On with the substantive stuff – like Hillary ditching that yellow blazer or Barack taking notes, or whether or not John made googley eyes at a female lobbyist.
A little blogging music maestro… a silly song for the silly season: “You Can’t Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd,” by Roger Miller.
Dr. Forgot
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
As the title says that 43% of all statistics are made up, a statistic that appears to be true in my world and many others, 87% of all people in all professions are incompetent. This can be seen in many aspects of our daily life. I feel that can be traced to the parents lackadaisical attitude on letting their children run wild and not taking responsibility for their actions. As future parents go, so goes the future of the US. Currently, this is not a good sight.
A little blogging music maestro… "Working in a Coal Mine" by Lee Dorsey for many would seem appropriate to point them in the right direction.
Post a Comment