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test.

where’s the money really going?

nathan from flowingdata.com (via @flowingdata) shared a link to recovery.gov which shows this lovely chart:

based on this chart, it looks like the other category ($8B) is roughly 60% of the energy category ($43B) rather than 19%. just another example highlighting the importance of a standard scale for meaningful comparisons.

here’s my quick redo:

notice how much more money appears to be going to tax relief when viewed on a standard scale?

doubts about the study

i was fortunate enough to be sampled for this survey and was called on Monday December 1. the survey itself was quite short (maybe 3 minutes, tops) and the questions i recalled two days after the call (blogged here on Wednesday December 3) were not as in-depth as those provided to locally grown.

with most research, it's not uncommon for pilot studies to be conducted before launching the full-scale research. these pilot studies help refine the survey questions and shed light on areas that may have been initially overlooked.

however, based on the Fiber Optic Feasibility Open House back on Thursday November 6, i was under the impression the consultant had done these exact kinds of studies for other cities. if so, the questions asked ought to be pretty well established before they make the first call for two reasons:

1. they've done this research numerous times for other cities, so no need for a pilot study.
2. the added value of being able to tell a city how their respondents compare to similar cities.

what gives?

my lost theory

time travel has some odd side-effects for the island’s occupants. here’s two of them that might explain some oddities throughout the first 4 seasons:

1. people appearing where (and when) they should not be. christian sheppard, dave, walt, ben’s mom. these people all traveled through time to the island; they disappear when the make another leap through time.
2. the voices in the jungle are time-travelers zipping through the space-time continuum.

i consider these explanations specific events that the timelooptheory doesn’t fully address (that i found).

revisiting my lost predictions

i made a few predictions for LOST season 4, and for the most part, was right on all of them:

1. the rescue party wasn't really looking for desmond, they were looking for the island / something on the island – right on; they wanted ben.
2. rescue party will interrogate losties and others alike to find what they want from the island – the scientists asked nicely, the militants were not so nice to new otherton.
3. losties will buddy up with the others to fend off the rescue party – season 4 finale, kate leads ben away from militants who get ambushed by the originals.
4. john lock will oust ben as the leader of the others – kinda saw that coming.
5. many more flash-forwards this season – ditto.
6. rescue party is part of the military-industrial-pharmaceutical complex fixated on exploiting the island's powers for evil purposes...can you say the island killed jfk? – c’mon, whidmore industries. that guy’s got connections in all the right places.