before I forget to tell you...
From an article in the NYTimes.
Recently, I have started to notice pseudo stats. Numbers that seem to imply something profound, but are missing the data that matters. Take the quote above. On first read, the numbers above seem to indicate that ~ 99% of all incumbents win (or at least, that is how I read it). But, that’s not what it says. It says in one percent of elections, an incumbent lost.
Here’s what it doesn’t say: Of all the elections since 1982, how many of those elections involved an incumbent seeking re-election?
Without changing the numbers above, both of the following statements could be true:
A. Incumbents win 99% of the time.
B. Incumbents lose 100% of the time.
If all 2,958 elections involved an incumbent seeking re-election, and the incumbent lost in 39 of those elections, then A is true.
If only 39 of the 2,958 elections involved an incumbent seeking re-election, and all 39 lost, then B is true.
Don’t get me wrong, I am sure the win percentage for incumbents is shockingly high, but the stat above doesn’t get us there. And it scares me that if I had been reading a bit quicker, I’d be trotting out “99% of all incumbents win” at dinner parties when the conversation veered toward the horror show that is Albany.
I first heard Johnny Cash’s version of Hurt on a mix that Luke made for me. I was driving down Falls Road in Baltimore and just about stopped the car.

This isn’t a memory… I was born 6 months later, but I want this shirt.
Supposedly, 25,134fans drank 60,000 beers. Pandemonium ensued.
It all started when a drunk Indians fan attempted to steal Texas outfielder Jeff Burroughs’ cap. From an entry in Wikipedia:
“Confronting the fan, Burroughs tripped, and Texas manager Billy Martin, thinking that Burroughs had been attacked, charged onto the field, his players right behind, some wielding bats. A large number of intoxicated fans – some armed with knives, chains, and portions of stadium seats that they had torn apart – surged onto the field, and others hurled bottles from the stands… Realizing that the Rangers’ lives might be in danger, Ken Aspromonte, the Indians’ manager, ordered his players to grab bats and help the Rangers.”
My favorite part is that all of the bases were stolen during the riot (and were never returned).

Soundwave holds a special place in my consciousness.
Am I making it up or did he actually have an actual transforming tape that fit into the cassette deck?
** Google Search **
Hmmm… according to Wikipedia, there were several micro-cassettes Buzzsaw, Laserbeak, Ravage, Rumble, Frenzy, and Ratbat.
(via dens)