Robert's Stochastic thoughts

Friday, May 15, 2009

Beyond Ballance

I read on www.washingtonpost.com "House speaker's accusation is either a calculated move or a reckless act. Or both." How can an act be both calculated and reckless ?

I consider the words to be antonyms. We are beyond "opinions on shape of earth differ" and getting close to "Earth, flat, spherical or both."

I think I will call the triumph of evenhandedness over logic Balllance.

10 comments:

Bruce Wilder said...: No one seems to want to consider logical possibility the torturers and war criminals at the CIA might also be liars.; 11:55 PM
Anonymous said...: What we have done to Pakistanis by driving them to war is beyond disgraceful, so where is Obama the least different than Bush though I wonder if Bush would have ever driven Pakistan to war?

Remember not to notice though.; 8:04 PM
Anonymous said...: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/world/asia/15farah.html

May 15, 2009

Villagers in Afghanistan Describe Chaos of U.S. Strikes
By CARLOTTA GALL and TAIMOOR SHAH

FARAH, Afghanistan — The number of civilians killed by the American airstrikes in Farah Province last week may never be fully known. But villagers, including two girls still twisting in pain from burn wounds, described devastation that officials and human rights workers are calling the worst episode in eight years of war in Afghanistan.

“We were very nervous and afraid and my mother said, ‘Come quickly, we will go somewhere and we will be safe,’ ” said Tillah, 12, recounting from a hospital bed how women and children fled the bombing by taking refuge in a large compound, which was then hit.

The bombs were so powerful that people were ripped to shreds. Survivors said they collected only pieces of bodies. Several villagers said they could not distinguish all of the dead and never found some of their relatives....; 8:05 PM
Anonymous said...: There is a clever way of writing topically while avoiding difficult problems when they are not politically expedient to deal with.; 8:08 PM
Anonymous said...: http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/05/obama-shells.html

May 10, 2009

Obama shells

"Life as 8-year-old Razia knew it ended one March morning when a shell her father says was fired by Western troops exploded into their house, enveloping her head and neck in a blazing chemical." *

* http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20090508/twl-uk-afghanistan-phosphorus-exclusive-bd5ae06.html

-- As'ad AbuKhalil; 8:14 PM
Anonymous said...: Napalm, white phosphorus, no difference to those ruined by the shells, no difference to us who so wantonly ruthlessly mercilessly ruin others.; 8:15 PM
Anonymous said...: So that we understand, Nancy Pelosi among other leaders knew what we were about in abuse at least in 2003 but these leaders were silent and I suppose worse than silent.; 8:19 PM
nadezhda said...: I'm trying to suss out your pattern of adding "l"s. I thought I got the double-"l" balance, because that balances the balance, as it were. But what's a triple-"l" balance mean?; 8:27 PM
Robert said...: Dear Nadezhda

Ballance is a reference to former representativ Frank Ballance (an alleged crook) who appeared on a Washington Post "scandal scorecard" *after* he resigned from congress. The rules of scoring were that only current congresspeople and governors were to be counted.

so Ballance means cheating in order to reach a balanced conclusion.

Note that there is no debate about whether the Post did this. Also note that the Post has not printed a correction.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/007193.php

I am still kicking myself, because I noticed this, but didn't blog about it till Josh Marshall did.; 3:41 AM
nadezhda said...: Re Frank Ballance -- ah yes, now you mention it, it all comes back. Senior moment, sigh.

But I still want to know about triple-"l"s. You may be starting a new meme and I don't want to miss it.; 4:33 PM