Google news is really pissing me off this morning. What is the purpose of these stories? It's almost voyeuristic. And this proves that the specific numbers (and maybe the stories/headlines) don't matter or are inconsequential to the reader. How much higher/lower would that number have to be to change the meaning of the headline? What if it said 900? What if it said 9? Would that have changed anything for the reader? I don't think so.

Some gratuitous Postman quotes:

...misleading information - misplaced, irrelevant, fragmented or superficial information - information that creates the illusion of knowing something, but which in fact leads one away from knowing.


Orwell feared those who would deprive us information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism.

and an xkcd comic: