reporters and rhetoric

Geoffrey Cowan writes about how the government misnames their practices to make them sound better than they really are. He points out that things like "villages being bombarded fromte air, the inhabitants friven out into the countryside, the cattle machinegunned, the huts set on fire with incendiary bullet" would be called pacification which sounds pretty calm and unharming. It sounds like pacifier, something that you give to a baby when it cries. He attacks word usage such as democracy, where there is no real and set definition. He also focuses on the use of the words "Civil War" to describe the war in iraq. Politicians did not want to use this word because the people would see it as a war that we should not be in. He also talks about the words that politicians use to get a feeling into the people who are listening and watching. His essay was very well written but not very clearly understood. I feel like he attacked other people so much that it got ridiculous at how much information he actually used. But then again, maybe that was his intention. Maybe he wanted the reader to see exactly how much misleading and wrong words that politician use. I think he hates the misleading language and the misnomers of things that he had to do this to make himself feel better. Just my opinion.

Infotainment freak show by Martin Kaplan

well, i read the essay called "Welcome to the Infotainment Freak Show." i thought it was written very well and was very clear to understand. In this essay, Martin Kaplan writes his opinions on the information in the media and news of today. He writes about how high ratings and popularity get coverage on the news when the more important things do not. He writes about how politics and news coverage have become more entertainment than real news and truthfulness. Kaplan says about journalism, "Instead of trying to tell us whats true, journalism now prides itself on finding two sides to every story, no matter how feeble one side may be"(140). In this quote he is speaking of the news not being a straight forward source of information. There must be two sides to a story so that not one group gets offended by what they are saying. Instead of seeking a knowledgeable point of view, they seek balance which is much easier to achieve (140). It seem like Kaplan is outraged by the lack of real information in the media. He doesn't like the fact that big news headlines can be pushed down to something that does not seem as big while the smaller less urgent things can be headline news for days at a time. Why would one missing woman be more important than a whole entire holocaust in Africa? (143) The news media feeds us what we want and that is entertainment. They give us what gives them ratings. This leads to the politicians doing whatever else they want because we as a whole country are not paying attention to them anyways. It is the TV conglomerates jobs to make money, but isn't it also their job to bring us information. And the information should be truthful also. I don't want to hear lies and cover ups, i would like to turn to the news channel and not see someone who is dead. These days the news is very depressing and it seems like everywhere i turn there is another woman missing or another mother killing her children. These events are very sad and i feel for the families, but i would also like to know about the things that effect me. I want to know what the government is doing right and wrong and i am done watching the dumb debates that people have on the TV who complain about one aspect of the story they are given and they only give me their own opinion. I would like to be given the whole story and the truth so that i can make my own opinion about things. I am tired of hearing what other people think. I completely agree with Kaplan on this one. It is incredibly annoying to see the news and watch Michael jacksons death for like 2 weeks and barely anything on Iraq or Afghanistan.

Politics and the english language response.

In this essay by George Orwell, we read about the opinions of Orwell on the use of language as a way to confuse people. He thinks that the english language is being manipulated into something that it never was meant to be. His thesis is that we use language foolishly because our minds are foolish, but our minds are foolish because our language is "slovenly"(206). He does not believe in flowery language and i do have to agree with Orwell on that one. He also has rules that he thinks people should follow in writing and speaking. He says to never use flowery language when a simpler form is better. Dont use unnessecary words in unnessecary sentences. If a work does not have to be used, don't use it. He also goes on to say that breaking the rules is better that not meaning what you say. Orwell pretty much follows all of his own rules but he does break some of them. It is probably just the time period that he has written in, but his language is somewhat flowery at points, but i think it was just because he was a scholar. He could have taken out some of the more flowery language and put in more easily understood words. As Orwell is writing, i get the feeling that he feels very strongly about the downhill slope of the English language. I did have a few questions though. I didn't understand why this was so important to him. Is dissecting the English language really as important as he says it is? And in dissecting it, doesn't he really just make it more complicated also? Of course there are the college professors and scholar who do over complicate a very simple thing. But i think that Orwell could have made his own rules simpler by just saying, "keep the language so that all different types of people can understand it, but do not lose the point of your ideas by oversimplifying either. I don't know. maybe that would make it more complicated also.

