I guess Zombies are a rage these days, so Rasmussen must have felt obligated to pop that question to a broad sample of Americans.
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Here’s what Rasmussen found ..,
Archive for October, 2014
Some people just shouldn’t vote!
October 30, 2014Since we’re in the stretch run to an election …
Sometimes I scratch my head and wonder whether “one man, one vote” makes sense.
Polls routinely reveal that a majority of Americans have marginal knowledge of government, politics, and political issues.
Try this: ask folks to explain the difference between the Federal deficit and the Federal debt … ask them where the money money that funds, say unemployment benefits, comes from.
Jason Brennan is a young prof at MSB … his research is at the nexus of ethics and politics.
He has written an insightful book called The Ethics of Voting
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Here’s the essence of Jason’s argument …
Uh-oh: Most published research findings are false…
October 29, 2014I didn’t say it, the New Yorker magazine did, setting off a buzz in the halls of academia.
The theme of the New Yorker article –- titled “Truth Wears Off” –was that most (academic) research was flawed and not able to be replicated. This is, the results were at best true under some special circumstances at a specific point in time, but can’t be replicated. At worst, they’re just plain bull.
Hmmm.
Challenging the integrity of publication-driven academics?
Turns out that the New Yorker wasn’t the first mag on the beat.
Are you a maximizer or satisficer?
October 28, 2014interesting piece from the WSJ …
Psychology researchers have studied how people make decisions and concluded there are two basic styles.
“Maximizers” like to take their time and weigh a wide range of options—sometimes every possible one—before choosing.
“Satisficers” would rather be fast than thorough; they prefer to quickly choose the option that fills the minimum criteria (the word “satisfice” blends “satisfy” and “suffice”).
“Maximizers are people who want the very best.
Satisficers are people who want good enough,”
Take the quick test below to see if you’re a maximizer or satisficer…. and see what the implications are..
Why aren’t Dems boasting about the jobs they “created”? I’ve got a hunch …
October 27, 2014Last week, the NY Times took aim at the Obama-deniers – the Dem Senatorial candidates who wont even admit that they voted for the guy (even though they voted with the guy over 90% of the time).
Specifically, the Times blasted:
But one of the reasons for his unpopularity is that nervous members of his own party have done a poor job of defending his policies over the nearly six years of his presidency, allowing a Republican narrative of failure to take hold.
Few voters know that the 2009 stimulus bill contributed heavily to the nation’s economic recovery, saving and creating 2.5 million jobs.
I can nit pick that it should be “recovered” not created … and I could point out that full-time jobs are being replaced with part-time jobs … and I could pile on by mentioning that most of the jobs are in the low pay hospitality and retail industries.
But, I won’t do that, because I want to make another point.
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Let’s flashback to the Obama Stimulus …
She’s back … like a virgin (of course).
October 24, 2014I have been looking for a reason to reprise Sister Cristina, and I got it.
You know, Sister Cristina, the singing nun who went viral on her way to winning the Italian version of The Voice.
Well, she’s released. her first single.
Appropriately (?), it’s a cover of Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” … slower tempo with naughty parts cleaned up.
All profits go to the Vatican since Sister Cristina took the nun’s vow of poverty. That’s a bummer.
.click to view
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Need a pick-me-up?
Here’s a stroll down memory lanes with #SisterAx’s path to victory and stardom. Guaranteed to put a smile on your face … (more…)
Proposed Changes For The 2022 World Cup …
October 23, 2014Man, was I excited when I spotted that headline.
Finally, FIFA was going to do something to juice the scoring and amp up excitement of the games.
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Fasten your seatbelts, here’s what’s coming …
Your tax dollars at work …
October 22, 2014According to WashPost …
Government records show that tens of thousands of federal workers are being kept on paid leave for at least a month — and often for longer stretches that can reach a year or more — while they wait to be punished for (or cleared of ) misbehavior or are disputing a demotion.
While disputing a demotion?
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Here are some details that’ll make you cringe …
If anybody asks, just say “I forget” …
October 21, 2014Excerpted from USA Today …
Studies also have shown that voters don’t always remember accurately just who it was they backed before.
Why?
“Voters who defect from their party … are more likely to ‘forget’ this over time and to report a vote more consistent with their current party identification”
“Reports of past vote also correlate with current preferences.”
That’s to say, if the candidate gets elected and disappoints, some voters revise history and claim that they never voted for the bum.
A recent USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll in a half-dozen states with key Senate races underscore the point.
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Here’s what’s going on …
MBA: Career-switching is back in fashion …
October 20, 2014According to Business Week: “More MBA grads are switching careers as the job market improves.”
Here are the details …
“Going to hell in a handbasket” … say, what?
October 17, 2014This week, a poll finally asked a question that really cuts to the chase:
Which better describes how you feel about the way things are going in the world these days?
- a) Things are going to hell in a handbasket
- b) Everything will be alright
- c) Don’t know
Started me wondering:
What’s up with a goofy idiom like “going to hell in a handbasket”?
Life: E + R = O
October 15, 2014OK, I.m a control freak.
There, I said it.
Along the way, somebody passed along a memorable observations:
“You can’t control everything that happens to you, but you can always control the the way you respond to it.”
Fast forward.
A couple of night’s ago, I was watching a replay of an Ohio State football game..
The announcers said that Urban Meyer – OSU’s head coach — preaches the E+R=O principle to his players … even has them wear wristbands.
Say, what?
I ran and googled E+R=O
Answer: Event + Response = Outcome
Hmmmm … sounds familiar.
And, there’s more …
What do colleges have in common with Kohl’s?
October 14, 2014I oft say that anybody who pays sticker price at Kohl’s should look over their shoulder to make sure that Darwin isn’t chasing them.
