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Dave W.
Info Junkie

USA
26022 Posts

Posted - 08/23/2008 :  19:58:00   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Dave W.'s Homepage Send Dave W. a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by bngbuck

No, it would be in the top of the first or lowest quintile.
Yes, I had my numbering backwards. But...
There are only four quintiles, and there are only three quartiles. No fourth quartile and no fifth quintile!
That's because we're both using the term incorrecly. We don't have a data set, we have just one score. Formally, the first quintile is the dividing line between the lowest 20% of the data set and the upper 80% of the data set. However, I was using quintile (and you were using quartile) to refer to a fraction of the whole pie, rather than just the dividing line. The fifth quintile, in that sense, would have been if Bush's score had been between 16.01 and 20 good points (or between 15.01 and 20 for the fourth quartile).
Anyway, what we are talking abour here probably doesn't even qualify for this sort of analysis as it is really designed for frequency distributions in sampling statistics.
Right, we were using the terms wrong.

- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too.
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bngbuck
SFN Addict

USA
2437 Posts

Posted - 08/23/2008 :  20:58:59   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send bngbuck a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Dave...

A toast to the first (and probably the last) time both you and I admit we were both wrong on the same subject at the same time! Two Masters of the Universe reduced to Bastards of the Quick Reverse! It is to weep!

How do you do the lemniscate in the Forum code? I tried the ALT keyboard symbol to no avail. All of the ampersand+abbreviation+semicolon symbols seem to go right thru the Snitz and print out in text on the Forum, but I can't find a lenmiscate in that table of symbols!

Any help?
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Dave W.
Info Junkie

USA
26022 Posts

Posted - 08/23/2008 :  21:45:41   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Dave W.'s Homepage Send Dave W. a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by bngbuck

A toast to the first (and probably the last) time both you and I admit we were both wrong on the same subject at the same time! Two Masters of the Universe reduced to Bastards of the Quick Reverse! It is to weep!
Meh. You were wrongerer.
How do you do the lemniscate in the Forum code? I tried the ALT keyboard symbol to no avail. All of the ampersand+abbreviation+semicolon symbols seem to go right thru the Snitz and print out in text on the Forum, but I can't find a lenmiscate in that table of symbols!

Any help?
Snitz, for some reason or other, definitely won't do the ampersand+poundsign+number+semicolon construction, and I don't know why not. According to W3C (the experts), the abbreviation version should be ∞ so let's see if that works:
Yup.

- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too.
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bngbuck
SFN Addict

USA
2437 Posts

Posted - 08/23/2008 :  23:10:41   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send bngbuck a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Dave.....

Thanks. You're one of the gooder programmers!

I certainly hope my circle of Hell will overlook the circle populated by hapless programmers. so that I can smugly look down upon them and gloat: They all really were wronger, cuz they're down there!!

By the way, Snitz accepts ampersand+letter+abbreviation of symbol+semicolon thus:
naïveté
Edited by - bngbuck on 08/23/2008 23:24:31
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Dave W.
Info Junkie

USA
26022 Posts

Posted - 08/23/2008 :  23:38:49   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Dave W.'s Homepage Send Dave W. a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by bngbuck

By the way, Snitz accepts ampersand+letter+abbreviation of symbol+semicolon thus:
naïveté
Yes, I know. It doesn't accept the numerical version:
naïvet#233;
Except it does. Hmmm. What if the numerical version has four digits:
™ versus #8482;
Hmmm. So why didn't infinity work?
∞ versus #8734;
Oh, look at that, it does! For me. Let's try some more:
I #9829; New York
I #9824; my dog
I #9827; my wife
Hey, they all worked.

Huh. My wife had tons of problems trying to get some Japanese text into a post here one night, and I couldn't get it going right, either. I thought it was the &#number; construction. My mistake.

Your mistake, bngbuck, seems to have been leaving off the ampersand. Or am I just special? Try ∞ again for yourself.

Edited to say: wow, nevermind. They all worked in preview, but none of the numerical versions worked when I actually made the post. I'm going to have to look into that little peculiarity, for sure.

