Donald Trump's Dangerous America Is a Fiction
ACTUALLY, Mr. Trump...
You Will Not Die in a Mass Shooting
Some very visible bad things have happened. Dozens of people have been shot. Some people are very afraid. They don’t need to be.
New York Post Articles About Quentin Tarantino Spike by Infinity Percent
Last week was all about Quentin Tarantino at the New York Post—with the number of articles about the Pulp Fiction director skyrocketing literally infinitely over the last year. After the staggering increase, New Yorkers of a certain age can’t help but be reminded of the last time it seemed like the maverick director…
Here's How Much Medical Procedures Cost in Different Cities
America's health care system has many problems. One is the fact that it is incredibly difficult to know how much things cost. We asked for prices on health care. Now, we've assembled some for you.
Black Teens Are 21 Times More Likely to Be Killed by Cops Than Whites
The national data on police shootings is shamefully spotty—that's why our colleagues at Deadspin are putting this together—but using the numbers that are available, ProPublica put together a detailed demographic analysis of the victims. The conclusions are both horrible and totally unsurprising.
The Malaysia Airlines Crash Is Not the Dutch Equivalent of 9/11
Here is a straightforward explanation by a mathematician of why doing this kind of tragedy arithmetic is wrong. One key to the argument:
BREAKING: If you conduct a poll made up of 73 percent whites, 61 percent Midwesterners and Southerners, 66 percent non-college grads, 69 percent non-Democrats and 56 percent land-line users, you can get a Politico headline proclaiming Obama the worst president since World War II.
Bad news: Since 1764, the United States has had one fewer school shooting than the next 38 nations combined. Good news: That study only counted up to 2009, so we're probably the world's undisputed No. 1 now.
Watch Glenn Beck Put a Man in a Wig to Teach Guys Jokes About Rape
Glenn Beck thinks that not nearly as many women on college campuses are raped or assaulted as the government does. He wants you to understand the truth, which is why he aired this bizarre pantomime between a "rape expert" and a guy in a wig and skirt.
An estimated 55 percent of Americans believe they're smarter than the average American. No word on how many can define irony.
Roughly .02 Percent of Published Researchers Reject Global Warming
In 2013, there were 10,885 published, peer-reviewed articles that researched anthropogenic, or man-made, climate change. Only two argued that the phenomenon wasn't real, according to the geochemist who compiled them.
How Many People With Your Name Vote Republican?
Nearly 78 percent of registered voters named Bubbles are Democrats. At least that's what Clarity Campaign Labs says in its new project. How Democratic Is Your Name? compares first names with partisan affiliation, gun ownership, education level, and religious practices. So now you can finally try to feel superior to…
Relax, the United States Will Not Dismantle Our Perpetual War Machine
The front page of today's New York Times has astonishing news for a nation accustomed to life on an eternal war footing: Defense secretary Chuck Hagel has proposed shrinking the United States military to a size, as the subheadline puts it, "Equal to That of 1940." Online, where the subheads are more expansive, the…
You Will Not Win at Gambling
Gambling is a system of selling hope in exchange for money. Hope springs eternal, but money always runs out. New statistics show just how hopeless your futile dreams of striking it rich really are.
Outright racism in America is largely a thing of the past, the Economist writes, because (among other things) "[t]he governor of lily-white Massachusetts is black." Lily-white Massachusetts ranks 26th of 50 states in percentage of black population, and 22nd in percentage of white population.
Slate cites a deeply implausible statistic in an item about masturbation habits: "A 2010 survey found that 75 percent of 16- and 17-year-old boys had masturbated in the past year." Seventy-five percent, you say. The other 25 percent didn't have their writing hands free to answer the survey.
Chris Christie is More Popular with Democrats than Republicans
New polling data suggests New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie may have exactly what it takes for a Republican to be elected president: Democrats like him more than Republicans do.
German Police Really Don't Like Shooting at People, Used Only 85 Bullets Last Year
Police in Germany only fired 85 times at or in the vicinity of criminal suspects during the course of 2011, according to a government-commissioned report.
Obama Announcing Plan to Help You Pay for Your Expensive, Dumb Degree
First, the bad news: Tuition at America's public colleges has increased by 8.3 percent over the past year. Now the good news: Your college degree is still worth every penny. In your dreams, I mean! In real life your degree is worth exactly one penny.
1 in 100 Americans Made Suicide Plans
If you're the kind of person who likes to casually drop Debbie Downer statistics into your holiday party conversations, here's some new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that will certainly be of interest to you: 8 million adults reported considering suicide at some point between 2008 and 2009,…
