This will hurt me...

A couple of weeks back I arrive at work, and who should I find waiting for me, patiently and orderly in rows just across the road from the front door? The Royal Australian Navy , that's who! The HMAS Darwin is a long-range escort frigate [snigger snigger] that seems to be a jack of all trades vessel: area air defence, anti-submarine warfare, surveillance, reconnaissance and interdiction. In a potentially sexy turn of phrase, the ship is capable of countering simultaneous threats from the air, surface and sub-surface . Quite. The Navy refused to confirm or deny that the frigate [snigger snigger] was in town to prevent a flock of Mexican flying pigs from entering Tasmanian airspace and spreading the dreaded La temido gripe de cerdo Mexicana ! On that, actually, canny Swede Professor Hans Rosling has released a video well worth watching. Rosling has calculated the ratio of news article coverage versus actual deaths in the context of the recent La temido gripe de cerdo Mexicana ou...

I’ve banged on about immunisation in the past , so I will refrain from doing so at length again. But I want to post this link from the Stats Blog (also featured previously ), which is about identifying and correcting scientific misinformation in the media resulting from bad science, politics, or a simple lack of information or knowledge. It disturbs me that the sort of simplistic thinking of many anti-vaccination campaigners has such carriage with a lot of people, especially when it threatens the health and wellbeing of kids. So I’m always about promoting evidence that undermines their cause. So if you’re at all interested, have a look at this quick read (with citations) about a number of measles outbreaks in the US among unvaccinated kids. The numbers of deaths pre-vaccination alone are telling, and well worth reminding people of when they resort to anecdote instead of hard evidence. NOTE TO SELF: Remember to include the link ! LATE LATE NOTE TO SELF [and the world], this is post num...

To combat the depressed atmosphere around this blog today, I though that I would share with you five things gleaned from the latest issue of the Australian Bureau of Statistics excellent little monthly for the statistically inclined, the Tasmanian Statistical News: In 2006, 36% of Tasmanians over the age of 18 had done some kind of volunteering in the previous 12 months. In 2005, Tasmania had the lowest level of household crime in Australia, with 4.5% of the population reporting being victims of actual or attempted break ins or motor vehicle theft. In 2006-07, first home buyers in Tasmania borrowed an average of $164,400, the lowest average compared to other states or territories. In 2004-05, Tasmania had the lowest proportion of people with diabetes (2.8%), and between 2004-2006, the lowest rate of death from stroke (45 per 100,000 population). In 2006, Tasmania also had a lower infant mortality rate (3.9 per 1,000 live births) than the national average (4.7 per 1,000 live births). ...

I am unsure if this has already been around the Internets three times already, but I like it. I am on the record as being keen on new ways to present data. Check out Fleshmap's info-graphic of body parts mentioned in song lyrics , sorted by genre. I do like the stark difference between Gospel’s fixation on hands, eyes and faces, and Hip-Hop’s concerns that are of a more carnal nature. There are some slightly NSFW pictures, but it’s all very tasteful (not to mention discrete). [With appreciative nod to Waxy.org .]

As the site itself says, the World Freedom Atlas is a "geovisualisation tool for world statistics" that covers the years 1990 to 2006. It draws from most of the major academic literature that measures and ranks various 'freedoms' (political, social, legal and so on), and really does give an idea of where a state sits in the context of various freedoms visually. If - like me - you dig stats, maps and the innovative use of technology to bring stats and maps alive, take a look. The World Freedon Atlas can be found here .