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Yes - This happens a lot. Try to explain non-Gaussian stats to management. In some places (like major banks) it should be possible. There are some other good comments in this thread about the conceptual failure in using these types of statistics at all - tl;dr - modelling political risk with statistics doesn't work because such things are outside the paradigm. There is some good descriptive stuff by someone who worked in electricity trading about how stats fail.

And the EUR/CHF trade hyptohesis appears to be wrong
More detail: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-19/ubs-raises-trade-losses/2905262?section=business
""The loss resulted from unauthorised speculative trading in various S&P 500, DAX, and EuroStoxx index futures over the last three months," UBS said in a brief statement."

From Galileo's Wiki page:

Galileo later defended his views in Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, which appeared to attack pope Urban VIII and thus alienated him and the Jesuits who had both supported Galileo up until this point.

So you may go ahead and remove the "quotes" from "turned political" because Galileo really did TURN POLITICAL.

As for this topic, those that pay for the research get the answers they want. When oil companies pay for climate research, the results usually favor the oil companies. When governments pay for research, the results favor expanding government's power. This is a reality of life and it works both ways. For example, if a scientist were to release seven papers calling all industrialized nations pay for the development of third world so they could skip the inefficient phase of industrialization, it is unlikely that he will receive much government funding (from industrialized nations anyway). Likewise, don't expect scientists that contributed to "An Inconvenient Truth" to get much funding from oil companies.

But for comparison purposes, Exxon spent $23 million for climate research in 10 years. The US government spent $79 billion on climate research and technology since 1989 - to be sure, this funding paid for things like satellites and studies, but it's 3,500 times as much as anything offered to sceptics. (Source) Exxon also spent $600 million on biofuels research.

It's not a matter of dishonesty. When considering who funding entities want to give their money to, they are not going to give it to someone who has consistently disagreed with them in the past. They are going to find someone who has already agreed with their position and fund that guy. Just as companies that support politicians are probably not doing it to sway a politician's position. It makes more sense to fund a politicians that already agrees with your position (with the exception of companies that support both sides). Government are no different. Just look at the board of the National Science Foundation and research the names on that list. You will find that many of them come from either "environmentally conscious" organizations or have been favorable to left causes in the past. For example, let's look at the very first guy on the list:

Mark R. Abbott is Dean and Professor in the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University (OSU). He received his B.S. in Conservation of Natural Resources from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1974 and his Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of California, Davis, in 1978. ...
Abbott was appointed by the governor as vice-chair of the Oregon Global Warming Commission. The commission was established by the Oregon Legislature to oversee the state's efforts in climate change mitigation and adaptation.

So he graduated from Berkeley and was vice chair of the Oregon Global Warming Commission. Remember, this guy is one of the leading voices in deciding who gets government research grants.

But, are scientists biased? Yes! If they were not, you would not see climate change alarmists releasing paper after paper saying climate change is a problem and you wouldn't see climate change deniers releasing paper after paper saying that it is not a big deal. Scientists perform experiments that support what they believed before the experiment started. A scientists won't form hypothesis prior to an experiment that he doesn't believe.

That was well covered in the last story. http://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/09/01/0153200/WikiLeaks-Sues-the-Guardian-Over-Leak

From: http://www.abc.net.au/technology/articles/2011/09/01/3307488.htm

The Guardian journalist had to set up the PGP encryption system on his laptop at home across the other side of London. Then he could feed in a password. Assange wrote down on a scrap of paper:

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"That's the password," he said. "But you have to add one extra word when you type it in. You have to put in the word 'XXXXXXX' before the word 'XXXXXX' [WikiLeaks: so if the paper were seized, the password would not work without Leigh's co-operation] Can you remember that?" "I can remember that." Leigh set off home, and successfully installed the PGP software.

"Race for rare earths" broadcast on the 18/08/2011
Come to Australia http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2011/s3296991.htm
The US, Europe, Japan are interested and it will only cost A$700 to $800 million (A$~=US$).
Get your vision goggles, spy radar, missile guidance and tank navigation systems supplies from friends :)
We love US investors and your open ended defence funding goes a long way in Oz :)

Its because its similar to their title is why this has come about. here is an example of it happening in australia. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-03/mambo-drops-mabo-trademark-dispute/2822236 the Mambo CEO was unaware of the trademark dispute until it was brought up in the media. they apparently have a system in place that looks at new trademarks and if they are similar to their own they file a lawsuit/objection to get it changed.

