today's statistics links

1. Dr. Pezz compares Olympics coverage and a staff meeting, cautioning us to be wary of statistics. The following links will contain statistics of various origin, kind, and significance. Beware indeed!

2. DMZ track's Jose Vidro's decline and fall. (Look closely at the link: good thing it's not Orthography Day.)

3. Slate is now measuring Olympic sap. That's actually the best thing about watching the Games on NBCOlympics.com. It hosts live feeds of all the contests, without any announcers or cutaways for canned corn. Brilliant--and addictive.

4. The U.S. trade deficit dropped. In June. Whether this is a good thing is economically dubious.

5. Mike the Mad Biologist, on pundits, pols, and polls: "Someday, we will have a political press corps that is mathematically literate. And then I will have a magic pony."

6. Up to 80% of British biofuels may come from unsustainable sources. (Soylent Gas was a rare exception.)

7. Even if men are buying more clothing, does it matter much?

8. (Added late) And check out Jordan Ellenberg's explanation of the new way to score gymnastics.