At 11:52 AM -0500 11/15/00, James B. Byrne wrote:
>My observation of accuracy is that if any activity involving
>humans on a significant scale reports an accuracy of better
>than 95%, then the measurement system itself is suspect.
>The cost of getting from 95% to 99% accuracy is often several
>multiples of the cost to obtain 95%....
...
>Comfort can be drawn from this situation in that in the end it,
>whosoever wins, it will make negligible difference to the
>country or to the vast majority of citizens.


With regard to most of the issues at hand in this election, I'd probably
agree with that sentiment. Life will go on, and we'll all be just fine
regardless who wins.

However one issue, at least in my mind, is important enough that who wins
the presidency may make a *huge* difference. That issue, of course, is
Supreme Court appointments. The next president may well have a chance to
shape not only the Supreme Court, but also the federal courts; and those
appointments could have repercussions on our society for decades to come.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.