We here will start by copying the cool Australian monetary notes

Don't forget the bribes.

I agree with reading about it on the Internet. I like RSS, but I've found it homogenizes my content so that things don't jump out at me and the really interesting stories get buried with all the mediocre ones. So I keep the following list of bookmarks to check on a weekly basis:

ABC (Australia) Science, ABC (US) Science, Air & Space Magazine, ARKive, Ars Technica, BBC SciTech News, CBS Sci-Tech News, Chet Raymo, Cosmos News, Current: Science, Discover, Discovery News, Edge, Economist Science, EurekAlert!, Flyp media, Futurity, h+, Inkling Magazine, LiveScience, Massimo Pigliucci, Mother Jones Environment, MSNBC Science News, National Geographic News, National Public Radio (US), Natural History Magazine, New Scientist, New York Times Science, New Yorker Science, Newsweek Science, Orion, PhysOrg, Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, R&D Magazine, Ripley's Believe It or Not!, Science Daily, Scientific American, Seed Magazine, Science Cheerleader, Science News, Schrodinger's Kitten, Slashdot Science, Smithsonian, Space.com, The Technium, Time Magazine Science, USA Today Science, US News & World Report Science, Wired News, World Changing

2009 under Labor 2006 under Liberal

2009 under Labor 2006 under Liberal. The Australian Research Council has also been used to apply pressure, through the government reducing ARC independence so the government can influence which areas of investigation receive funding.

Mod me troll, but facts prove me insightful.
This was a crime perpetrated by a Christian, you racists.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-24/search-continues-after-utoya-massacre/2807666/?site=melbourne

The lobbying against parallel imports was from publishers and some Aussie authors. These guys make good profits from having an effective monopoly.

The big bookstores lobbied for parallel imports. They wanted to be able to import cheaper books instead of having to buy expensive, locally published editions.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-04-24/australians-want-cheaper-books-dymocks/1661020

They have done exactly that

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-14/scientists-call-in-the-navy/2795700?section=world
asking the Royal Australian Navy to take nine of our floats up into that area on the next rotation to the gulf.

Actually you are more or less right on, there. In more news of "things we already kinda knew validated by scientists," turns out that misinformation is pretty harmful, so it's natural to get upset about it. Also, among severely misinformed individuals, there is just too much cognitive dissidence to face to even acknowledge corrections.

Now, if fanboys stopped fighting misinformation with misinformation, the whole thing might be less pathological.

It's called the hijab, or niqab. (Not sure on the distinction, to be honest.)

That said, it seems that "under Islamic law, a woman is required to remove her niqab to be identified if asked by a police officer." So there's nothing super-special about the head covering, at least under Islamic law.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has a great podcast under their investigative journalism show called background briefing taking an in depth look at why hiring people MBA's is starting to lose it's shine and why savvy business owners are now thinking twice before hiring someone with an MBA. To make a long story short Universities are teaching the technicalities of of modern day business dealing but failing to teach students that some times they have to get their hands dirty and deal directly with the product and the customers and stop playing with spread sheets.

A Link to the podcast can be found here

Hmm. Old news, was reading about this about 6 months ago.

Peter Quinn appeared on the ABC Science Show with Robyn Williams talking about exactly this in Oct 2010, here is the transcript/podcast. Very interesting stuff.

Aussie, aussie, aussie, oi, oi ,oi!

Hmm. Old news, was reading about this about 6 months ago.

Peter Quinn appeared on the ABC Science Show with Robyn Williams talking about exactly this in Oct 2010, here is the transcript/podcast. Very interesting stuff.

Aussie, aussie, aussie, oi, oi ,oi!

Yeah, nah, yeah, you're onto it, bro. [NZ dialect - for more see Beached Az ]

See this. Quote:

Welcome to Operation Anti-Security (#AntiSec) - we encourage any vessel, large or small, to open fire on any government or agency that crosses their path. We fully endorse the flaunting of the word "AntiSec" on any government website defacement or physical graffiti art. We encourage you to spread the word of AntiSec far and wide, for it will be remembered. To increase efforts, we are now teaming up with the Anonymous collective and all affiliated battleships.

