Iraq Casualty Data: A Different Interpretation

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday August 02, 2007 · 3:14 PM PDT

2007/08/02 · 15:14

There are many different ways to look at data, and one of the worst is to look at a single data point. Many in the blogosphere made a point of this when the Pentagon started crowing about the drop in casualties in July. On Sunday, Meteor Blades presented data showing that the military deaths in July 2007 (at that point) were greater than the deaths in any other July. A very smart point, but it needs to be taken further. When you embed that thinking in how you present all the data, something very interesting happens. Look below. How you present and analyze data matters a lot.

beobjective

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday July 15, 2007 · 11:39 PM PDT

2007/07/15 · 23:39

I was struck by an odd notion late at night, after reading Miss Laura’s Sunday front page diary on dkos Car Bombs and Body Counts. What does it mean to have an "improvement" in the reduction of violence and civilian deaths? Does that equate to a reduction in the body count? I'm not so sure.

By way of example, if the population of Baghdad drops by 50%, all other things being equal, and the death rate is unchanged, the body count should go down by 50% and tada (trumpets blaring, Bill Kristol beaming in orgasmic ecstasy), the surge is working! Not a likely scenario, but possibly closer to the truth than anyone would like. Has that already happened? Has the population dropped dramatically?

beobjective

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday July 12, 2007 · 12:07 PM PDT

2007/07/12 · 12:07

In today’s issue of Nature magazine (behind subs firewall), the journal’s editors discussed recent observations of inadvertent bioweapons releases that managed by some degree of luck to not spread to local populations. The only reason that the public was ever informed was due to the actions of a watchdog group, Sunshine Project.

beobjective

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday July 09, 2007 · 10:14 PM PDT

2007/07/09 · 22:14

Here is a quick bit of not-surprising, but still satisfying info for you late night folks. The first poll has come in from the Post-Libby Pardon period. I know that you will all be surprised that it didn’t go so well for the chimp; he dropped below 30% in the USA Today poll. That might not seem like a lot, but USA Today is typically on the upper end of the approval ratings. Bush approval in this poll was holding fairly steady in the mid 30s for several months. After the pardon? Below 30%. I can’t wait for Atrios to dress up the pony. My guess is that in the next week or two, as other polls come in that typically don’t give Bush such "high" initial levels of support, we will enter new territory, i.e., lower than Truman.

beobjective

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday June 28, 2007 · 2:04 PM PDT

2007/06/28 · 14:04

Dear Madam Speaker,

The White House has reacted to Congressional subpoenas by refusing to comply and has accused Congress of being unwilling to cooperate with a "generous offer" from the President. Madam Speaker, the time has come to take the gloves off. Representative Conyers of the House Judiciary Committee has described the White House claim of Executive Privilege as being "unprecedented in its breadth and scope". Senator Leahy has characterized the response from White House Counsel as "Nixonian stonewalling". The White House marketing campaign to demonize Congress has begun and you, as leader of the House of Representatives need to respond firmly, directly and with authority. I would like suggest that you consider the following points in your reply to the White House.

beobjective

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday June 25, 2007 · 12:16 AM PDT

2007/06/25 · 00:16

An investigative report by Robert Little of the Baltimore Sun on Sunday revealed an incredible perversion of jurisprudence in the Coast Guard administrative court system. The interesting part of this story is that the root of this historic abuse was a conservative judicial appointment during the administration of Bush 41. It may be a horrific example of what we can expect in future years as a consequence of appointing conservative ideologues to our courts from 1981 onward. I hope not, but my expectations are not high.

This diary is not about the Coast Guard Story per se because it’s just one part of a much bigger picture, a picture of a previously democratic and open society on greased rails to the hell of authoritarianism. If you don’t want to be depressed don’t read further. I’m not sure there’s a whole lot we can do about it. There is some serious momentum here in the direction of a authoritarian society. I’m not sure that it can be stopped without somehow creating a whole lot of momentum in the reverse direction. That’s kind of hard to do.

beobjective

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday June 22, 2007 · 2:16 PM PDT

2007/06/22 · 14:16

With all the current (and justified) focus on the criminal activities of the Bush Gang, it is perhaps easy to get distracted from other issues that are vitally important, but peripherally related.

Global warming is a real phenomenon despite conservative denials and a head-in-the-sand approach from the Bush Gang. AT dkos I know that I am preaching to the choir, but it bears repeating. The difficulty (as has been said many times before) is the scope of the problem and the slow response of the climate to changes that are introduced (slow to start and stop) and the equally slow political response of our highly fragmented political systems (intenational and domestic).

