Big Food, Big Garden, Big Life

in rural Mississippi

 echo

Secondary menu

Skip to content
  • About Big Food etc.|
  • Big Recipes|
  • Big Dogs Jawin’|
  • Crappy Old Books of the Months|
  • Contact Big Food etc.|
  • Bad Weather|
You are here: Home / 2019 / June / 05 / And Speaking of Joseph Warren… | I Laughed So Hard I Almost Cried

And Speaking of Joseph Warren… | I Laughed So Hard I Almost Cried

Published on June 5, 2019 by Marica

Originally published June 12, 2013; formatting updated

A bit of background about why I found this article so so so funny… .

Yesterday I had occasion to learn a bit about Joseph Warren, who among other things, helped craft the Suffolk Resolves of 1774 which denounced Parliament after the Boston Tea Party. Paul Revere carried the Suffolk Resolves to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.

And, as long time readers of the blog and I guess now just about every civil servant knows, I like data. So this cracked me up.

The betweenness centrality scores of some crappy old terrorists

The larger the score, the more connected a node is in the network– in this case a “Social Networke” of suspected terrorists. Note that Warren is third most connected. Here’s how the author of this really really really funny serious article describes it:

Once again, I remind you that I know nothing of Mr Revere, or his conversations, or his habits or beliefs, his writings (if he has any) or his personal life. All I know is this bit of metadata, based on membership in some organizations. And yet my analytical engine, on the basis of absolutely the most elementary of operations in Social Networke Analysis, seems to have picked him out of our 254 names as being of unusual interest. We do not have to stop here, with just a picture. Now that we have used our simple “Person by Event” table to generate a “Person by Person” matrix, we can do things like calculate centrality scores, or figure out whether there are cliques, or investigate other patterns. For example, we could calculate a betweenness centrality measure for everyone in our matrix, which is roughly the number of “shortest paths” between any two people in our network that pass through the person of interest. It is a way of asking “If I have to get from person a to person z, how likely is it that the quickest way is through person x?”

That’s pulled from near the end of the article. Don’t be put off by talk of tables and matrices. The author, Kieran Healy, does an awesome job of walking even the data-adverse through an analysis of a sample of metadata–nothing more than the names of 254 men, and their membership in one or more of seven organizations, that’s all— to uncover a treasure trove of information that culminates in a most interesting person of unusual interest. 

To give you a taste, here’s how the article– really a blog post— begins:

More below

London, 1772.

I have been asked by my superiors to give a brief demonstration of the surprising effectiveness of even the simplest techniques of the new-fangled Social Networke Analysis in the pursuit of those who would seek to undermine the liberty enjoyed by His Majesty’s subjects. This is in connection with the discussion of the role of “metadata” in certain recent events and the assurances of various respectable parties that the government was merely “sifting through this so-called metadata” and that the “information acquired does not include the content of any communications”. I will show how we can use this “metadata” to find key persons involved in terrorist groups operating within the Colonies at the present time. I shall also endeavour to show how these methods work in what might be called a relational manner.

The analysis in this report is based on information gathered by our field agent Mr David Hackett Fischer and published in an Appendix to his lengthy report to the government. As you may be aware, Mr Fischer is an expert and respected field Agent with a broad and deep knowledge of the colonies. I, on the other hand, have made my way from Ireland with just a little quantitative training—I placed several hundred rungs below the Senior Wrangler during my time at Cambridge—and I am presently employed as a junior analytical scribe at ye olde National Security Administration. Sorry, I mean the Royal Security Administration. And I should emphasize again that I know nothing of current affairs in the colonies. However, our current Eighteenth Century beta of PRISM has been used to collect and analyze information on more than two hundred and sixty persons (of varying degrees of suspicion) belonging variously to seven different organizations in the Boston area.

Please do take a couple of minutes to read the article. It’s loaded with stats jokes, but even if you aren’t a stats geek, you’ll still be entertained by the ideas of “bigge data” and “analytical engines” in 1772. 

And after you’ve had a good laugh, contemplate this: all of the analysis Healy does, all of it– the tables, the matrices, the graphics, the conclusions– can be done on a laptop with a bare-bones statistics package. 

Which is not to say that a Country Mouse Vegetable Farmer data geek could have easily done it. As you know, I don’t have a bare-bones stats package on my iComputer. But I do have crappy old stats books. And paper and a pencil or two. And if I had to, I could do this. Ha.

Share responsibly!

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related, or so WordPress thinks!