Not true that it's the "first time". There's already photovoltaic paint that can be printed or painted on:

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/newinventors/txt/s3008638.htm

And they included a half-billion dollar exit clause, which will seriously deter any subsequent government from trying to stuff it up. :)

Re: Why the hell is Conroy still pushing for this?
The faith based groups had a 20 year plan to infect both sides of politics.
They have their people in place now. "Family First: A Federal Crusade"
http://www.abc.net.au/compass/s1358912.htm

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/linguafranca/stories/2010/3007980.htm has a reference to the linguistics details of what I was recalling poorly, with details more accurate than mine. And of course, Wikipedia has something about this too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuuk_Thaayorre_language

Nothing about the indoors stuff though.

Ah yes. Wiring $12 million to offshore bank accounts, to a guy with connections to the Vietnamese government, to help smooth the transition. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/30/2728388.htm

It's a great technology. Long lasting, hard to forge, and it doesn't carry dirt and germs the way US money does. You'd think they could sell it on its features though.

Doesn't Australia also have this decease ?

Oh! Oh! I like this game! Bernard Finnigan

The tobacco industry seems to think that IP is under the banner of property, at least for the purposes of seizure under the constitution.
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2011/s3219608.htm

DAVID CROW: I think the issue of legal process is down to the Government removing brands and intellectual property from the packs. And obviously, if you remove something from the packs...

REPORTER: So a constitutional challenge?

DAVID CROW: I think it would be, at the end. The issue is we don't have a bill at the moment so I can't actually answer that question.

This has already been done by an Australian. It's a micro-lab basically. It was on a TV show called The New Inventors where inventions are showcased.

Maybe if they learnt to use a decent search engine they'd have found this:

http://www.lifescientist.com.au/article/309857/handheld_lab_receives_innovic_gong/

and this:

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/newinventors/txt/s2669552.htm

Looks like an Aussie gets the $10m.

Actually the thing you refer to still needs a doctor to make a diagnosis. The X-prize asks for the device to make the diagnosis, this includes analyzing all symptoms, not just running a few tests.

This has already been done by an Australian. It's a micro-lab basically. It was on a TV show called The New Inventors where inventions are showcased.

Maybe if they learnt to use a decent search engine they'd have found this:

http://www.lifescientist.com.au/article/309857/handheld_lab_receives_innovic_gong/

and this:

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/newinventors/txt/s2669552.htm

Looks like an Aussie gets the $10m.

Google vs. Windows?
Facebook vs. Google?


Since when did Slashdot become a posting for second-rate articles that are all FUD and gossip mongering when there are actually a whole lot more interesting and thought-engaging articles out there?

Slashdot eds please focus on posting real news again and leave the drivel aside. You are not digg.com and the /. rep does more for the site than your stupid clicks.

Bradley E. Manning should get this price, he is the real hero. He put his life on the line to release this information, what did Assange risk?
Manning was held naked in a prison cell without windows for 23 hours a day, Assange won't even go to Sweden to face the charges for sex-crimes (not even after being assured he will not be sent to any other country without britains concent).

There a number of reasons to be highly skeptical of the AGW cabal. For one, there is such a thing as an AGW cabal, that was targeting CO_2 (and oil) long before there was any evidence or models at all that suggested that it was a problem.

I strongly suspect that this is wrong.

Evidence of CO2 causing a problem was available since the late 50s. There was a scientific consensus since the late 70s.

Who is in this AGW Cabal, and how did it get a hold on every scientific organisation of national or international note?

Since 2007, when the American Association of Petroleum Geologists released a revised statement, no scientific body of national or international standing rejects the findings of human-induced effects on climate change

It is at this point perfectly clear that the AGW cabal have tampered with data, cherrypicked data, and cooked up fits designed to minimize or eliminate "problems" for the theory, like the medieval optimum and little ice age.

Except that all investigations into such matters have shown that not only is it not perfectly clear, its patently false.

Everybody knows that Mann's infamous hockey stick graph is wrong at this point ...

Unless this "everybody" person has even a passing acquaintance with science. Nature magazine (you won't know what that is, will you) wrote "Academy affirms hockey-stick graph" in response to the NRC (you won't know who they are either) report that affirmed Mann's results. (Which have since been reproduced many times).

The truth is that at best we do not really know if CO_2 is a major influence on climate

That might be the case if we read only industry propaganda. But the greenhouse effect is no secret to science.

