Dear siege, I am grateful that the statistics courses I attended included about as much information on what statistics DON'T prove as well as what inferences might be drawn through statistical analyses. I would be grateful if you would be so kind as to recommend by reply post (or just LJ email me) recommended reading on system design, for mine was a very incomplete education. Best wishes, siege, for a beautiful day and an even better tomorrow.

P.S. I think that Civics needs also to be taught in the public schools again along with maturity-appropriate history. (e.g. grade schoolers possibly don't need to know about small pox infected blankets being given to native peoples and I recently met a 5 grader of mixed ethnicity who looked crestfallen when describing U.S. slavery when otherwise delightedly telling about what she was learning in school. She was quite animated talking about fractions.)