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“Dickensian,” debased Ooooh this is ugly

No justice, no foul

Posted on December 21, 2008 2:42 PM by Andrew

This article, by Jim Stallard, is just hilarious. It’s at the intersection of politics and basketball. There are just so many funny lines here, I just don’t know where to start.

This entry was posted in Political Science, Sports by Andrew. Bookmark the permalink.
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  1. Dale Lehman on “Archaeology can’t give social scientists population or GDP, but here are some things we can measure that might be useful for social science.”July 30, 2026 7:14 AM

    Somewhat along the lines of this post - and quite in line with many posts over the years - is…

  2. Seren Dipity on Eleven Kinds of Loneliness: Richard Yates and the tragedy of agencyJuly 30, 2026 1:20 AM

    Andrew, if you can cope - seems you can - and like a good movie vaugely in the vein of…

  3. Dale Lehman on Selection effects can go both ways (for taxi drivers as well as the rest of us)July 29, 2026 7:33 PM

    Thanks, you got it! Part of my memory is intact.

  4. Jonathan (another one) on Selection effects can go both ways (for taxi drivers as well as the rest of us)July 29, 2026 5:32 PM

    You're thinking of Sam Peltzman's work, pparticularly https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/260352 See also: https://www.econlib.org/what-the-peltzman-effect-is-and-isnt/

  5. Alex Malinowski on “Over-coverage caught by pre-registration: 47 of 56 inside a stated 50% interval”July 29, 2026 5:26 PM

    Author here. On the first point, which is the right one to press: yes, the conditioning variable is fixed before…

  6. shira on Survey Statistics: equivalent models, equivalent weights (locally)July 29, 2026 4:38 PM

    Thanks for sharing your experience, Raphael ! I started with very granular population data. I ended up using far more…

  7. Andrew on Eleven Kinds of Loneliness: Richard Yates and the tragedy of agencyJuly 29, 2026 4:37 PM

    Frequent: I see what you're saying, but I meant something slightly different. I guess I wasn't so clear. When I…

  8. A frequent reader on Eleven Kinds of Loneliness: Richard Yates and the tragedy of agencyJuly 29, 2026 4:23 PM

    "This is not a the sort of tragedy where the attempt to avert the prophecy leads to the prophecy being…

  9. Carlos Ungil on “Making Statistics Work: Information Theory and Bayesian Inference”July 29, 2026 2:45 PM

    > I don’t agree with much of it You gave as an example their discussion of "prior belief" which seems…

  10. Joshua on Out of the frying pan and into the fire: Scientific American returned to form, and then this happened:July 29, 2026 1:20 PM

    Anoneuoid - OK. This convo never had a huge change of being productive - but I will allow myself one…

  11. Chris on Out of the frying pan and into the fire: Scientific American returned to form, and then this happened:July 29, 2026 12:44 PM

    apols, didn't nest that properly - was a response to Anoneuoid

  12. Chris on Out of the frying pan and into the fire: Scientific American returned to form, and then this happened:July 29, 2026 12:40 PM

    In Europe Ursula von der Leyen, is a good example, also Teresa Ribera in Spain - perhaps women are less…

  13. Anoneuoid on Out of the frying pan and into the fire: Scientific American returned to form, and then this happened:July 29, 2026 11:11 AM

    @All Please tell me what any politician has done to stop warming and how we would determine the effectiveness of…

  14. Dale Lehman on He fit the same statistical models with three different software and got much different estimates. It’s another dimension of the multiverse.July 29, 2026 9:20 AM

    Daniel and others with similar concerns: The detail of this paper is not my skill set, so I am not…

  15. Joshua on Out of the frying pan and into the fire: Scientific American returned to form, and then this happened:July 29, 2026 9:14 AM

    Dale - Of course he was being sarcastic about the Trump "fighting" global warming part. I certainly hope he was…

  16. Dale Lehman on Out of the frying pan and into the fire: Scientific American returned to form, and then this happened:July 29, 2026 9:03 AM

