not the part about listening to me (although I appreciate that darlin :*) but the part about the same statistic can mean whatEVER you want it to mean.

Here's an example. STATISTICS show that over the course of years, the percentage of Black high school graduates who attend college has increased.

This number tells us nothing. Nothing. Break it down. It is the tiniest little statistical fact. But some folks have taken this statistic (and a few like it) to mean that affirmative action in schools is no longer necessary. Myself, if I were going to form an opinion about what that statistic means in a vacuum, my opinion would be that it means that affirmative action works, so we'd better keep it around. Same number, two entirely different results.

The single most important thing about any statistical measure are the assumptions that underlie it. Don't ever be fooled by numbers.

Learning to say "so what?" helped me a lot, too.

Peace.