Why Does Steve Suck?

Rob #631 Wed, Jan 11th 2006 3 [ Read: First / Last ]

I'm just kidding - couldn't help myself.

Seriously, this is just a great quote from something I am reading that I think is worthy of discussion:

"He had known for several years the trend which his paper had embraced gradually, imperceptably, without any directive from him. He had noticed the cautious "slanting" of news stories, the half-hints, the vague allusions, the peculiar adjectives peculiarly placed, the stressing of certain themes, the insertion of political inclusions where none was needed. If a story concerned a dispute between employer and employee, the employer was made to appear guilty, simply through wording, no matter what the facts presented. If a sentence referred to the past, it was always 'our dark past' or 'our dead past'. If a statement involved someone's personal motive, it was always 'goaded by selfishness' or 'egged by greed'."

The above quote was taken from "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand. It was written in 1943. Apparently press bias is nothing new. But when I read it, I was amazed at her foresight. Great book.

Comments: 3

	Aaron - #1 Wed, Jan 11th 2006 @ 1:52 PM 66 words
	Well, I'm glad to see we've hit the ground running. Let the swearing begin! I read Atlas Shrugged by Rand. I liked it, but it was way longer than needed. She had a tendency to repeat the same concept several times for no apparent reason. It was annoying. I kept saying to myself, "okay, I get it, can we move along now?"

Rob - #2 Wed, Jan 11th 2006 @ 2:25 PM 231 words

If you got through Atlas Shrugged, you would definitely get through this one - it is half as long and there is not a lot of ranting. It is more about what happens to a man that stays true to his work and his convictions, how hard people will try to destroy such a person.

She illustrates very well the destructive nature of socialism and how elements of the society will lead others down that path very slowly and methodically. She shows how easily men that fall pray to this can be destroyed, because, after all, none of us is supposed to be individually important - no one person, regardless of background or how hard he/she worked to get where they are in life - should be valued any higher than the lowest thief or beggar - rather, it is the least fortunate among us that deserve to be elevated. Her talent is in illustrating what happens when you follow this path.

But it was particularly interesting when the news starts to be manipulated in subtle ways. I see this every day when I read headlines, and I will start to collect and post them. One example that was very recent was the front page Columbian headline "Bush Lashes Out at Democrats on Iraq". They can constantly criticize maliciously, but when he responds to the accusations, he is "lashing out".

	Steve - #3 Thu, Jan 12th 2006 @ 1:35 PM 35 words
	Said it before and I'll say it again. Rob's a TOOL. Just kidding.

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