Good morning, it’s Monday. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. It was a beautiful weekend, though, so I hope you made the most of it.
Are you familiar with the saying “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics”? It is often attributed to the author Mark Twain, who did, in fact, employ the phrase, but said he was quoting Benjamin Disraeli, though there’s actually no evidence the former British prime minister, who died in 1881, ever uttered those words.
In short, the saying means that statistics can be manipulated to support whatever position one desires.
Twain used the phrase in an installment of his autobiography that was published by the North American Review in 1907. Specifically, he wrote: “Figures often beguile me, particularly when I have the arranging of them myself ; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: ‘There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”
I really feel this one down deep in my soul. I have never been, and never will be, a numbers person. Words all the way over here. Math of any sort has always been an achilles heel for me, which made tests like the SAT and the GRE a real trial. I would sail through the essays and the reading comprehension and then spent the balance of my allotted time sweating over the sums.
Obviously, this was not a significant detriment in my life. I was never going to be a scientist or a mathematician or a CPA. But one does have to have a basic understanding of math, sadly, to do a lot of things – including covering budgets as a reporter.
When I got to college, I was dismayed to discover that every freshman had to take at least one math class. Statistics satisfied this requirement and I thought, well, what could be so bad? It’s not algebra or calculus, at least.
Little did I know.
I blame Statistics 101 (or Stat, as we called it) for single handedly dragging down by GPA. I barely squeaked through that class with a C, which was one of the lowest grades I’ve ever received. From the very first lecture, I knew I was in deep trouble. I think I understood maybe a quarter of what the professor was saying. Despite attending the study sessions held by multiple TAs, I just couldn’t get the concepts down to save my life.
What did, ultimately, get me through the class was my sorority, or, more specifically, the trove of Stat homework and tests the sisters had collected over the years to pass down to the next generation and help them limp through this required class. I am not proud of that fact, but there it is. Remember, I’m old, so the internet was a new concept and one couldn’t simply Google “how to pass statistics” and get a whole slew of helpful information.
According to the Merriam-Webster, statistics is “the practice of collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and presenting numerical data to understand patterns and draw conclusions” and “a branch of mathematics used to make sense of large amounts of information by organizing it, finding key trends, and making predictions.”
Oh, so, you mean like in political polling? Sadly, yes – yet another sneaky way that a knowledge of math is required to be a reporter.
It’s hard to say who “invented” statistics and probability, as they were developed over a period of centuries. Two names are often mentioned, though – Ronald A. Fisher (AKA the “father of modern statistics“) and Karl Pearson (AKA the “father of mathematical statistics“), both of whom were British.
Today is World Statistics Day, which, according to the UN is intended to “raise awareness of the importance of statistics in all aspects of social and economic life among decision-makers, technical and financial partners, data producers, researchers, and the general public.”
The (rather lengthy) post is my sole contribution to the cause.
After a pretty damn fantastic fall weekend, we’re in for something of a letdown in the weather department. It will be cloudy all day with occasional showers and the potential for heavy rainfall. Temperatures will top out in the low 60s. Don’t forget those umbrellas!
In the headlines…
Israel yesterday launched its heaviest wave of attacks on Gaza since a fragile cease-fire took hold a week ago and said it had temporarily suspended humanitarian aid after accusing Hamas of violating the truce by firing on its soldiers, killing two.
Israel said it struck “dozens of Hamas terror targets” in response to the militant group’s “blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement this morning,” according to a statement from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on the social platform X.
Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff provided rare insight into how the administration is trying to disarm the terror group and reestablish secure leadership in war-torn Gaza.
Long Island Democrat Rep. Thomas Suozzi penned a letter to President Trump, imploring the commander in chief to push for the release of two American hostages taken by Hamas and presumed dead, including one of his constituents.
The U.S. military has killed three men and destroyed another boat it suspected of running drugs in the Caribbean Sea, this one alleged to have been affiliated with a Colombian insurgency group, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced yesterday.
Columbian President Gustavo Petro accused the US of murdering an innocent fisherman in an attack on a boat American authorities claimed was carrying illicit drugs, prompting Trump to declare that he would slash assistance to Colombia.
Opponents of Trump’s administration are once again rallied at thousands of locations around the U.S. — and dozens upstate — as part of the latest round of “No Kings” protests.
For a couple of hours on Saturday afternoon, the din of midtown traffic was replaced by thousands of marchers whistling, cheering and singing folk songs at a ‘No Kings’ protest down Seventh Avenue in Manhattan.
Trump called this past weekend’s “No Kings” demonstrations against him a “joke” and rejected suggestions that he is acting like a monarch.
A 155-millimeter shell fired during a live-fire demonstration for the 250th anniversary of the Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton on Saturday prematurely detonated, dropping fragments of the shell on part of Vice President JD Vance’s protective detail.
No officers were hurt in the mishap, which dropped shrapnel onto the vehicles parked on a ramp to a major freeway that had been ordered closed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Vance’s trip to a military base in California illustrated rising tensions between the federal government and Democratic leaders. Newsom deemed the live fire demonstration an “absurd show of force” and “dangerous.”
Professional thieves stole numerous French Crown Jewels from the Louvre Museum in a daring daytime heist yesterday morning in Paris.
Three to four crooks used a construction truck and a ladder to reach a second-floor balcony, then broke through a window into the museum’s Apollo Room and stole jewels that belonged to Napoleon III and his wife, Empress Eugenie, according to French police.
Two days after his release from federal prison, George Santos, the disgraced former Long Island GOP congressman, appeared on TV to thank Trump for commuting his 87-month sentence after just 84 days and said he was devoting his future to prison reform.
