debitage

23.12.06

They're Not Even Trying To Hide It Anymore

The EPA has sold out to industry:

EPA eases rules for industry

In a move protested by lawmakers, residents and even the agency's own scientific advisers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has quadrupled the amount of toxic chemicals that companies can release into the environment without having to report how much they've emitted.

... "(The Toxics Release Inventory) makes all of your chemical usage available to the public and your neighbors and everyone who wants to know, so I'd say its pretty intrusive," said Jeff Homer, chairman of the environment, health and safety committee for the Arizona Association of Industries.

But having someone put poison in your lungs is not intrusive at all. It's funny how corporations get more rights than actual human beings.

Stentor Danielson, 21:18, |

22.12.06

Hollow Victory

Wow, it's a good thing the Democrats won the election, so that we can make sure that at least the House Energy Committee will be chaired by a car-worshipping climate change denialist who has a "D" after his name (and with a bonus streak of sexist troglodyte, too!).

Stentor Danielson, 00:10, |

18.12.06

"That's what hate does"

Some anti-marriage protesters were holding a rally in my old hometown of Worcester, so some pro-marriage counterprotesters showed up. My friend Sarah Loy was among them, and she decided to get up close to the anti-marriage podium with her sign. A nominal Christian by the name of Larry Cirignano wasn't too happy about that, so he pushed her to the ground.

Now Cirignano is claiming that Sarah is a professional actress who faked being pushed. That is a crock of santorum. I know of no reason to question Sarah's version of events. More tellingly, I can say with complete confidence that if she's a professional actress, then she's done an amazing job of hiding her move career from me over the past five years that I've known her. I'm really shocked at the shamelessness of Cirignano's claim. But perhaps I shouldn't be. The whole ideology of the anti-marriage movement is based on trying to portray a powerful and privileged class as victims.

Stentor Danielson, 23:36, |

17.12.06

Why More Than Half Of Us Are Above Average

Hugo Schwyzer mentions a survey that found that 94% of the faculty at the University of Nebraska consider themselves above average teachers. This resembles the oft-mentioned fact that most people consider themselves to be above-average drivers. These sorts of statistics are usually treated as self-evidently ridiculous -- after all, how can well over half of people be above average? But I think there's a rational explanation.

The apparent absurdity of the statistic depends on the assumption that being a good teacher or a good driver is a single, universal quality. If everyone is measured on the same scale, then yes, only half of us can be above average*. But things look much different if people define "good teacher" or "good driver" differently.

Take the "good driver" example. I consider myself to be an above-average driver**. And to me, being a good driver is defined by things such as "comes to a complete stop at stop signs" and "waits for a break in traffic before making a left turn." However, there is a large contingent of my fellow Arizonans who define good driving by such features as "goes as fast as they are physically capable of" and "doesn't bother with silly things like turn signals." Since those two definitions of "good driver" are not highly correlated, but people's definitions of "good driver" are highly correlated with their own driving habits, it's easy to find well over half of the population claiming to be a "good driver."

* Assume we're talking about medians here, since nearly everyone can be above the mean if the distribution is skewed enough.
** Not actually true, but let's assume it is for the sake of argument.

Stentor Danielson, 00:28, |