By the way, the joke should have been:
I ♥ New York
I ♠ my dog
I ♣ my wife
Edited again to say we both suck:
naïveté

- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
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bngbuck
SFN Addict

USA
2437 Posts

Posted - 08/24/2008 :  01:14:17   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send bngbuck a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Dave.....

Thanks for the ∞ - I'm applying it to my highly limited patience. You are one of the rare, gooder person programmers. I am now hoping for a seat with Charon on the near bank of the Styxx, and you can have my liquid lava bed in the top circle.

Maybe #8734 (ampersand+pound+8734) does the lemniscate in preview because the text is still in HTML in preview, but changes to Snitzlish when posted?

Except that is says over there to the left that HTML is OFF!

But where does it go off? Here or there?

You can see how little I know about your arcane art. THE Beelzebub is in the basics of computer science!

Let me know when you figure it out; I doubt that I'll be able to understand it, tho!



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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie

USA
4826 Posts

Posted - 08/24/2008 :  19:14:47   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Valiant Dancer's Homepage Send Valiant Dancer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by Kil

Is overall school performance tied to funding issues? I did not see mention of that in the story, but standardized testing and the continued pressure on schools to improve or loose funding may be at issue here. Bush's "no child left behind" is basically a disaster from a learning standpoint because teachers are forced to teach to the test. Dumb rules have been implemented all over the country to keep schools monetarily viable. Of course, the kids are the losers.

I am only guessing but something was behind the implementation of this stupid policy. And I bet with a little digging it will turn out that the real culprit is the need to maintain or increase funding to the school district.


Its called No Child Left Behind. It links federal funding to performance against standardized testing. Screw up three years in a row and Veni Vedi Yanki.

Cthulhu/Asmodeus when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils

Brother Cutlass of Reasoned Discussion
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Dave W.
Info Junkie

USA
26022 Posts

Posted - 08/24/2008 :  20:51:35   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Dave W.'s Homepage Send Dave W. a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by bngbuck

Except that is says over there to the left that HTML is OFF!
That means that if you enter angle brackets in a post ('<' and '>'), they all get translated into '&lt;' and '&gt;' (respectively) when you submit the post, before anything else happens, to prevent HTML tags from being used for post formatting. It doesn't care about the character entities, since they can't be used to initiate malicious code.

If HTML were on, then "<b><i>Hi there!</i></b>" would come out as "Hi there!"
But where does it go off? Here or there?
There, at our server. But what's happening to the numbered HTML character entities I do not know. I have a suspicion, but I'm going to keep it to myself for a while.

- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too.
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Robb
SFN Regular

USA
1223 Posts

Posted - 08/29/2008 :  10:21:05   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Robb a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by bngbuck

Robb.....


1. Restrictive foreign policy to intervene only when necessary
Do you feel the preemptive Iraq war was a validation of this pledge? Do you feel that it has been a moral, Christian-type war? Has the killing, wounding and maiming of inncent Iraqi men, women, and children been up to Christian moral standards?
What do you mean a Christian type war? Restrictive foreign policy does not mean to allow genocide and terrorism to go unchecked.

2. Tax breaks for all incomes
Have low-income and middle income families been given tax reductions proportionate to those granted to high income ($500K+ annual) families and corporations? Has tax "relief" been fair across the board? Has there been Christian consideration of the the poor, the lame, the sick?
The rich did get more tax relief. Why do you think it is fair for anyone to pay more percentage taxes than another? The rich are still paying more percentage than most people in the US. Why punish people for being successful?

3. Drilling in ANWR
Are we currently drilling in ANWR? Certainly not that I feel we should, or that we need to, but did Bush and the Congress fulfil his pledge to the zombie Republican robots who blindly advocate Big Oil interests because church or boss tells them to? Should the endlessly dwindling safe haven of millions of God's creatures be sacrificed to man's greed? Is this Christian?
Why do you feel it is OK to drill in the middle east but not in ANWR? Isn't all drilling bad for the environment? Again you have a problem with the rich. Why? They are not making any bigger percentage than other companies and they employ alot of people.

