Monthly Archives: September 2011

Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics (36): Manipulating the X-axis Scale in Graphs

Posted on September 30, 2011 by

Although less common than its sister lie – manipulating the y-axis in graphs – manipulation of the x-axis does occur. But first a technical note: “bins” are clusters of subpopulations for which the frequency of some characteristic is measured. Together, … Continue reading →

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Annals of Heartlessness (8): Last Meals Too Expensive

Posted on September 29, 2011 by

(source) A former Texas inmate who cooked the final meals for hundreds of condemned prisoners on death row has offered to resume the practice at no cost to the state now that officials have disallowed last requests. Brian Price, author … Continue reading →

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Statistical Jokes (33): Generic Graph

Posted on September 29, 2011 by

(source) A similar joke is here. More statistical jokes here.

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The Causes of Poverty (50): The Structure of Income Inequality

Posted on September 28, 2011 by

It seems that one particular aspect of income inequality – namely the degree of inequality between middle income and lower income people – determines the degree of redistribution in a society, and hence the level of poverty of the poorest: … Continue reading →

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Human Rights Maps (151): Child Poverty in the U.K.

Posted on September 27, 2011 by

(source) Manchester and the London borough of Tower Hamlets have the highest proportion, with 27%. More than 20% of children also experienced severe poverty in Birmingham and Liverpool. There are a total of 1.6 million severely poor children in the … Continue reading →

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The Ethics of Human Rights (51): Human Rights and Universal Moral Grammar

Posted on September 26, 2011 by

It seems that human morality is to some extent ingrained in the human mind and that humans possess an innate moral faculty which we can call Universal Moral Grammar (UMG). “Innate” here refers to cognitive systems whose essential properties are … Continue reading →

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Political Graffiti (158): Love of Power and Power of Love

Posted on September 25, 2011 by

(source) More political graffiti here.

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The Causes of Human Rights Violations (29): The Bystander Effect

Posted on September 24, 2011 by

(source, the murder of Kitty Genovese is the archetypical although contested example of the bystander effect) The bystander effect can explain the persistence of certain types or instances of rights violations. If many people witness a person in distress, then … Continue reading →

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Political Graffiti (157): I Am Free

Posted on September 23, 2011 by

(source) A similar one is here. More political graffiti is here.

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Annals of Heartlessness (7): As Narrated by Mr. Scalia

Posted on September 22, 2011 by

(source) Justice Scalia’s view of killing or imprisoning the innocent: There is no basis in text, tradition, or even in contemporary practice (if that were enough), for finding in the Constitution a right to demand judicial consideration of newly discovered … Continue reading →

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