A TV news anchor fell in love with the word "countless" during the Pope's visit to America, using it most tellingly in describing the "countless" number of airplane flights the Pope had taken during his visit as he landed in New York City.
Reality check: The number of flights could at that point be counted on the fingers of one hand, namely three flights. From Rome to Cuba, from Cuba to Washington, and from Washington to New York. Later, there would be a flight from New York to Philadelphia, and from Philadelphia back home to Rome. Total: Five airplane flights. Hardly "countless."
Then there was the college student years ago who referred to a trip from the U.S. to Asia across "countless" time zones. Total number of time zones on the planet: 24.
Scary numbers
Also in the news is the report that Caterpillar will cut 10,000 jobs. Stories like this are written in such a way as to imply that the same number of people will lose their jobs. But that's less than 10 percent of the Caterpillar corporation's total work force, and involves only management and salaried employees, not hourly workers. In addition, the cuts will be done over two years. And typically, corporate job reductions are done largely by not refilling a slot when someone retires, and by telling the personnel department to eliminate several positions. Which is to say, don't hire some new people.
Bottom line: Few people, if any, are actually fired, and big investors and stockholders are pleased to see cost reductions.
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