Posted in Independence Day, Pages Past | Tagged America, history, statistics, US Gov't

Post navigation

← Give me a call sometime! What they heard back home →

Big Food

Watermelon sorbet
Cookies!
Bacon wrapped quail
Chicken on the grill
Chicken noodle soup
Homemade sausage

Let’s be sociable!

Would love to hear from you-- for real. I just don't do social media but feel free to use the Contact button (above) to get in touch.

Follow along via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to Bigfoodetc. and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Big Garden

Ripen!
Black eyes
Barrow of sweet potatoes
Radishes
Preserved cukes
Shrubbery

Search

Day-by-day

Regular features in addition to spontaneous posts about what the world looks like when seen from the Summit of The Farm, … or a poem I find … or a datum.

Sunday  Travels
Monday  Drudgery At Home
Tuesday  Recipe(s)
Wednesday Pages Past
Thursday  Big Dawgs Jawin’
Friday  in Local News…
Saturday  from Powerline’s TWiP

Big Life

Jerusalem market
On the road again…
Some physics
Fortress in Hungary
Blood moon
All dressed up
Storm’s comin’
A crappy old book
Spread for country mice

Recently, at Big Food etc.

  • Sharing. Your thoughts?
  • How strange
  • Its not such a bad little state, Charlie Brown.
  • The day after
  • This is a 20+ Pound Turkey
  • Thanksgiving Turkey

Windy: See for yourself!

It's interactive! See for yourself.

Gathering information on impending bad weather

  • Gathering Information on Bad Weather Pt. 1: How not to prepare
  • Gathering Information on Bad Weather Pt. 2: Tell me
  • Watch the Clouds
  • Cloud Watching
  • Cows
  • Buy Ballot’s Law (1857)
  • Gathering Information on Bad Weather Pt. 3: I’ll see for myself (1a)
  • All together now, “How could you be so careless, Marica?”
  • Gathering Information on Bad Weather Pt. 3: I’ll see for myself (1b)
  • Radar Scope update
  • Gathering Information on Bad Weather Pt. 3: I’ll see for myself (2)

Book of This Month: Miss Manner’s Guide To Rearing Perfect Children

  • Life is difficult and we can’t always get what we want
  • Insulting is such a favorite human pastime
  • Miss Manners

Crappy Old Books of The Months

had been dormant for some time, but is now revived! For previous Books of the Month, see the header, or scroll down.

Tags

2016 Dinner Party America America--what's left of it Aristotle art artists BBQ beans behavior biology birds blackeyes blog bread burgers cabbage cake calendar chicken children civility conversations cookbooks country country mice culture deer dinner party drudgery experts fall family family traditions farm FBacon fishing football freedom grammar guns heritage history homemaking hurricanes independence liberty life life and death manners meal planning Memphis mississippi Mississippi politics Missy music new stuff old stuff Oxford peppers philosophy pickles pie poem poetry politics potatoes preparedness recipes rednecks rights Rocky salad Saturday/Sunday supper sausage science SEC seeds silliness snow soup spring squash statistics summer sweet potatoes tailgate Texas Thanksgiving The Girls The South tiger tomatoes tornadoes travel travels TSUN TWiP US Gov't winter words

Top Posts & Pages

  • Recipe: Creative Cooking Chicken Sauterne
    Recipe: Creative Cooking Chicken Sauterne
  • Sharing. Your thoughts?
    Sharing. Your thoughts?
  • Recipe: Taco Peppers in Electric Skillet
    Recipe: Taco Peppers in Electric Skillet
  • Recipe: Homemade Pennsylvania Dutch Sausage
    Recipe: Homemade Pennsylvania Dutch Sausage
  • Recipe: Sausage-Sauerkraut in the Slowcooker
    Recipe: Sausage-Sauerkraut in the Slowcooker
  • Have yourself a cup of tea! Throw a tea party! Tea recipes for 1-40
    Have yourself a cup of tea! Throw a tea party! Tea recipes for 1-40
  • How to make real corned venison, antelope, moose, bear, and beef
    How to make real corned venison, antelope, moose, bear, and beef

Categories

  • Uncategorized
  • Big Food
    • food photos
    • Big recipes
  • Big Garden
    • garden photos
  • Big Life
    • life photos
    • life beyond the gate
    • people
    • silliness
    • sports
  • Big Dogs
    • Big dogs jawin'
  • Crappy Old Books
    • photos of photos
    • quotes
    • Books of the Months
  • Weather
  • Miss M
  • Daughter C
  • Kat
  • Anniversaries & Holidays
    • Christmas
    • New Years
    • Easter
    • Memorial Day
    • Independence Day
    • Labor Day
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Mother's Day
    • Columbus Day
  • Techno
  • PhilSci
  • The Summit (my view of the world)
  • WTH? No category?
  • Pages Past

Big!

Wash day
Volunteer zinnias
Homemade cold tomato soup
Farm pals
Big Life
Centerpiece by Tony

Back to the top

Big Food, Big Garden, Big Life

Mr. Big Food’s latest book

Engineering the Next Revolution in Neuroscience: The New Science of Experiment Planning in collaboration with UCLA neuroscientist Alcino J. Silva, and neuroinformaticist (& fellow stats geek, and son-in-law) Anthony Landreth

Engineering the Next Revolution in Neuroscience

A good book by Mr. Big Food

Philosophy and Neuroscience: A Ruthlessly Reductive Account

Another good book & popular reference work edited by Mr. Big Food

The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Neuroscience

A classic textbook that will help you be a better thinker

Understanding Scientific Reasoning (co-authored)

Mr. Big Food’s first crappy old book

Psychoneural Reduction: The New Wave

Archives

  • 2019 (646)
  • 2018 (231)
  • 2017 (197)
  • 2016 (495)
  • 2015 (727)
  • 2014 (373)
  • 2013 (882)
  • 2012 (878)
  • 2011 (182)

Thank you!

Thank you very much for scrolling down this far! We very much appreciate your interest in bigfoodetc.com. Tell your friends.

Have a nice day. Say "Hey" to your mama & them,

~~ Marica & the gang at bigfoodetc.com

Back to the top of

Big Food, Big Garden, Big Life

Recent Posts

  • Sharing. Your thoughts?
  • How strange
  • Its not such a bad little state, Charlie Brown.
  • The day after
  • This is a 20+ Pound Turkey
  • Thanksgiving Turkey
  • The Children’s Corner
  • “Catching the Thanksgiving Turkey”
  • Happy Thanksgiving!
  • The morning news
  • Party on, dude!
  • Back in the day
  • What a Week!
  • A good week
  • Doesn’t look half bad
  • Hero
  • In Local News | Vol. 92 Is. 45
  • Biggest Deer I’ve Ever Seen!
  • n-in-1
  • Brunswick Stew of Old Dixie | Here’s What You’re Missing
  • It’s Drudge Work Monday, but…
  • Recipe: Brunswick Stew of Old Dixie
  • From Claudia’s Sunday Evening Art Gallery
  • “Generic Used Bookstore”
  • This is a serious problem

Back to the top of

Big Food, Big Garden, Big Life

Books of the Months: Bacon’s Essays

  • Why Bacon’s Essays?
  • Your Morning Bacon: 3 Slices
  • Morning Bacon: Just one slice, I’ve got to eat & run
  • Morning Bacon
  • Who is Fra Bacon?
  • Morning Bacon: A plateful
  • Bacon!
  • Some Bacon for Friday the 13th
  • “Of Marriage and Single Life”
  • Who is Lord Bacon? (Abridged)
  • “Of Custom and Education”
  • “Of Nature in Men”
  • “Of Adversity”
  • “Of Negotiating”
  • “Of Cunning”
  • Of Studies
  • “Of Discourse”
  • The next age
  • Who was Francis Bacon? (Seriously)

Hit Parade! 2011-2015

  1. Recipe: Jesse Jackson’s Sweet Potato Pie a Pinterest favorite!
  2. They grow up so fast.
  3. Crockett’s Victory Garden: Who is Jim Crockett?
  4. “So Long till Next Year”
  5. Recipe: Blue Bonnet Cafe Meatloaf
  6. It’s not her style
  7. Recipe: Randy’s Clay Pot Roasted Chicken with Leeks and Apples (1/26/19– I remember this! It’s fantastic.)
  8. Recommendation: New Hope Seed Company
  9. Recipe: North Carolina Barbecue Sandwich with Pork Barbecue and Lexington Barbecue Sauce 
  10. Recipe: Brunswick Stew of Old Dixie

Books of the months: Anniversaries and Holidays

  • Why Anniversaries and Holidays?
  • Happy Birthday, President Houston!
  • How Ignernt Am I?
  • Ring Ring … Ring Ring
  • Service to Country
  • Imagine it gone
  • 250 Years Ago Today
  • Amerigo! Amerigo!
  • Every Seventh Notch
  • “The Ides of March have come”
  • Sweet
  • Top of the mornin’ to ya!
  • Give me Liberty
  • Sun & Moon
  • St. Gabriel
  • July & August
  • Chapter 15
  • Lady Day
  • The WWW has failed me, yet again
  • Two Roads
  • Chronicles of America
  • “The Revolt of Islam”
  • Things we missed
  • Cogito, dude.

Hit Parade! 2016

  1. Recipe: Jesse Jackson’s Sweet Potato Pie
  2. Recipe: Spicy Frozen Cucumbers  NEW!
  3. A Cross with No Church NEW!
  4. Recipe: Creative Cooking Sausage Lyonnaise with French Mustard NEW!
  5. 4BR, 2bath NEW!
  6. Recipe: Blue Bonnet Café Meatloaf NEW!
  7. Recipe: The Frugal Gourmet’s French Onion Soup NEW!
  8. Recipe: Polish Duck Sausage NEW!
  9. Recipe: Better Homes & Garden Dill Pickles and Kosher Variations NEW!
  10. Recipe: Homemade Pennsylvania Dutch Sausage NEW!

Books of the Months: Science in Your Own Backyard

  • Crappy Old Book of the Month: (late) May Edition
  • Talk about Back Yard Science! Wooo Boy!
  • WARNING!! or not: Science in Your Own Back Yard
  • The Tools of Science, ca. 1958
  • Do NOT Try This with Fire Ants!
  • Science in Your Own Back Yard: The End
  • “The purpose of this book” is simple

Hit Parade! 2017

  1. A Cross with No Church
  2. Recipe: Homemade Pennsylvania Dutch Sausage
  3. Recipe: Jesse Jackson’s Sweet Potato Pie
  4. Recipe: The Frugal Gourmet’s French Onion Soup
  5. Call 662-xxx-xxxx NEW!
  6. Recipe: Taco Peppers in Electric Skillet NEW!
  7. Recipe: Creative Cooking Sausage Lyonnaise with French Mustard
  8. Recipe: Blue Bonnet Café Meatloaf
  9. Crockett’s Victory Garden: Who is Jim Crockett?
  10. Recipe: Randy’s Clay Pot Roasted Chicken with Leeks and Apples

Books of the Months: Horizon: A Magazine of the Arts

  • Sorry Indeed
  • Well, this is outrageous!
  • Crappy Old Books of November: Look to the Past’s Horizon
  • Mermaids
  • At random
  • Sampling 1961
  • Nice boots you got there, hippie

Hit Parade! 2018

  1. Recipe: Homemade Pennsylvania Dutch Sausage
  2. Recipe: Jesse Jackson’s Sweet Potato Pie
  3. Recipe: The Frugal Gourmet’s French Onion Soup
  4. A Cross with No Church
  5. Recipe: Taco Peppers in Electric Skillet
  6. Recipe: Little Joe’s Meatballs and Spaghetti Sauce NEW!
  7. Recipe: MRS. NEMECEK’S KOLACHES AND FILLINGS NEW!
  8. Recipe: Better Homes & Garden Dill Pickles and Kosher Variations
  9. Recipe: Ancient Roman Bread NEW!
  10. Birthing a Lamb NEW!

Books of the Months: Currier & Ives

  • “The Battle of Jonesboro Georgia Sept. 1st 1864”
  • New York? Cotton? Country Life? Mississippi?
  • Seen in West Point, Mississippi
  • The Great Bartholdi Statue
  • How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood
  • A Cotton Plantation on the Mississippi
  • “The Great Victory in the Shenandoah Valley”
  • “The Battle of Chickamauga, Geo.”
  • Add to Basket
  • Reviews
  • Life in the Country: “The Morning Ride” | Alt. Title: The Unbearable Lightness of the Horse & Buggy Older Model Taurus Edition
  • “Rounding the Bend” on the Mississippi
  • Still Burning
  • “Battle of Corinth, Miss., Oct. 4, 1862”

Books of the Months: American Voices

  • “Scheming”: What a Great Word!
  • Not too good
  • An Audience
  • Fair enough?
  • The Benefit of Law
  • “Who are these people…?”
  • Quite Simply,
  • American Voices
  • “A Future American History Reviewed”

Back to the top of

Big Food, Big Garden, Big Life

Copyright © 2019 Big Food, Big Garden, Big Life.

Powered by WordPress and Cakifo.

© Marica C. Bernstein and Big Food, Big Garden, Big Life (Big Food etc.), 2011-2019. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without written permission from Marica C. Bernstein is prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full credit is given to Marica C. Bernstein and Big Food, Big Garden, Big Life (Big Food etc.) with specific direction to the original content.

This web site quotes previously published works. The authors of Big Food, Big Garden, Big Life (Big Food etc.) make reasonable effort to include proper citation for all quotes, including those whose copyright has expired. Citation errors or omissions are unintentional. Please contact the site administrator if citation correction is needed.

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
%d bloggers like this: