Darrell Huff’s How to Lie with Statistics was first published in 1954. A short book, it has long equipped readers with the ability to understand how graphs, charts and statistics can be tweaked for effect.  A recent Heartland Institute report, “Global Warming Visuals Often Distort Scientific Data,” takes a page from Huff’s book.  States report author Ronald J. Rychalk, global warming proponents “have ‘packaged’ their evidence with… visual exhibits designed to have maximum impact with minimal effort on the part of the public. The manipulation of visuals – bar and line graphs, pie charts, even photographs – has proven to be a highly effective way to offer up scary scenarios…and it is easily done.” Treat yourself to either publication, and be intellectually armed for the rest of your life.