Monday, October 26, 2009

Another Monday Is Here.....

Le sigh, Monday is here. I have never been fond of Mondays for obvious reasons. But sadly that is our lot as adults.

Moving on, I am sure most of you have heard of the "Balloon Boy" drama that went down a few days back. It just got me to think about how hungry some people are out here for fame by any means necessary. Sadly the only thing the parents have coming is a huge legal bill and potential criminal charges. It's sad that we have gotten to the level where people aren' t happy with the lives they have been given and feel that fame is the only thing that can add value to their lives. Anyway I'm not going to get preachy about this.

I read about a Kenyan gay couple in the UK that decided to tie the knot and the maelstrom that erupted both online and offline (for their families). It's been interesting to watch I must say. I have a post that I am working on related to on that issue as homosexuality is still a hot button issue with Kenyans both at home and in the diaspora. Reminds me of how a few years back during the Thanksgiving celebrations that go down in Atlanta 2 Kenyan chics were busted making out in a bathroom stall with one of them half naked, someone took cell phone pics that were floating somewhere online. One of the chics lived in Atlanta at the time and became a veritable hermit as a result (maybe a where they are now feature is in order?).

I was having a discussion with someone the other day about an issue related to diet and their rebuttal to some statistics I had to share was that alot of those studies were alarmist and did not apply to the situation at hand. Usually at this point in time when that comes up more often than not the discussion goes down the drain. This is due to the fact that many people are not that well versed in issues related to statistical inference. Not all studies are the gospel truth but on the other hand not all studies are rubbish (as many people believe), hence the importance to be able to look at a study and the accompanying statistics and infer if they are sound ie sample size, margin of error etc. Needless to say this is a tiring excercise for many people so what happens is that the usual response is, "those are alot of numbers and big words", and they carry on with whatever action or opinion they had before the discussion. Ah case in point, I remember having this chat with this chic about how a certain behavior elevates the probability of cancer, she retorted by saying "my Uncle has been doing it for years, and he is fine; I can only go by what I see." I almost asked her if her ancestors excommunicated Galileo for his heretical teachings but held my tongue. And that is why I have confined my conversations to issues like Jon & Kate plus 8, the latest Sports news and other chit chat. Gets off soap box.

Ladies this is a PSA for you from way back when.....

Well I have said enough, time for me to go and read some more studies.