Comments on: More Fun With Headlines

By: Miss Appropriate

Miss Appropriate — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:03:15 +0000

ty - Whoa, I’m not willing to stick out my neck that far!

By: ty

ty — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:53:28 +0000

Miss Appropriate - I’ll go even further and predict that most, if not all, of the disasters you list may occur.

By: CIDU Bill

CIDU Bill — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:21:11 +0000

I suspect they chose 2013 a a shorthand for “by tehe nd of Obama’s first term.”

This is just a guess, though, since congressional committees rare consult with or confide in me. Their loss, of course.

By: Howabominable (aka Lindsey ^_^)

Howabominable (aka Lindsey ^_^) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:19:52 +0000

Yesterday I read a topic by someone who got out their tarot cards and say some DISTURBING NEWS. She said that the tarot cards told her that there would be MORE TURMOIL in the world unless we set aside our differences and made peace with each other!

That is so brilliant, I’m glad we have tarot readers to tell us what to do, never would have figured that out otherwise!

By: Miss Appropriate

Miss Appropriate — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:41:45 +0000

2013 is five years from now, so I assume they just picked it as a round number. As for their very general prediction, I have to admit that my initial reaction was, “Duh!”

By the way, I predict that in the next five years it is more likely than not that there will be a major flood somewhere in the world, there will be a devastating fire somewhere in the world, or there will be a major earthquake somewhere in the world.

By: CIDU Bill

CIDU Bill — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:10:54 +0000

There was plenty more to the report, Robert, but this was the quantification that every headline in the world distorted — and since I was making a point about teh headlines and not the report itself, this is all I quoted.

By: Robert Warden

Robert Warden — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:36:12 +0000

Was there more to the report than that? The headline I saw mentioned biological warfare. Maybe that sounds scarier than WMD or nuclear. In any case, you can trust the media to go with whatever will sell themselves the best, like the prostitutes that some of them are.

By: padraig

padraig — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:55:18 +0000

“more likely than not”
“somewhere in the world”

Can they be more vague? And 2013, did they pick that year with a dartboard, or did someone figure 13 will be unlucky?

This is what happens when you ask horoscope writers to set foreign policy.

By: Alexandra Erin

Alexandra Erin — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 05:25:31 +0000

Although I have to say that I agree that to, ahem, most people, “most” connotes not just a majority but a particularly strong majority. Still doesn’t excuse blowing up “more likely than not” into an inevitably. Even if “most” suggests a large majority, “more of this thing than the other thing” very clearly does not.

By: Alexandra Erin

Alexandra Erin — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 05:23:08 +0000

That reminds me of when Matt Groening, on the eve of the thirteenth season of The Simpsons, said “I have a feeling we’re closer now to the end than the beginning.”… the media went nuts with talk about how he’d “hinted” about cancellation.

Yeah… around season 25 or so.