August 2016 – William M. Briggs

Gonorrhea, Wee P-values, and Tax Increases

Adventurous reader Ted Poppke discovered a peer-reviewed paper that, according to the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), proved that increasing sales tax on booze "caused a 24% decrease in gonorrhea cases…

Statistics

On The Severe (And Unrecognized) Limitations Of fMRI

So this 44-year-old Frenchman---let's call him Jacques---presented for a "mild left leg weakness". The leg bone being connected to the hip bone, etc., it was eventually discovered that Jacques's "skull…

Book review Statistics

Uncertainty Reviewed In The New Criterion

"William Briggs, the civilized world's most amusing statistician." Roger Kimball, author of The Fortunes of Permanence: Culture and Anarchy in an Age of Amnesia, The Rape of the Masters: How…

Philosophy SAMT

Summary Against Modern Thought: Our Intellects Are Not Material

See the first post in this series for an explanation and guide of our tour of Summa Contra Gentiles. All posts are under the category SAMT. Previous post. Our intellects…

Culture Statistics

Reader Query & Assist Request: Health Data In India

Busy Saturday, so a plea from reader Aman Rastogi: Sir, I am a student from Lucknow University, INDIA, pursuing my Masters in Public Health there. Few days back I have…

Culture

Islam vs. The West vs. Russia — Guest Post by Ianto Watt

I've been asked to share 'my notes' regarding my previous posts about Islam vs. The West (Part I, II, III). Especially where I've said that the only way out for…

Philosophy Statistics

Stream: Global Warming Alarmists Plead: Save the Children By Not Having Them

Today's post is at The Stream: Global Warming Alarmists Plead: Save the Children By Not Having Them. Global warming will, of course, doom us all. That is, if the models…

Statistics

Showdown At The National Academy of Sciences Corral

I've been asked by pals to promote this event, which happens today. This is a repost from this site. Steve Milloy, Dr. John Dunn & and Dr. Stan Young versus…

Brian (bulaoren) on Class 99: Entropy Part IOctober 31, 2026
During the summer of 1977, I was living with a woman who had a 2 year old daughter. My brother,…
Ultrarightist on Book Update: Launch DateOctober 29, 2026
Briggs, Thanks for the reply and the information. That is unfortunate. Hardbacks aren't made like they used to be, and…
McChuck on Class 99: Entropy Part IOctober 29, 2026
Entropy is described as a numerical rating of chaos. This is more confusing than not, and a poor descriptor, even…
Briggs on Book Update: Launch DateOctober 28, 2026
Ultrarightist, Apparently not: They use case laminate (also called adhesive case binding or image-wrap) construction: The page block is glued…
Cary Cotterman on Book Update: Launch DateOctober 28, 2026
Most book stores have a rack where employees put new books they've read, accompanied by short, usually hand-written reviews. It's…