    I thought Anoneuoid was being purposefully sarcastic (though you can never know). I think the point about the actual effects…

  17. Joshua on Out of the frying pan and into the fire: Scientific American returned to form, and then this happened:July 29, 2026 8:46 AM

    Anoneuoid – > "Neither seemed to have any effect." It would be absurd to expect to see a measurable "effect"…

  18. T.Bickle on Selection effects can go both ways (for taxi drivers as well as the rest of us)July 29, 2026 8:06 AM

    I drove a cab to get through college. You want the driver who wears their seatbelt because much of what…

  19. David, a Bostonian in Tokyo on How generic language shapes the development of social thoughtJuly 29, 2026 8:04 AM

    My reading of Whorf-Sapir was they wanted to argue people in different cultures were substantially/significantly different in their thought processes,…

  20. Michael L. on Selection effects can go both ways (for taxi drivers as well as the rest of us)July 29, 2026 8:00 AM

    Like Dale (if I may), I don’t see the connection in the seat belt example to adverse selection. So I…

  21. Raphael K on Survey Statistics: equivalent models, equivalent weights (locally)July 29, 2026 7:23 AM

    By all means I am no expert in adjusting for the population distribution. I tried it for the first time…

  22. Jeremy Miles on Selection effects can go both ways (for taxi drivers as well as the rest of us)July 28, 2026 11:33 PM

    At least in the UK, there's another dimensions - safety issues. Taxi drivers there don't need to use a seatbelt…

  23. Savio Mak on Selection effects can go both ways (for taxi drivers as well as the rest of us)July 28, 2026 11:32 PM

    so, one man's modus ponens is another man's modus tollens

  24. Anoneuoid on Out of the frying pan and into the fire: Scientific American returned to form, and then this happened:July 28, 2026 11:04 PM

    Between covid and iran, Trump has done more to fight global warming than any other politician. First demand destruction, then…

  25. Dale Lehman on Selection effects can go both ways (for taxi drivers as well as the rest of us)July 28, 2026 7:18 PM

    Rob Thanks for the interesting references. I don't think that was the source I had in mind, but it suggests…

  26. Rob Searle on Selection effects can go both ways (for taxi drivers as well as the rest of us)July 28, 2026 5:45 PM

    Dale - I think that you are looking for the (many) publications of Professor John Adams and his concept of…

  27. shira on Survey Statistics: equivalent models, equivalent weights (locally)July 28, 2026 4:55 PM

    You're right, Andrew ! I meant to honor Basu by extending his example to Bears, so I rephrased.

  28. Andrew on Survey Statistics: equivalent models, equivalent weights (locally)July 28, 2026 4:41 PM

    Shira: I think that, out of respect for Basu, who came up with the example, you should keep his animal.

  29. Andrew on Out of the frying pan and into the fire: Scientific American returned to form, and then this happened:July 28, 2026 4:39 PM

    Piglet: My problem is not that they're reporting facts; my problem is that "Trump Aims to Cut Program Used to…

  30. piglet42 on Out of the frying pan and into the fire: Scientific American returned to form, and then this happened:July 28, 2026 4:32 PM

    “It’s not comforting to see skeptics be derided as “deniers” or other ad hominem smears.” I’m reading this on the…

  31. piglet42 on Out of the frying pan and into the fire: Scientific American returned to form, and then this happened:July 28, 2026 4:15 PM

    Why is reporting facts “going too far” for a science magazine? Or do you dispute the factuality of any of…

  32. oncodoc on Selection effects can go both ways (for taxi drivers as well as the rest of us)July 28, 2026 3:15 PM

    I agree with you that the belt/no belt decision has many dimensions. Actually, have we decided on the definition of…

  33. piglet42 on People sometimes talk about “the Jewish vote,” but what’s relevant is not really the Jewish vote or Jewish public opinion; it’s really about campaign contributions and the news media. Also similar with Mormons.July 28, 2026 3:13 PM

    Andrew: „So, when a Jewish lobbying group taking some conservative position, and people point out that this is not the…

