Subject:
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Re: Capital Ideas
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Wed, 26 Jun 2002 14:54:24 GMT
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Viewed:
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487 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Dave Schuler writes:
> We've all heard and/or read about the reports that blast capital
> punishment as a deterrent and find no correlation between the availability
> of the death penalty and a lower incidence of capital crimes. But the
> demagogue asserted that the oft-cited [insert anti-Liberal slur here] study
> was based on incomplete data and is therefore invalid. Specifically, he
> claimed that the study excluded data from New York and Texas (not sure if he
> said Texas or some other state), and further that not all of the states that
> permitted the death penalty actually made use of it. Therefore, according
> to the radio guy, the information doesn't represent a valid cross-section of
> a society that employs capital punishment as a deterrent measure.
Excluding Texas would probably work to his advantage: I believe Texas has
the highest murder rate along with the highest execution rate. Either
capital punishment has little effect, or Texas would soon be laid waste
without it (one must test without capital punishment to be sure, though I
would lean to the former conclusion). One might further argue that Texas is
best left out anyway, since Texans have a different mind-set than everyone
else. But then again, one might wish to discount any view I have on Texas:
my mother-in-law is a Texan. :-)
> Regardless of one's own views on capital punishment, it seems like bad
> methodology to base one's report (and, therefore, argument) upon
> deliberately gerrymandered data in this fashion. Can anyone verify this
> info? I'd hate to think the goofy propagandist might be correct, but I
> don't have solid data to oppose him.
Yes, there are three type of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics. One
should be wary of them. Personally, I don't trust the government enough to
get executing people right regardless of statistics either way.
Bruce
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Capital Ideas
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| (...) And correlation doesn't equal causation, except when convenient for one's agenda! 8^) (...) A tangential but related point: On Saturday I chanced to hear some of the Mike Reagan radio show on which Mike (with typical, laser precision) (...) (22 years ago, 26-Jun-02, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Capital Ideas
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| Here in sunny Western PA we have a disturbing abundance of far-right demagogues on the radio, all of whom place the blame for all the ills of society--from the possibility of a dirty bomb to the heartbreak of psoriasis-- squarely upon Liberals. I (...) (22 years ago, 25-Jun-02, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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