Comments on: Thoughts from a Hong Kong Lounge

By: pikku

pikku — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:15:25 +0000

hmm, I wonder how they decided on how to weight the individual environmental impact factors. I was able to adjust them (or rather distort them) in such a way that Switzerland ends up in the 22nd place, while all the Nordic countries stay in the top 5…

By: SursumCorda

SursumCorda — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:54:48 +0000

Oh, I missed the “less vs. fewer” point completely. I thought he was commending you (Janet) for riding your bike to school.

By: IrishOboe

IrishOboe — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:31:53 +0000

Of course I’m proud of you, dear, though it took me a moment to realize you were speaking of grammar and not children.

I guess I haven’t lost every Japanese influence, because I guessed b).

By: SursumCorda

SursumCorda — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:32:33 +0000

Interesting that you can change the weights of the various factors in the environmental index.

Of course you should be proud of Switzerland, but I always take such numbers with a grain of salt, at least ever since I realized how the infant mortality calculations are so different from one country to another that cross-country comparisons are virtually useless. Thus I harbor a suspicion that economic, environmental, educational, and other statistics are similarly manipulable. You know, “There are Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics.”