4. Update military with more technology.
Were you happy with Rumsfeld's minimalist approach to revising, downsizing, and de-equipping the structure of the armed forces? Did we send sufficient body armor, armored vehicles, and other technology to our forces in Iraq? Have the hundreds of billions spent, wasted, and destroyed in Iraq contributed to the updating of military technology? Or even perhaps something useful like energy technology? Or medical technology? Is more military and especially endlessly more war, the Christian way for man to conduct his affairs. Is mindless killing and wounding a Christian endeavor?
Is it christian to stand by and watch innocent unsaved people be murdered?

5. Lower taxes for small business
Do you feel that small business has received proportionate tax breaks to those given to big business? How about small business subsidies - have they been equal to those given to big business? Is endless favoring of the very rich the Christian ideal?
Larger businesses still pay more percentage than smaller buisnesses. Why is t hat favoring the rich?

6. Religious based charities
Has your church's charitable activities received more government assistance under the Bush administration than it did previously? What progress have faith-based charities made under Bush?
Frankly I want government to stay out of charity. But if it must get into it, I would like faith based to be able to help.

7. Investment based social security
Did this happen under Bush and six years of a Republican dominated Congress?
Again, a horrible idea, but did Bush fulfil his commitment to Wall Street, which apparently was what you you wanted? Should Wall Street Masters of the Universe (from Tom Wolfe, if you don't know) be the masters of the aged and infirm citizens of this country? Should the lame, the halt, and the weak be the slaves of the money-changers in the Temple - is this Christ's wish? God's will?
Bush's stance never required anyone to invest money if they did not want to and you have to be a certain age (young) and only to a certain percentage. You look at it as the governments money. I look at it as it is my money and if I screw it up thats on me. But I should have the choice to invest my money any way I want to without the government saying how to manage my money.


8. pro life issues.
Did Bush, the Republican Congess from 2000 to 2006, and the Supreme Court (with approximately equal liberal vs. conservative views) achieve progress in reversing Roe vs. Wade? Do you feel the minor progress of less late-term abortion is sufficient, or do you want to see federal laws concerning a woman's right to control of her own body? Is it a personal freedom and civil rights issue? Does federal control of women's perogatives constitute smaller, less invasive government?
As you know the presedent cannot get things donw without the help of congress. It is not government interference to protect unborn children form being murdered.

Robb, are you sure you want to grade the Bush administration a C-? Your post sounds more like a low D! History will rate him as the worst president in US history.
Its a weighted average.

It appears to me, Robb, that your vote was prompted almost exclusively by an adherence to what you perceive as Christian morality precepts and that you personally deny the position that there must be a separation of church and state.

Onward Christian soldiers!!
If it makes you feel better?





Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. - George Washington
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Kil
Evil Skeptic

USA
13477 Posts

Posted - 08/29/2008 :  11:06:16   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Kil's Homepage  Send Kil an AOL message  Send Kil a Yahoo! Message Send Kil a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Robb:
Is it christian to stand by and watch innocent unsaved people be murdered?

Our mission was to get in on the act apparently. Talk about spin...

Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.

Why not question something for a change?

Genetic Literacy Project
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bngbuck
SFN Addict

USA
2437 Posts

Posted - 08/29/2008 :  14:25:41   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send bngbuck a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Robb.....

What do you mean a Christian type war?
Oh, maybe the Crusades! Or the French Wars of Religion, the 800 year Reconquista, the Thirty Years War of 1618-1648, or certainly Bush's "I talk to God and He made me to do it" preemptive (uselessly) destruction of Iraq.

Robb, for your own Christ's sake!, there cannot be such a thing as a Christian war! Where did Jesus sanction war and killing - particularly of non-combatants - as a means of man settling his differences? The fucking Catholics have been struggling for centuries to justify war as a Christian ethic, It is the foulest kind of oxymoron - Jesus was supposed to be the Prince of Peace!
Why do you think it is fair for anyone to pay more percentage taxes than another?
Because there is such enormous inequality is survival between the rich and the poor and we are all children of your fucking God, according to Christians. What is Christian charity but a gift from richer to poorer? Do you approve of Oil companies forcing gasoline prices up tp $4+/gallon and bankrupting poorer families while making utterly obscene profits? CEO's of major corporations pocketing 300 million to ONE BILLION dollar annual salaries while there is a minimum wage ot 7.00 per hour? It is ridiculous.

