How to Spot Bullsh*t: A Primer by Princeton Philosopher Harry Frankfurt | Open Culture

http://www.openculture.com/2016/05/how-to-spot-bullshit-a-primer-by-princeton-philosopher-harry-frankfurt.html

Frankfurt–a philosopher at Princeton and the author of On Bullshit—allows that bullshit artists are often charming, or at their very least, colorful. They have to be. Achieving their ends involves engaging others long enough to persuade them that they know what they’re talking about, when in fact, that’s the opposite of the truth.

Speaking of opposites, Frankfurt maintains that bullshit is a different beast from an out-and-out lie. The liar makes a specific attempt to conceal the truth by swapping it out for a lie.

Record shares of Americans have smartphones, home broadband | Pew Research Center

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/01/12/evolution-of-technology/
Nearly nine-in-ten Americans today are online, up from about half in the early 2000s. Pew Research Center has chronicled this trend and others through more than 15 years of surveys on internet and technology use.

15 charts that show how Obamacare works now — and how Republicans would overhaul it – Vox

Quite a number of fair and interesting charts…

http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/4/13937032/obamacare-repeal-charts

Vital Statistics on Congress | Brookings Institution

https://www.brookings.edu/multi-chapter-report/vital-statistics-on-congress/

"Vital Statistics on Congress, first published in 1980, long ago became the go-to source of impartial data on the United States Congress. Vital Statistics’ purpose is to collect and provide useful data on America’s first branch of government, including data on the composition of its membership, its formal procedure (such as the use of the filibuster), informal norms, party structure, and staff. With some chapters of data dating back nearly 100 years, Vital Statistics also documents how Congress has changed over time, illustrating, for example, the increasing polarization of Congress and the diversifying demographics of those who are elected to serve."

Don’t Take Your Vitamins | FiveThirtyEight

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/dont-take-your-vitamins/?ex_cid=538twitter

Both education and race link very closely with taking vitamin supplements, but they also link very closely with obesity and diabetes. For example, highly educated people are more likely to take vitamins but less likely to be overweight and have diabetes — and being overweight and having diabetes are associated with a host of health problems. This makes it virtually impossible to separate the impact of vitamins from the impact of these other variables. We know education and race are also very strongly linked to mortality rates. Given this backdrop, it is an almost insurmountable challenge to tease out any small impacts of vitamins.

Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year 2016 is… | Oxford Dictionaries

https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/press/news/2016/12/11/WOTY-16

post-truth – adjective – Relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.

The Hutchins Center Explains: Public investment | Brookings Institution

"Public spending can be divided into consumption and investment. Consumption spending goes for goods and services that produce benefits today, such as health care for the elderly or mowing the lawn on the Washington Mall. Investment is spending that will provide benefits in the future, such as scientific research or building a new highway or better educating children. While conceptually simple, the distinction between government consumption spending and investment spending is, as the White House Office of Management and Budget puts it, “a matter of judgment.”"

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2017/01/03/the-hutchins-center-explains-public-investment/