I’m a dad, a retired judge, a guitar player, a former state representative, an amateur programmer and statistician. Out of fear that some may take my posts too seriously, I describe myself as someone who does mostly exploratory analysis and visualization–although I have ventured into predictive analytics and modeling from time to time. I’ve even participated in a couple of kaggle contests and submitted an R notebook.
The death of analytical/investigative reporting at the regional and local level is something that concerns me. With over twenty years of public service, I watched as reporters went from routinely showing up in the front row to take notes, to calling about what happened, to finally, not being there at all. The “for profit” model for journalism no longer results in the coverage of local school boards, conservation districts, or criminal courts.
Our society, awash in information, is less informed. An inquiry for truth is both time consuming and likely to be ignored even when it is discoverable. Nonetheless, discovery for its own sake is rewarding and there are some who value a reality-based, data-informed life. This blog is my personal effort to find information that can help me make better decisions and hold more informed opinions on contemporary issues.
You’ll find me venturing into diverse areas like computer coding, politics, economics, healthcare, maternal health, education and most recently, conservation. In short, I’m interested in learning about the world in a more mathematical, objective and firsthand way. And that is why I blog.