An interesting report about the practice of fracking in rural Australia. Similar stories about widespread pollution - particularly to do with the chemicals used in the process - but also about some of the battles mining companies play with land owners http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/special_eds/20110221/gas/

you end up with mulitple stations broadcasting the same show

Yeah, last night the royal wedding was on almost every fucking station. I was going to watch the chaser's "uninformed and unconstitutional" coverage of it but then the royal family pulled the plug on their licence.

sure, the internet here is 'free'. Just don't try to bring any porn on physical media into the country..

"But in a subsequent statement the organisation says RAND did not compare the fighting qualities of particular aircraft."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/25/2373632.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/29/2377266.htm

So it only *might* be an overpriced piece of junk. We don't know yet.

"But in a subsequent statement the organisation says RAND did not compare the fighting qualities of particular aircraft."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/25/2373632.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/29/2377266.htm

So it only *might* be an overpriced piece of junk. We don't know yet.

Reporters need to eat, though.

There in lies the problem, if they ate less maybe we'd end up getting a higher quality of content out of the vicious strugle for food.

The reason the NYT et al. are losing revenue is because the quality of content is equal to the mad semi-political rambling of Bob's Gardening Blog.

The likes of Colbert didn't become respected journalists because Colbert is a competent journalist. He's crap at it and I live in a nation with a decent news agency but because the quality of the legitimate news agencies went down to his level.

Japan Tsunami = massive natural disaster - GUN TOTING POPULATION -> no looting & roving gangs -> no murder, assault -> no need for way to "protect" self and family

Thai Tsunami = massive natural disaster - GUN TOTING POPULATION -> no looting & roving gangs -> no murder, assault -> no need for way to "protect" self and family

See a pattern here?

Yes, I do see a pattern - you either don't know what you are talking about or are making things up.

There was looting in Thailand after the 2004 Tsunami (and after their recent unrest), and in Japan now.

Thailand 2004: Thai looters cash in on tsunami destruction
Thailand 2010: Thai forces to fire on looters and arsonists
Japan 2011: Japan earthquake: Looting reported by desperate survivors

Now, is it firearms that causes people to form mobs with ill intent? Apparently not as they will form with makeshift weapons:

Recently in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, dozens of men, armed with machetes and make-shift weapons, broke into and looted stores along the capital's main commercial street. Natural Disasters in Chile and Haiti the Psychology of Looting

And what of Sweden, who lost a number of citizens in the 2004 disaster in Thailand?

Even famously law-abiding Sweden and Norway have been hit by scammers who have robbed and looted the homes of tourists who vanished in the chaos.

"It is, unfortunately, a reality that people who are known to be missing . . . have had their homes gone through and partly emptied," Swedish State Secretary Lars Danielsson said.......

Fearing an outbreak of looting akin to what occurred after the 1994 sinking of the ferryboat Estonia that killed 551 Swedes, police refused to release the names of the dead and missing. Somehow, though, the names got out, and now police are standing watch over hundreds of homes scattered across the country. Gangs pillage tsunami villages, stealing corpses & selling orphans

And more of the same: Robbery, rape and kidnap

Sri Lanka Churches Worried about Looting in Tsunami-hit Areas

Referring to the looters, the Sri Lanka church council said: "We appeal to them to kindly desist from such dastardly conduct and join with the several who are helping those in need," as it urged more church volunteers and others to join in the relief work.

The criticism came after reports that thugs were looting homes of some tsunami victims and rapists were preying on homeless survivors.

"We have received reports of incidents of rape, gang rape, molestation and physical abuse of women and girls in the course of unsupervised rescue operations," the Women and Media Collective group in Sri Lanka was quoted saying by the Reuters news agency.

But don't only bad people have guns? No. For example, Dr. Martin Luther King owned guns for protection.

I also suggest that you become clear on this point: Justices Rule Police Do Not Have a Constitutional Duty to Protect Someone . This has been the law for quite some time.

You can't necessarily count on the police:

Lets be really clear about what the UN are doing here.

Yes lets,

The UN has authorised the destruction of military assets belonging to the Gaddafi regime. They are intervening in a civil war to bring it to an end, with the victor being the side the UN has chosen (I.E. not the tyrant). FFS this is what the UN security council is there to do.

I'm sorry but you cant have it both ways, with one half of your mouth your lambaste the UN for not taking action, when they do you complain that they are taking too much action. The UN is doing, precisely what the UN is meant to be doing at this point in time.