Maybe the same should be said of parents who pay list price tuition to fund their kiddies through college.
Lots of talk re: how college costs are soaring.
According to the WSJ …
Published tuition rates have soared in the last decade, but only a small percentage of families actually pays full freight.
Between grants to needy students and merit scholarships to entice other desirable candidates, schools these days are giving back nearly 50% of gross tuition revenue in the form of aid and awards.
In other words, list prices are going up, but more stuff is being sold at sale prices.
Increasingly, colleges are using pricing methods previously the domain of airlines and discount retailers …
Georgetown ranked #1 in …
October 13, 2014LinkedIn data mines its rolls, scores the career progress of members in several disciplines, and then ranks schools based on the members’ career progress scores.
In the current ranking, Georgetown’s undergraduate program was ranked #3 in Finance and #1 in Investment Banking.
Take that, Wharton.
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#HomaFiles
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I’ve seen the future of healthcare … and it’s not pretty.
October 10, 2014Before I start grousing, let me be clear about a couple of things.
First, the medical team at Georgetown Hospital is totally awesome.
Second, I like my doctor and I got to keep my doctor … mostly because I’m still working.
But, I’ve discovered that insurance and access aren’t synonymous …. and that appointment slots are getting scarcer and scarcer.
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In the past couple of weeks I’ve had personal experiences that have me a bit worried …
Blame FoxNews … say, what?
October 9, 2014Last week President Obama another shout-diss to FoxNews as the reason that roughly half of the country’s 300 million population think that he’s not doing such a great job.
Hmmm.
Let’s think about that.
Qualitatively speaking, , no disputing that Fox leans right and pounce’s on the Administration’s frequent miscues.
Quantitatively speaking, the President’s concern seems unfounded.
Fox boasts – with merit – that it outdraws left-leaning CNN and MSNBC combined.
That’s true.
And, top dog O’Reilly draws almost 3.5 million viewers … more than 4 times what best competitor Rachel Maddow draws.
But, that’s only part of the story …
The state of the economy in 2 charts …
October 8, 2014Earlier this week, we looked at one of the no-BS economic measures: household income.
Adjusted for inflation, median household income dropped 8% during the recession … and has been flat after bottoming out a couple of years ago.
That means that the median real household income is still down 8% from the pre-recession peak.
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The drop in median household income has come despite a steady increase in average hourly wages … they’re up about 10% since the official end of the recession.
See Let’s celebrate the economy … err, let’s wait. for details
Here’s another no-BS indicator sent along by a loyal reader …
Nums: Why are economists so bad at forecasting?
October 7, 2014Wash Post had an interesting analysis titled “This graph shows how bad the Fed is at predicting the future
The crux of their argument: the Fed has a clear recent tendency to mis-forecast economic growth … not by a little, by a lot … forecasting almost twice as rapid growth as is ultimately realized.
For example, in 2009 the Fed was predicting 4.2 percent growth in 2011. But then in 2010 it revised that down to 3.85 percent growth. And in 2011 they revised it further to 2.8 percent growth. And when all was said and done, the economy only grew about 2.4 percent that year. The Fed projected growth almost twice as fast as what actually happened.
What’s going on?
Let’s celebrate the economy … err, let’s wait.
October 6, 2014Lots of end-zone dancing last week re: the economy.
The President says that all indicators are good, and that folks who aren’t feelin’ it just “don’t get it” because they’re watching FoxNews too much.
Say, what?
Let’s look at the ultimate measure: household income.
Adjusted for inflation, median household income dropped 8% during the recession … and has been flat after bottoming out a couple of years ago.
That means that the median real household income is still down 8% from the pre-recession peak.
Hard to get excited about that, right?
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The drop in median household income has come despite a steady increase in average hourly wages … they’re up about 10% since the official end of the recession.
That’s before inflation, but the Feds keep telling us that inflation is negligible, that shouldn’t matter, right?
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Let’s see, average wages are going up, but median household income is stalled at a depressed level.
What’s going on?
Nums: A world of battling algorithms
October 3, 2014Recently I gave a pitch that touched on whether quants (left-brainers) or poets (right-brainers) were on the rise.
Reminded me of a cool 15 minute TED Talk.
Tech entrepreneur Kevin Slavin tells how algorithms have reached across industries and into every day life.
A couple of lines caught my attention:
- There are more than 2,000 physicists working on Wall Street developing operational algorithms
- Massive scale speed trading is dependent on millisecond read & respond rates …
- So, firms are physically literally locating right next to internet routing hubs to cut transmission times
- And, of course, there isn’t time for human intervention and control
- “We may be building whole worlds we don’t really understand, and can’t control.”
Obviously, Slavin comes down on the side of the quants.
Worth listening to this pitch … a very engaging geek who may be onto something big.
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Antibiotics, anti-antibiotics, and anti-anti-antibiotics …
October 2, 2014First, the disclaimer: I’m not a doctor, I don’t play one on TV, and I don’t dispense medical advice … I just report things that I think might be of interest.
This one has two tracks: urgent care clinics and antibiotics.
Loyal readers know that I’m a proponent of Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants and Urgent Care Clinics.
Here’s the story …
What grade would YOU expect if you missed more than half of your classes?
October 1, 2014Let’s put a couple of pieces together.
On 60 minutes, the President blamed the Intelligence Agencies – specifically, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper — for failing to detect the rise of ISIS (or, ISIL, if you prefer).
Squealing sources in the intelligence agencies have leaked that the President’s Daily (Security) Briefs PDBs have contained detailed threat warnings about the Islamic State dating back to before the 2012 presidential election.
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So, what’s going on?
The Homa Files 