How Randomness Rules Our World and Why We Cannot See It

” Embrace the random. Find the pattern. Know the difference."...

clipped from www.sciam.com Although our intuitions can be useful in dealing with other people and social relationships (which evolved as common and important for a social primate species such as ours when we were struggling to survive in the harsh environs of the Paleolithic), they are misleading when it comes to such probabilistic problems as gambling. clipped from www.sciam.com Extraordinary events do not always require extraordinary causes. Given enough time, they can happen by chance. Knowing this, Mlodinow says, “we can improve our skill at decision making and tame some of the biases that lead us to make poor judgments and poor choices ... and we can learn to judge decisions by the spectrum of potential outcomes they might have produced rather than by the particular result that actually occurred.” Embrace the random. Find the pattern. Know the difference.

McCain record on veteran's issues "abysmal"

"He has received failing grades from Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Disabled Veterans of America, and Vietnam Veterans of America." His pro-veteran talk doesn't match his walk.

clipped from thinkprogress.org If you look at John McCain’s record on veterans issues, it’s a failed one. … Even the Vietnam Veterans of America, those who served with Sen. McCain in Vietnam, have given Sen. McCain a ‘D’ voting record when it comes to voting to improve veterans health care and benefits. … But I think America’s veterans and voters have a right to know before the election that his voting record in the Senate has been a failed one. “If his voting record had prevailed over the last several years, veterans would have poorer health care and fewer benefits than they have today,” He has received failing grades from Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Disabled Veterans of America, and Vietnam Veterans of America. McCain has voted against money for VA outpatient care and treatment and against increasing VA funding by $1.5 billion by closing corporate loopholes, to name a few. 25 million veterans would be shocked and deeply disappointed to find out McCain has a failed voting record on veterans.

Bush Favors Bankers Over Soldiers

clipped from www.truthdig.com It was a weird week to be in the United States. On Tuesday, secretary of the treasury Henry Paulson told us that “this is all about the American taxpayer – that’s all we care about.” But when I flipped the page on my morning paper, I came across the latest gloomy statistic which Americans should care more about. “As of Wednesday evening, 4,162 U.S. service members and 11 Defence Department civilians had been identified as having died in the Iraq war.” By grotesque mischance, $700bn – the cost of George Bush’s Wall Street rescue cash – is about the same figure as the same President has squandered on his preposterous war in Iraq, the war we have now apparently “won” thanks to the “surge” – for which, read “escalation” – in Baghdad. The fact that the fall in casualties coincides with the near-completion of the Shia ethnic cleansing of Sunni Muslims is not part of the story.

Mayor 'just curious' if Obama is the Antichrist

continues:
When asked if he believed Obama was the antichrist, Funderburk replied, "I've got absolutely no way of knowing that."

clipped from www.disinfo.com Mayor 'Just Curious' If Obama is the Antichrist STUART WATSON / NewsChannel 36: Fort Mill Mayor Danny Funderburk says he was “just curious” when he forwarded a chain e-mail suggesting Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama is the biblical antichrist. “I was just curious if there was any validity to it,” Funderburk said in a telephone interview. “I was trying to get documentation if there was any scripture to back it up.” Funderburk apparently sent the e-mail from his business account at Gastonia Sheet Metal where he works as a business agent. The e-mail, which has circulated in the last six months since Obama secured the Democratic nomination, claims the biblical book of Revelation says the antichrist will be in his 40s and of Muslim ancestry. There is no such scripture. And Obama is not a Muslim. But that hasn’t stopped the e-mail. The urban legend Web site Snopes.com first exploded the myth in March. Funderburk forwarded the e-mail this month.

Jobless claims at 7-year high

How could anyone vote for 4 more years of it? Republican policies get thousands of our soldiers killed, push jobs overseas, devalue US international influence, prevent millions of us from getting medical treatment, devastate our economy - and half our voters limp to the polls to beg for more.

clipped from www.msnbc.msn.com Jobless claims remain at a seven-year high Hurricanes Ike, Gustav, slowing economy weigh on labor market The department reported that initial claims for jobless benefits increased by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 497,000. That’s significantly above analysts’ estimate of 475,000. The total is the highest since just after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks seven years ago. U.S. stock futures declined on the report. Dow Jones industrial average futures dropped 102 to the 10,785 level, pointing to a lower opening for shares. The number of people continuing to receive benefits increased to 3.59 million, up 48,000 and higher than analysts’ estimates. That’s the highest total in five years. Jobless claims are at elevated levels even excluding the hurricanes. Weekly claims have now topped 400,000 for 11 straight weeks, a level economists consider a sign of recession. A year ago, claims stood at 324,000.

Early Polling Gives VP Debate to Biden

I was surprised to see the rate of conversion from undecided to decided. If 18% were persuaded by Biden and only 10% were by Palin, then Biden did almost twice as good a job as Palin.

On the other hand, Palin seemed contrived and stuck on "perky," like a morning news weather reporter. We'll see how later polling goes.

clipped from www.cbsnews.com Forty-six percent of the uncommitted voters surveyed say Democrat Joe Biden won the debate, compared to 21 percent for Republican Sarah Palin. Thirty-three percent said it was a tie. Eighteen percent of previously uncommitted percent say they are now committed to the Obama-Biden ticket. Ten percent say they are now committed to McCain-Palin. Seventy-one percent are still uncommitted. Both candidates improved their overall image tonight. Fifty-three percent of those surveyed say they now have a better impression of Biden. Five percent say they have a worse opinion of the Delaware senator, while 42 percent say they debate did not change their opinion. Fifty-five percent say they now have a better opinion of Palin. Fourteen percent say they have a worse opinion, while 30 percent say their opinion hasn't changed.

Don't believe everything you read...especially about Obama

clipped from www.snopes.com Barack Obama Ratings Key = true = false = multiple truth values = undetermined         = unclassifiable veracity Select this link for an expanded definition of our rating system. Illinois senator Barack Obama is a "radical Muslim" who "will not recite the Pledge of Allegiance." Barack Obama was sworn into office on the Quran. Barack Obama's church has a "non-negotiable commitment to Africa" that is covertly Muslim and excludes non-blacks. Barack Obama has been endorsed for President of the U.S. by the Ku Klux Klan. Barack Obama urged his supporters to join him in changing "the greatest nation in the history of the world." Access to Michelle Obama's senior thesis has been restricted until after the 2008 presidential election. Photograph shows Barack Obama holding a telephone upside down. E-mail lists fifty lies told by Barack Obama. During the 1960's, Robert F. Kennedy said he believed a black man could become President of the United States within forty years.