Lying with Statistics
From the WSJ's Best of the Web from last Friday comes a perfect example of liars lying with numbers and/or statistics:
In the Long Run, We're All Dead
"With only 10 days left to go, 2005 already may prove to be the deadliest year for the metro area's homeless," reports Denver's Rocky Mountain News:
Representatives for the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless read the names of 122 men and women--those who died on the streets or eventually died after living on the streets this year--during a memorial candlelight vigil at Denver's City and County Building, where the Christmas lights temporarily remained off. Last year, the names of 112 men and women were read.
"Those who . . . eventually died after living on the streets"? Does this mean--well, yes, it does:
Deborah Cameron, communications and advocacy specialist for the homeless coalition, pointed out that the fatalities covered a variety of causes, including natural, accidental and homicide. They also included men and women who used to be homeless, but eventually were discovered deceased in a home setting.
So these people want us to worry about the plight of the homeless who die at home?
Of course, this isn't the first time we've observed this seemingly rather transparent tactic of inflating death tolls. Last week we noted an AP story suggesting that survivors of Hurricane Katrina were actually victims if they later died of "connections . . . to the storm" that "are not necessarily obvious."
And in both 2002 and 2004 we noted that the Japanese media (and government too, presumably) include in the Hiroshima death toll survivors who died of old age decades later.
Can we at least do the same with Pearl Harbor?
As to that last question, I say Damn Right! Many servicemen died in battle after Pearl Harbor, in both WWII and Korea. And the rest that are now dead died from other causes, including old age. So, under that reasoning, their deaths should be directly attributable to the Japanese attack on 12/7/41.
And the larger point is: do not trust anyone's math or statistical presentation without looking at the methodology. If they want to make you feel sorry or guilty, they are probably lying. If they are liberals, they are definitely lying.
In the Long Run, We're All Dead
"With only 10 days left to go, 2005 already may prove to be the deadliest year for the metro area's homeless," reports Denver's Rocky Mountain News:
Representatives for the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless read the names of 122 men and women--those who died on the streets or eventually died after living on the streets this year--during a memorial candlelight vigil at Denver's City and County Building, where the Christmas lights temporarily remained off. Last year, the names of 112 men and women were read.
"Those who . . . eventually died after living on the streets"? Does this mean--well, yes, it does:
Deborah Cameron, communications and advocacy specialist for the homeless coalition, pointed out that the fatalities covered a variety of causes, including natural, accidental and homicide. They also included men and women who used to be homeless, but eventually were discovered deceased in a home setting.
So these people want us to worry about the plight of the homeless who die at home?
Of course, this isn't the first time we've observed this seemingly rather transparent tactic of inflating death tolls. Last week we noted an AP story suggesting that survivors of Hurricane Katrina were actually victims if they later died of "connections . . . to the storm" that "are not necessarily obvious."
And in both 2002 and 2004 we noted that the Japanese media (and government too, presumably) include in the Hiroshima death toll survivors who died of old age decades later.
Can we at least do the same with Pearl Harbor?
As to that last question, I say Damn Right! Many servicemen died in battle after Pearl Harbor, in both WWII and Korea. And the rest that are now dead died from other causes, including old age. So, under that reasoning, their deaths should be directly attributable to the Japanese attack on 12/7/41.
And the larger point is: do not trust anyone's math or statistical presentation without looking at the methodology. If they want to make you feel sorry or guilty, they are probably lying. If they are liberals, they are definitely lying.
posted by RightinFlorida | 9:41 AM
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Very cool design! Useful information. Go on! »
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