I am not against people getting rich, I am against a relatively few getting obscenely, incomprehensibly rich at the expense of millions of people (and animals) that starve.

I make a hell of a lot more money than you do, more than I can use sensibly, and I give a very considerable amount of it away to many charities and causes that are deserving in my view. If you would adequately demonstrate to me that you needed it, I would give to you. JUST BECAUSE YOU NEED IT! And I am most emphatically not a Christian! I understood that Jesus preached something of the same creed. Well, I certainly don't do it because of Jesus or any such myth, simply because it is what I feel is right!
Why do you feel it is OK to drill in the middle east but not in ANWR?
I do not feel, I KNOW, that it is wrong to drill anywhere. We are currently utilizing less than 70% of our proven reserves, why drill new? It will take ten years minimum for new drilling to come on market. THAT'S TOO LATE! Billions spent on new drilling anywhere is billions not spent on alternative energy - WHICH WE MUST HAVE - if this COUNTRY and planet is to survive!
They are not making any bigger percentage than other companies
The fucking oil companies are not making any more than General Motors, for Christ's sake? Robb you are beyond delusional, you are deaf, dumb, and blind!
Is it christian to stand by and watch innocent unsaved people be murdered?
I'm not Christian, so ask an expert like yourself. Is it Christian to murder hundreds of thousands of largely innocents in Iraq to save the hundreds you saw being abused? IS IT CHRISTIAN TO MURDER? When Truman murdered over two hundred thousand Japanese civilians in order to save probably fifty thousand American servicemen, was it moral and Christian? Were, and are, the Japanese a lower form of life than we fucking superior Americans - much like the dogs and wild animals that we slaughter because they "don't have souls"!
Larger businesses still pay more percentage than smaller businesses.
They don't. They can afford the Enron-like tax dodges and creative accounting that totally escapes taxation more times than not. Warren Buffett said that he would pay less tax than his housekeeper, and that it was wrong
Frankly I want government to stay out of charity. But if it must get into it, I would like faith based to be able to help.
Government should use a substantial amount of an Obscene Profits Tax to fund health and economic aid to lower income groups. I have no problem with "faith based "charity. It's just that fucking Bush didn't give it to you guys as promised.
Bush's stance never required anyone to invest money if they did not want to and you have to be a certain age (young) and only to a certain percentage. You look at it as the governments money. I look at it as it is my money and if I screw it up that's on me. But I should have the choice to invest my money any way I want to without the government saying how to manage my money
Yeah, Robb, well just wait till you live your faith-based life up to 65 ot 70, and maybe life's vicissitudes have not been too kind to you, while you're slowly starving to death, stop and reflect on that noble, Christian sentiment. I give away ten times my SS, but if I needed it, I would sure as hell be grateful for it!
It is not government interference to protect unborn children form being murdered.
Flat out, Robb, when does a fetus become a child? Answer, and if you answer as I suspect you will, be a stand-up Christian guy and start a thread with your opinion as the OP!
If it makes you feel better?
That soldiering in the sense of murdering is Christian? It makes be utterly contemptuous of the hypocrisy of Christian apologists that can condone any murder of any kind as fucking Christian! This is akin to shitting in Jesus face, because He (capitalized to acknowledge your utter subservience to a stupid, dogmatic myth system) certainly did not condone murder in any shape, way, or form! And neither do I! Do you? Defend it with Christian morality arguments!
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filthy
SFN Die Hard

USA
14408 Posts

Posted - 08/29/2008 :  17:43:13   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send filthy a Private Message  Reply with Quote
would seem that Jesus was perfectly at home with the various barbarisms and vicious laws of the OT.

Matthew 5:17: Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

As his ministery didn't last all that long and he never garnered much if any political power, he never got the chance to do much fulfilling. But his worshipers have been doing a pretty good job of it since, and many would continue today, given the chance. Some of the more rabid of them yearn for the power of fatwah -- but only if they have the exclusive use of it.




"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)

"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres


"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude

Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,

and Crypto-Communist!

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