Santos also used his media appearances on CNN’s “State of the Union” and on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” to slap back at those who have condemned his release and to attack the warden of Federal Correctional Institution Fairton in New Jersey.
Santos said that he would only pay back approximately $374,000 in restitution if it is “required of me by the law.”
Santos said his 84 days behind bars were “a very large slice of humble pie,” but he still brushed off the “pearl clutching” of those criticizing Trump’s decision to commute his sentence.
House Speaker Mike Johnson defended Trump’s decision to grant clemency to Santos, saying the president “We believe in redemption. This is a personal belief of mine. And I hope Mr. Santos makes the most of his second chance.”
Hochul last week signed a broad package of housing bills aimed at expanding homeownership and strengthening renter protections across the state, hoping to address affordability, discrimination and corporate manipulation in the housing market.
Hochul vetoed a bill that would have required platforms like Instacart, Uber and DoorDash as well as food retailers to let customers know if they can expect a price hike by ordering groceries online.
New York’s highest state court rejected arguments from several counties last week that a state law approved to move most elections from odd- to even-numbered years violates the state Constitution.
As the New York City mayoral campaign enters its final weeks, the candidates appeared at a forum at Queens College and at a soccer tournament in Coney Island.
In the closing week before early voting begins in the New York City mayoral election, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo is doubling down on a line of attack trying to tie the race’s front-runner, Mamdani, to figures who said they opposed homosexuality.
Cuomo yesterday directly appealed to Republicans to ditch “spoiler” GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa and vote for him instead for mayor, saying it’s the only way to thwart Mamdani.
Cuomo pleaded with Republicans on Friday to abandon Sliwa and said it would be “very, very, very hard mathematically” for him to mount a last-minute comeback as long as the Republican remained in the race.
The president recoiled at the prospect of Sliwa, a big cat lover, bringing his clowder of felines into Gracie Mansion, as he said he hadn’t decided whether to get involved in the race yet.
The rise of the lefty Democratic Socialist Mamdani “is the result of Democrats’ self-destruction,” Sliwa said, asking: “So I’m supposed to help them? How come they don’t help themselves?”
Queens Councilman Robert Holden is featured in a new Sliwa campaign ad, saying he’s “fed up” and decrying corruption and scandals while images of Cuomo flash across the screen.
Mamdani campaigned with a notorious, gay-hating Brooklyn imam who is an unindicted co-conspirator in 1993 World Trade Center bombing and who has been linked to other terrorist activity in the United States — including urging “jihad” on the Big Apple.
Two retired FBI agents who investigated the 1993 World Trade Center bombing said Mamdani was “foolish” to campaign with an imam linked to the attack’s mastermind.
“The same imam met with Mayor Bloomberg, met with Mayor De Blasio, campaigned alongside Eric Adams, and the only time it became an issue of national attention was when I met with him,” Mamdani told reporters at an unrelated event.
Cuomo says he’ll ask the current NYPD commissioner, Jessica Tisch, to stay on the job if he’s elected mayor Nov. 4.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has not endorsed Mamdani with the election less than three weeks away, but says he plans to “have more to say about the mayor’s race” in the next week.
Mamdani has still not yet said, with early voting starting in just over a week, how he will vote on the ballot questions that would fast-track some housing development approvals.
Amid a larger bipartisan pull toward populism and mounting anger toward corporations and billionaires, DSA members say their meetings around the country are attracting more people than ever.
Secretly recorded conversations indicate Frank Carone, a former top aide to Mayor Eric Adams who’s now boosting Cuomo’s mayoral bid, intervened on behalf of an alleged mob associate trying to get his suspended tow truck firm’s license reinstated.
The Actors’ Equity Association, which represents more than 50,000 professional actors and stage managers working in live theater, reached a tentative agreement with The Broadway League for a new production contract, the union said Saturday.
New York Comic Con has come and gone, but there is another comic book storyline brewing: The push to co-name a street on the Lower East Side for Jack Kirby.
New Yorkers and tourists from far and wide bid farewell to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s rooftop yesterday, the final day it was open to the public before it gets demolished and replaced.
The speed limit for e-bikes and pedal-assist bicycles will dip to 15 mph later this month — but questions remain on just how, or if, the city actually plans to enforce it.
City of Schenectady residents at public hearing pleaded with council members to give them a break when it comes to the mayor’s tentative spending plan for 2026, which proposes to raise taxes by 17% and increase residential trash collection fees.
Two recent plane crashes with regional connections involved pilots in their 80s who received a newer type of medical certificate that requires less oversight from the Federal Aviation Administration.
Nearly four years after submitting a proposal to test-fire howitzers in the Adirondacks, Michael Hopmeier’s application to the Adirondack Park Agency is complete and out for public comment.
SUNY is turning to “Assassin’s Creed” to try to get people to apply to college. The state university system is advertising on play-throughs and discussions of popular video games, hosted by streamers on YouTube. It’s a new ad campaign, SUNY said.
A consulting firm recommended that Saratoga Springs dredge its primary drinking water reservoir, Loughberry Lake, or seek other water sources after finding its capacity and the amount of water that can be safely drawn from it have decreased over the years.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany agreed to an $8 million settlement in a lawsuit filed by a man who had said he was molested hundreds of times as a child by a former high-ranking priest who ultimately admitted sexually abusing young boys for years.
A lawsuit against a Saratoga Springs businessman and two-time political candidate that accuses him of sexually assaulting a woman multiple times under the guise of providing her expert CIA training is heading to mediation, according to filings in the case.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
