On top of those two long-term trends, there's another factor at play - the 20-year baby boom that followed the Second World War has distorted demographic statistics like a pig passing through a python.

Presumably trained to know better, intellectuals on all sides have sunk to distorting statistics, misusing facts and ignoring evidence that might inflect the debate.

A rule was created to stop the use of this tactic, allegedly (by Weaver) because it was distorting pinch-hitting statistics.

This method also distorts statistics of anti-spam programs because it is usually unknown how many mails (Spam or otherwise) would have been received through a certain connection.

With the ban's proponents and opponents accusing one another of distorting statistics and sowing alarmism, both sides have been waging an intense media campaign that includes televised round tables and advertisements.

It is well known that the authorities are aware of only a small proportion of crimes, and that administrative processing of those crimes further distorts official statistics.

A Venezuelan official said the report distorts and takes statistics out of context, saying that "human rights violations in Venezuela have decreased".

It is common knowledge, however, that governments distort and manipulate statistics in all sorts of ways, even those in an area as straightforward as unemployment.

Brian Shenker, the editorial director of the service, said that the sample excluded mass torts, like the suits over asbestos that lump many plaintiffs together and account for extraordinary monetary awards, unusual events that can distort statistics.

The demand for lower priced homes may be so extreme and the supply so limited that it is distorting statistics in the New York area and perhaps exaggerating the median price increase, according to some housing analysts and appraisers.