This is a graphic friendly reminder that we may not have much time to address it before we go past the "tipping point", i.e. runaway warming, a.k.a. the global train wreck.

beobjective

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday June 21, 2007 · 2:01 PM PDT

2007/06/21 · 14:01

There is so much wrong with this mal-administration and its abuses of the Constitution that we need to make it crystal clear to future conservative administrations (sorry, but we will have more) just what is unacceptable. For example, passing a law to restore Habeus Corpus is nice (and I hope it is passed quickly), but it doesn't have the impact and power of being explicitly addressed in the Constitution. What follows after the turn are a series of proposed amendments. All are about limiting the power of the Executive, something I suspect most would agree is desperately needed.

How can we amend the Constitution when Bush & Co just run roughshod over it? I'm not sure, but I have some ideas, and wanted to run it through the system. IANAL, so it isn't written in the proper legalese. Some of what I've added is already in the Constitution in one form or another, but it is perhaps important to make everything crystal clear so that another Yoo doesn't come along to re-interpret.

beobjective

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday June 20, 2007 · 7:56 PM PDT

2007/06/20 · 19:56

Ok, so now it’s official. As reported by Think Progress, The D.C. Circuit court has decided that there is no reason to delay enforcement of its stupendously horrible and ill-considered decision to eliminate the right to a writ of Habeus Corpus for prisoners at Guantanamo. Wonderful. Can we now dispense with the fluffery and admit that the US is a fascist and dictatorial country run by people with no respect for law, no recognition of the fundamental principles of law, or basic concepts of human rights and dignity. All hail Bush. Our Great Leader. Perhaps we should now dispense with the Pledge of Allegiance and substitute the Pledge of Allegiance to Our Great Leader or maybe Pledge Allegiance to the Republican Party.

If I need to tell you, you shouldn’t be here; but I’ll say it anyway...warning, rant ahead.

beobjective

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday June 19, 2007 · 6:04 AM PDT

2007/06/19 · 06:04

There are plenty of people here and elsewhere, including the Army, who thought that the idea of arming the militias was kind of, well, a really, really bad idea. An idea, perhaps born out of desperation rather than any considered, rational process (y'a think?).

The speed with which that idea went down the old poop chute with a resounding "splat" is remarkable. Almost as soon as the Army got around to revealing what they were doing, the following report popped up on a blog dedicated to the problems of the Middle East.

I'm sure most of you can anticipate what was said, but I thought I might share a bit with you.

Poll

10 votes Show Results

Was the idea of arming the Sunni militias

10 votes Vote Now!

Was the idea of arming the Sunni militias

a smart tactical decision?

1 vote

a reflection of making the best of a bad situation?

1 vote

an example of applying the Korea Model to Iraq

0 votes

a bad idea?

1 vote

a really, really, humongously bad idea?

6 votes

Kagan's secret plan B?

1 vote

Best Snark of the Day

beobjective

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday June 18, 2007 · 5:37 PM PDT

2007/06/18 · 17:37

Sorry folks, this isn't from dailykos, but it's a must read. Over at Whiskeyfire, blogger Thers in a rant on Ezra Klein from The American Prospect had the following comment about pundits who supported the Iraq war:

If your "underlying beliefs or theories" made you stick your dick in the blender, even "reluctantly," and you haven't thoroughly reassessed these concepts, I frankly don't want to hear your advice about what to do with the weed whacker.

Wow! My stomach hurts from laughing. As one commenter said, "I need to have this tattoed on my body somewhere"

Uninsured and Coughing Up Blood

beobjective

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday June 12, 2007 · 7:40 PM PDT

2007/06/12 · 19:40

My 20 yr. old son called me tonight because one of his roommates is coughing up blood for the second time in less than 3 weeks. The roommate refused to go to the emergency room the first time and is refusing again to seek treatment because he is uninsured and afraid of being saddled with debt that he can't afford. My view is that he can't afford not to seek treatment for what could be a very serious condition. Furthermore, he could be putting everyone around him at risk if he has TB. If I recall correctly from a previous conversation, he's working as a dishwasher at a restaurant

Short of being very Republican about this (hauling him off to the hospital in chains), what are his options in this situation? What options are available for a person who is seriously ill, uninsured and minimally employed, but probably makes just enough to not qualify for medicaid?

Newer
Older

RSS

Iraq Casualty Data: A Different Interpretation

What’s in a number?

Bush competence extended to bioweapons

First Post-Pardon Poll is in. Thud!

An Open Letter to Speaker Pelosi

Our Criminal DoJ: Tip of the Iceberg

Global Warming You Can See

Amend the Constitution. Prevent Future Insanity.

DC Court Gives Go Ahead to Screw Prisoners at Guantanamo.

"Success" in arming the Sunni militias

Best Snark of the Day

Uninsured and Coughing Up Blood