They are stepping in to help overthrow Gadhafi. Regardless of whether you like him or not; regardless of whether you are happy with his rule in Libya, he holds that position of power, and you cannot apply your own constitution to overthrow his.

Except that is not happening here. The UN is intervening in a severely lopsided civil war.

Just what do you think that Gaddafi is doing to those rebels at the moment, I'll give you a clue, he's not inviting them round for tea and crumpets like the UN usually does.

You see, the rebels have actually asked for help, they are glad to receive it or as Amin Nuri, a Libyan said "We want them just to fight him with the planes... and then we will do the rest". Source.

For the record, I'm normally against war but this action could help end one rather then starting another.

An earthquake 7 times more powerful than the biggest it was built for hit, and all that happened to the reactors that didn't shut down cleanly was a small amount of radioactive noble gases, which decay within minutes. Even if the cores DO melt, they're safely contained in ... wait for it... containment chambers!

Workers evacuated amid fresh nuke threat.
I suggest you might be more comfortable if you remove your foot from your mouth.

The thing to also be alarmed about is the lying and cover-ups that has been going on over there with their nuclear plants.
more explosions and a no fly zone now imposed does not sound like a safe environment.

Aside from recent crackdowns with piracy, there is virtually no internet censorship in the US, while there is plenty in Australia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_in_Australia

Also, aside from broadcast television, any censorship on TV, movies, video games, books, is left entirely up to society. Nothing needs to be approved for classification by the government to be distributed in the US. You can basically publish anything you want aside from child pornography, though there are restrictions on pornography in terms of selling things to minors. The movie and video game industry regulate themselves and do a very good job at it, but nothing is ever banned from distribution by the government.

In contrast, in Australia, if you show a film or a possess books that haven't been classified for distribution by the government, that's grounds for the government to raid your house or business and you can be slapped with heavy fines or jail time. Loads of video games, movies, or books are heavily censored before being released in Australia or refused classification and effectively banned. Australia also has a huge obsession with anything that remotely resembles child pornography. A man received fines for possess nude photos of the Simpsons, and smaller but still perfectly naturally breasted women (B cup and under) have been banned from the covers of pornographic material under the idea that small breasted women incite child pornography.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7770781.stm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_Australia
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/11/11/3063975.htm

Really? Because I don't consider police raiding the house of individuals for showing films or bookshops for having books that weren't approved by the Australian government to be considered free speech. Heck, I don't consider not allowing the sale of any speech material of any form to be an invasion of freedom of speech. Australia also has some of the most intrusive internet censorship laws. They feel the need to make sure that no adult likes small breasted women and therefor can't be turned into a child pornographer by banning women with perfectly legitimate but smaller breast size (B) from the cover of pornography cases. I'm really just scratching the surface here. There is a lot more you can read about and understand on your own time, but as far as the first world is concerned, Australia is one of the worst offenders in freedom of speech.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_Australia
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/11/11/3063975.htm
http://opennet.net/research/australia-and-new-zealand

The story here is not that a power plant was damaged and might release toxic material. It's that everyone is going bugnuts crazy about that when entire towns are inundated and/or on fire.

The story is actually about explosions in one nuclear power plant, residents warned to stay indoors, turn off air conditioners, not to drink the tap water. If they have to go outside, to cover up completely, wear a mask and cover their face with a wet towel. Radiation released per hour is more than the recommended limit for humans per year. Obligatory link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/12/3162450.htm

Then some violently deranged gamer left a scrap of paper on a politicians doorstep in a threatening way

Stupid and dumb thing to do, but not a reflection on all gamers.

Just this week http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/02/3152798.htm one of our pollies coped a few death threats over the phone in relation to a new tax. If the action of one nutter can taint all gamers as violent killers, then that makes everyone weary of new taxes, or attempt to control carbon, violent killers as well.

It was a cheap ploy to garner sympathy that didn't work. The lack of R18 is the ultimate in political cynicism: The overwhelming majority is ok with it but probably wont effect their voting choice, the small nut bag religious hot button group WILL change their votes on it though so up yours everyone else - we want that potential .5%.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/14/3137816.htm?section=world

Good enough?

..... we're extraditing.

It's true

Here is an Interview and Transcript with Duane Hamacher, the astroarcheologist who wrote his thesis "On the Cultural Astronomy of Aboriginal Australia".

Radio National (Australia) has podcasts of The science show", Robyn Williams has been it's host for about 30yrs and IMHO is the best science journalist on the planet.