Say yes to Mary

So i guess there is this town in California where marijuana is prominent. I read this article on Yahoo.com called "Marijuana growers upend hard-luck California town". It is about how the lax laws on Marijuana have caused the children in the schools out there have to deal with marijuana everywhere. Even at school. A football coach had to move the football team to another side of the field due to the smoke coming up from one of the houses. here is the link so that you can see it for yourself.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-fi-dope-county1-2009nov01,0,6540031.story

Teaching kids to not do drugs is a very good thing to teach. They shouldnt do drugs. But if the Govnt would legalize marijuana and allow the money to go to our economy, and then have enforcement to make sure that these people are not smoking or growing weed within, lets say a five mile radius around schools and daycares. We would not have the problem of overexposure during school hours. I think the legalization would actually help, not only our economy, but it would also eliminate the black market for this drug. This article seems to be in disagreement with all of the exposure to weed. I completely agree, but the ways that were are trying to solve this problem does not seem to be working. So maybe we should try a new approach.

Executive Cry Babies....

Today i read the most annoying column ever... i found it on Yahoo.com. It is called "Will New Executive Pay Rules Cause A Brain Drain". by Rachel Beck on October 22nd. Here is the URL.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_executive_pay_brain_drain
So the article basically says that for some companies the pay cuts that the bailouts required might cause some of the top executives to leave the companies that they are at currently. They call this an executive pay "brain drain". Here is why this is annoying. If these executive crybabies wanna leave their jobs- that are in demand- then let them. They are angry or hurt because their pay got cut a million or two dollars. So what. These executives helped cause some of this depression and they should help pay for it. If they want to leave then fine. Let them leave because i am sure there are plenty of other executives that have been fired and are looking for work. There are plenty of people with the degrees and ideas out there that can do the job that they thought their "great" ideas werent good enough for. The Govt has already bailed some of these companies out so they need to stop crying and take it just like everyone else in the world has to. The Woman who wrote this seems to be a very good reporter. I cant feel any biased in it but there may be some. She reports on the story almost as if she was getting payed for it and doesnt really care all that much. I dont know about other people but i for one and really tired of all of the executive cry babies.

Woman Shoots Her Sons

Today I read an article on Yahoo.com named, South LA Woman allegedly shoots 2 Sons. The link is this so you may read for yourself.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mother18-2009oct18,0,6949060.story?track=rss

The Article is about how a woman shoots her sons with a pistol and then calls the police. When the police get there she is on the balcony of her apartments threatening suicide. The police eventually get her off the balcony and to put the gun down, but it was already too late. Her Five year old son is dead and her 11 year old is in critical condition. Im not really sure what possessed her to shoot her children. Her friends and neighbors said she was a happy person up until about a month ago. She may have been depressed. The writer quotes all her neighbors and family and is very sympathetic towards the woman and her children. I understand feeling sorry for the children but im not too sure about feeling sorry for the mother. If she really loved her kids she wouldnt have done it. But Maybe if this is investigated some more, there might be other circumstances than just a depressed mother. I highly doubt it, but maybe there is some other explanation. I am incredibly sorry for the whole family about this and it just goes to show how bad some people can take the pressures of motherhood.

Little Girl Wont Let Go Of Soldier Dad

I am posting this blog early because i came across a very touching article on Yahoo.com. It was titled "Little Soldier 'Girl' Didnt want to let go" Here is the link if you would like to read for yourself.
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local-beat/Little-Soldier-Girl-Didnt-Want-to-Let-Go-63629627.html?yhp=1
The writers name is Vince Latanzio. The article features a picture of this little girl holding her soldier dads hand while he is lining up in formation to leave to Iraq. In the article it says that the little girl did not want to let her dad go, which is completely understandable. The photo was taken by her mother and then was circulated on the internet to everyone. It got a lot of positive feedback and the family was showered with sympathy. This story was written very well. The author had a lot of sympathy for this little girl and her family. I feel like maybe he might be against the war, and this is one of his reasons. It should leave people feeling sad, of course. It makes me feel like we are there for something. Eventhough this little girl didnt want her dad to leave. He had to in order to ensure her future. My sister was in the United States Navy and i know how hard it was for me to see her go. My fiance is serving in the United States Army and i am counting the precious days until he is shipped out to this war. But i know that him and all the other moms, dads, brothers, sisters, and husbands over there know what they are fighting for, and what they have to come home to. This little girl will see just what he father did for her. We should all support our troops but we should also support the families back home who are also fighting this war.