  34. Dale Lehman on Selection effects can go both ways (for taxi drivers as well as the rest of us)July 28, 2026 2:49 PM

    Mattias I recall seeing research from the early days when seatbelts were first required that showed that there was a…

  35. Joshua on How generic language shapes the development of social thoughtJuly 28, 2026 2:24 PM

    Andrew - I'm fine with having Chris's response address most of my reaction as well. I'll add just a bit…

  36. Mattias Forsgren on Selection effects can go both ways (for taxi drivers as well as the rest of us)July 28, 2026 2:05 PM

    I see your point, Dale, but let me phrase mine better: When you set up an economic puzzle, Bob Sugden…

  37. Joshua on Selection effects can go both ways (for taxi drivers as well as the rest of us)July 28, 2026 1:55 PM

    It's hard for me to see how we can reasonably make sense of taxi-driver's decision if we only evaluate it…

  38. J, not that one on Selection effects can go both ways (for taxi drivers as well as the rest of us)July 28, 2026 1:09 PM

    I crossed with Dale, this shouldn’t be read as a reply to him.

  39. J, not that one on Selection effects can go both ways (for taxi drivers as well as the rest of us)July 28, 2026 1:08 PM

    I wonder if there’s a danger of “rational” becoming a word we use as a kind of compliment regardless of…

  40. Dale Lehman on Selection effects can go both ways (for taxi drivers as well as the rest of us)July 28, 2026 12:59 PM

    I think that is just semantics. The "usual" story starts with the driver not wearing a seatbelt and asks what…

  41. Dale Lehman on He fit the same statistical models with three different software and got much different estimates. It’s another dimension of the multiverse.July 28, 2026 12:51 PM

    Daniel No, it is "you" who must check everything. I know your concerns are broad and I've been focused on…

  42. J, not that one on How generic language shapes the development of social thoughtJuly 28, 2026 12:45 PM

    I think this is a fascinating topic that incidentally may justify the focus by English speaking philosophers for several decades…

  43. Chris on How generic language shapes the development of social thoughtJuly 28, 2026 12:39 PM

    Andrew, I’ve found this exchange disappointing but was just going to let it drop… until I saw your condescending final…

  44. Daniel Lakeland on He fit the same statistical models with three different software and got much different estimates. It’s another dimension of the multiverse.July 28, 2026 12:05 PM

    Dale, you still don't seem to get it. I've never been focused on the one specific way in which LLMs…

  45. Mattias Forsgren on Selection effects can go both ways (for taxi drivers as well as the rest of us)July 28, 2026 11:53 AM

    Sorry, but I don’t see the opposing forces. ”All else equal, a driver without a seat belt should drive more…

  46. Dale Lehman on He fit the same statistical models with three different software and got much different estimates. It’s another dimension of the multiverse.July 28, 2026 11:25 AM

    Daniel You keep moving the goalposts. I don't understand your example and don't really see it as relevant. Stop providing…

  47. Daniel Lakeland on He fit the same statistical models with three different software and got much different estimates. It’s another dimension of the multiverse.July 28, 2026 10:27 AM

    Dale, you seem to misunderstand what I'm saying. here's another example... https://lipn.info/@mevenlennonbertrand/116997917683191056 Someone got an LLM to provide a "Lean"…

  48. Dale Lehman on Selection effects can go both ways (for taxi drivers as well as the rest of us)July 28, 2026 10:07 AM

    I see the two opposing forces in the taxi driver example. But I don't see the connection to the standard…

  49. elin on He fit the same statistical models with three different software and got much different estimates. It’s another dimension of the multiverse.July 28, 2026 9:09 AM

    I also just read what was posted here (I don't want a "free" subscription), but I don't quite get it.…

  50. Dale Lehman on He fit the same statistical models with three different software and got much different estimates. It’s another dimension of the multiverse.July 28, 2026 8:28 AM

    Daniel Of course I didn't expect you to change your mind - I'd be disappointed if you did. As far…

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