May 2011

We all have an innate understanding of the concept that is technically described as "regression to the mean."

It was once wonderfully illustrated in an episode of King of the Hill. In an early scene, Khan, Boomhauer, and Bill are standing side by side in the alley on a blustery day. Khan is wearing a big cowboy hat. A gust of wind comes along, plucks the cowboy hat from Khan's head, gives it a single twirl over Boomhauer's head, and drops it square atop Bill's head.

The men are amazed! They decide that they have to videotape it for YouTube so that they can become internet stars. What follows is a long series of attempts to recreate the event, to no avail.

Just as laika.yaz predicted, a whole host of conspiracies has sprung up around the announcement of Osama Bin Laden's death. It's a pity they are all of such poor quality compared to the conspiracies that grew up around other major events like 9/11, the moon landing, the Kennedy assassination, and so forth.

Conspiracy Theory 1: Birther Distraction

Many people have noted the close timing between the release of Obama's long-form birth certificate and the timing of the assault on Bin Laden's compound. They feel that Bin Laden's death is just meant to distract us from the birth certificate question.