As W C Fields Is Reported To Have Said

The rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Short and sweet, I had a serious heart attack on Wednesday night. I'm in the hospital, hooked up to a bunch of tubes. I have had a catheterization done and a stint put in, but there is still some blockage. So next Wednesday the doctors are going to do a little carving and install some new parts. No big deal.

Pray for the doctor and my family.

The good thoughts from good people mean a lot to me. Especially Uncle Jimbo.

SSL Certs, White House and Privacy

Huge H/T to my bud Bigg Bill in PA for sending out the email. Hand salute to SWWBO over at Castle Arrghh for taking the initiative.

This is serious stuff, friends, if its true.

Glen Reynolds had a short post that the White House is looking to harvest personal data from Social Networking Websites like Twitter and Facebook. He doesn’t think that’s as scary as it sounds.
I do.
In fact, I wonder if someone at the White House has already been fiddling around with trying to insert SSL Certificates on unsuspecting users’ computers.
Last week, I made a somewhat disparaging remark about the Obama White House (not at all an unusual thing for me to do). I shut down Twitter, then about an hour
later, reopened it and saw this warning:

You'll have to click this link for the images.

CNN Grades On A Curve. A BIG Curve.....

There's been a test. I missed it. Here are the results. I'm going to concentrate on the 2nd 100 Days now that the country is more.....familiar....with this Administration.

CNN had a poll (who knew?) : The National Report Card. First 100 Days and 2nd 100 Days. (38,581 voters 1st 100 and 8,384 voters 2nd 100)
I think people are losing interest.....

The first thing you must know, before jumping over there and seeing how things went, is that CNN grades on a curve:

The national average grade for each question is the mean of the total votes submitted via CNN.com, Facebook, phone, and text messaging, starting August 2, 2009, and ending between 8 and 10pm ET on August 6, 2009. State-by-state averages are calculated using the same grade submissions if and when state-identifying information is available. Limit one vote per person.

CNN uses the following grading scale:
A+ = 4.3
A = 4.0
A- = 3.7
B+ = 3.3
B = 3.0
B- = 2.7
C+ = 2.3
C= 2.0
C- = 1.7
D= 1.0
F = 0

CNN averages those numerical scores and assigns the letter grade with the numerical score closest to that final number. For example, if the average numerical score is 2.59, the final letter grade would be a B-minus because 2.59 is closer to B-minus (2.7) than it is to C-plus (2.3).

This leads to some strange results. (EVERY state has a C average under Economy) Without a similar graduated scale for D and F, the scoring weighs the results to a higher score, mathematically.

Example:
Louisiana has a combined D/F score of 57% on Economy - 41% + 16%. A 24%, B 13%, C 7%, D 16% and F 41%. C- avg?

Wyoming is similar with 58% D/F. A 20%, B 14%, C 8%, D 15% and F 43%. But they get a C-?

Obama's lowest F Rating, except in DC, was 27%. In California. DC: 17% On a curved grade. Not looking good, Barry. He averaged in the mid 30's for the rest of the country......1/3 of the poll takers.....

You will be happy to know that the only people hated more than the Media is Congress. 52% F, proving that there is hope. 19% D, proving that they need to read more blogs. But Congress gets a D average? 5% of the population gave them an A, thereby proving that they should not be allowed to breed. 10% gave them a B, thereby proving that they take good drugs. 16% voted C, proving that they were unaware about whom the test was about.

I would love someone that is well versed in statistics to work these results over with a realistic grade scale and lets get the real vote out.

Oh, and the poll was on FaceBook. Not a bastion of Conservatives, by any means.......