Too-whit?

Too-whoo?

Time

You would really think that a retrenchment would bring out the wordsmith within - it feels so strange to be the 'statistic', the quintessential victim of the GFC ... there's a lot of time - the 'job' takes up a lot of it and even though the freedom is overwhelming it's also menacing, time means spending and you've got to reel that in despite the gummint stuffing cheques in the mail urging you to do your bit (a hell of a lot better than spilling blood for the latest war). The days are shattered and shuffled together - tasks are allocated, goals are set, it's not that much different from half the time at work. I expect there are a few psychologically determined phases that I'll be going through over the weeks or months and I guess I'll ride them out.

Thank you, Michael D'Ascenzo ...

You're doing a heck of a job, Asci!

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Condoms 'too big' for Indian men

The life of a statistician, it's not all ANOVAS and t-tests ... Now, was this is a simple random sample?  Did they check the variability of the sample?  Do a Bonferroni correction for the directional planned contrast?  Or did they just do a SNK post hoc test to see what they would see?  I hope the people who did this analysis did their homework properly because I'll be damned if I'll do it on my own ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6161691.stm

"This is not where East and West divide -- this is where they come together,"

Zing, again!  That Obama sure has a way with words ...

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/07/obama-ends-turkish-visit-student-town-hall/

You Play You Pay

Now, this might be old news but I've been very lapse on the weblog front of late and the issue still hasn't been resolved yet so I would consider it to still be current or at least raisin.
At first glance this story appears to be one of the little guys standing up to evil big business - albeit a scruffy, dot com millionaire little guy - but even a cursory look over the reporting reveals a very different story. The 27 year old Nicholas Bolton saw a bargain - undervalued shares going very cheaply, he had the available cash to buy up a huge chunk of them so he did. Upon the realisation that he was obliged to pay millions he tried to dissolve the company and therefore the project that the company was built around. What did he think he would do with all of these shares? Sell them when they appreciated a couple of cents, netting a fortune for himself all for being lucky enough to have the available cash to play the market. He tried to make a quick buck in a game where he didn't fully understand the rules and now that he's losing he doesn't want to play anymore and is willing to railroad a massive infrastructure project that would have great benefits for a lot of other people - the least of which are the construction workers who would get employment building it which is a good thing in this economic climate. I'm not a big fan of roads but I use them and recognise their necessity. I don't know how this thing is going to play out - much of this economic crisis is due to people playing the trading game with no regard to the consequences of what happens when capital is sloshed around like water in a bathtub - when you play and f**k up you should have to pay.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25070213-30538,00.html
http://business.smh.com.au/business/danger-money-turning-a-tollway-into-a-train-wreck-20090402-9l3r.html

Area Man Thinks He Was Fired Because Of Recession | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

I'm feeling a great deal like the area man at the moment ... maybe I should have shaved last Friday ...
http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/area_man_thinks_he_was

First Wives Club

http://www.smh.com.au/world/rein-relegated-to-g20-first-wives-club-20090401-9jov.html

I think it's a great thing that Mrs Rudd is a successful businesswoman (in the dubious field of Human Resources but let's not split hairs) - the fact remains that she was not elected (at least not by the Australian people) so she really doesn't belong in the thick of the G20 summit.  Mrs Obama also has (had?) a successful career and so did Mrs Sarkozy even though it's in a different area to the others.  Nobody forced her to go to the UK while the PM was over there - the idea that she's been "relegated" to a wives club that will be doing some charity work is a bit silly though - she's the partner of a public figure, isn't that what they do?  If anyone's going to feel the pinch of relegation it would be Mr Merkel and Mr Kirchner.  I'd presume that they would be used to it by now but apparently they're not even going to attend.  Personally, if I was the partner of a female leader (and apparently I am if my ladyfriend's rantings are anything to go by) I'd love to be stuck in a room with the wives of 20 powerful people.  The gossip and bitching, which I am not above, would be intriguing to say the least.