Playing with Numbers

Truth hurts. Maybe not as much as jumping on a bicycle with a seat missing, but it hurts... Frank Drebin, Naked Gun 2-1/2

Just about everybody on the blogroll has picked up on the latest George Monbiot article concerning David Bellamy's junk science: SW, Big Gav, Phila, PastPeak, and KurtCobb. I can't add much but to say that Monbiot continues to do meticulous research, can get people to spill the beans to him, has a powerful curiosity streak, and knows how to turn a phrase.

I liked the bit about tracking down the 555 / 55% puzzle the most.

Along those same lines, a colleague at work pointed me to a new book on weird numeracy in the economics field called Freakonomics (and also a blog that just may turn into a grand central station for number jockeys).

And courtesy of Moon Over Alabama, Stirling Newberry has another valuable toss-away comment on "Playing with Numbers" over at DailyKos.