WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 — Under increasing scrutiny for his decision to invade Iraq in March 2003, president Bush today signed an executive order mandating that future Pentagon casualty figures be stated in hexadecimal, also known as base 16. In remarks to reporters afterward, the president argued that the new guideline will streamline government documents, releasing additional funds for the ongoing “global struggle against violent extremism”, while not requiring any new tax increases.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld expressed his support for the executive order. “I fail to see now why there’s such a fuss over passing the 7D0[sub]16[/sub] mark. It’s hardly any milestone, is it, like the more excitable pundits are making it out to be.”
In a related story, a proposed bill to use base 36 for government budget reports has died in the Senate Committee on Appropriations, following recent discoveries that many amounts, when printed, would inadvertently be in violation of federal and state obscenity laws. Criticism from fiscal conservatives that the amounts are already obscene failed to sway enough committee members.
This is sort of an Onion-style post. It’s an attack on Bush. It’s not soliciting an opinion. It may turn into a debate, but it’s very light. It is humorous, but it’s not that light. I think…
Well, I was talking about mathematics, which is often regarded as a purely theoretical construct – so it may have nothing to do with reality (whatever that might mean: I haven’t come across it myself).
