Typically, arguing about the value of a vote ends up turning into a discussion on the Ship of Theseus, George Washington's Axe, or the Sorites paradox, except that instead of which grain of sand did we have to remove to turn a heap of sand into a non-heap, the question is which vote(s) caused a particular candidate to win? The question at least appears to become a lot less philosophical when you're a part of it.
Due to apathy, off-off year elections (i.e., elections on odd-numbered years) tend to have lower voter turn-out than even off year elections. The bad news is that, for whatever reason, Republican-leaning voters tend to be less affected by apathy than Democratic-leaning voters. The good news is that this low turn-out means your vote counts more than it would for even-numbered years. So, go vote!
This is huge news: scientists have discovered a new phylum of bacteria. For those of you who haven't taken a biology class for decades, phylums are right below kingdoms (you know: plants, animals, bacteria, etc.) in the modern biological classification system.
Oh, the bad news? They discovered this phylum in a hospital sink.
I can't say I've been following the race that carefully, other than being forced to be aware about Weiner's sextual habits, but here are a few choice quotes:
With 97 percent of precincts reporting, de Blasio had about 40.2 percent of the total vote. He needs to stay above 40 percent in order to avoid triggering an automatic Oct. 1 runoff. If he cannot, he would face former city Comptroller Bill Thompson, who has 26 percent.
In adolescent rat models, scientists have been able to observe differences in the chemical pathways that govern addiction and vulnerability – a receptor in the brain known as the dopamine D2 receptor is well known to be less present in cases of substance abuse.
OK, admittedly this is not "news", but I couldn't resist posting this. I didn't feel that I had anything to add to it, so I've added it to "In the News". I apologize if that crosses a line…
In the wild (i.e., when we're not talking about contrived examples), data mining involves significant amounts of statistics. There are two common quotes that come to mind when talking about statistics:
There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics. (Popularized by Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens, who attributed it to Benjamin Disraeli, but with uncertain provenance.)
and
The old saying is that “figures will not lie,” but a new saying is “liars will figure.” It is our duty, as practical statisticians, to prevent the liar from figuring; in other words, to prevent him from perverting the truth, in the interest of some theory he wishes to establish. (Carroll D. Wright, a prominent statistician employed by the U.S. government in 1889)
Thousands of people in Ireland have marched on the offices of the prime minister, calling for clear guidelines on abortion law. It follows the death of a woman from blood poisoning after she was denied an abortion.
…
Doctors refused Halappanavar's request to terminate her 17-week pregnancy after she was hospitalized with severe pain during a miscarriage. The fetus was removed days later but both Halappanavar's husband and activists believe the delay contributed to the blood poisoning, and that she might have survived had it been removed earlier.
Nasa's administrator Charles Bolden said: "Today marks the beginning of a new era in exploration... The significance of this day cannot be overstated; a private company has launched a spacecraft to the International Space Station that will attempt to dock there for the first time.
…
The carriage of freight will be the first service to be bought in from external suppliers; the transport of astronauts to and from the station will be the second, later this decade.
The NAACP's 64-member board approved a resolution Saturday supporting "marriage equality" not as a matter of empathy or compassion but as a right guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. In citing this rationale, the 103-year-old organization founded by W.E.B. Du Bois firmly linked the campaign for gay rights to the epic African-American struggle for freedom and justice.
Rick Santorum abruptly suspended his White House campaign Tuesday, clearing the way for front-runner Mitt Romney to claim the Republican presidential nomination.
Mr. Santorum announced the suspension at a news conference Tuesday afternoon, saying he had made the decision over the weekend with his family. Mr. Santorum significantly lagged Mr. Romney in the nominating contest and faced an increasingly difficult challenge in winning the GOP primary in his home state of Pennsylvania, which votes later this month.
I was thinking some about the equivalence that has been made in the Supreme Court between money and speech. What if money actually were speech? What would that mean?
A Republican candidate can beat Obama in the general (43.6 to Obama's 42.4) - as long as the Republican candidate isn't Romney (45.2 to Obama's 47.1), Gingrich (39.9 to Obama's 50.9), Santorum (40.3 to Obama's 50.1), or Paul (41.7 to Obama's 46.8).
On caucus night, precinct officials phoned in results to an automated system after they’d counted the votes by hand. As the last precincts reported their votes, the tally swung back and forth into the wee hours of Jan. 4. Since the Iowa Republican Party announced on caucus night that Romney had edged Santorum by a mere eight votes, it has been collecting certified results forms from Iowa’s counties and precincts.
Thursday’s results are final. Santorum will forever hold a lead with incomplete returns.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry suspended his struggling presidential campaign Thursday and threw his support to Newt Gingrich, a development that could alter the dynamics of the Republican race just two days before the tightening South Carolina primary.
"I believe Newt is a conservative visionary who can transform our country. We've had our differences, which campaigns will inevitably have, and Newt is not perfect, but who among us is?" Perry said at a press conference in Charleston, South Carolina.
With only 23% reporting (although this will change), they're already calling the New Hampshire primary for Obama who's received 81% of the votes thus far cast.
