To celebrate my promotion this morning from Journeyman and my reception as Member (I feel like Tamino after having passed though the ordeals by earth, air, fire & water and being received in the court of wisdom and benevolence), I want to address what I perceive as a significant trend, at least in these parts.
We all have our eye out for neologisms and are all ready to either pounce on them and devour their perpetrators, or to put them in the cyberstocks and hold them up to public ridicule (or as public as this site gets). It seems to me that the chief villains are radio/TV newscasters, and especially those who cover politics. And I'm not referring to lowbrow types, but those you hear on National Public Radio (for the benefit of outlanders, a highbrow radio service catering to the elite, or the effete snobs, or the pointy-headed intellectuals, or whatever you consider them) or better-than-average TV shows. In the last 24 hours, I have heard: a) "A number of Congressional committee chairmen have been termlimited and will be replaced"; b) "While both the Clintons will continue to have a strong presence in Washington, Al Gore has been de-looped." This doesn't count what may be mere misspeakings, such as the commentator I heard yesterday who used causality when he should have used cause. The news boys (the women don't seem to do it) appear to love an opportunity to coin a new and colorful word. While I love an apposite original expression as well as the next linguaphile, I shall continue to invigilate the airwaves and issue alarums. Trust you all will too.
Al Gore has been
de-loopedAaargh!! Angels and ministers of grace, defend us!
It may just mean that the Clinton administration thought he was loopy in the first place and have belatedly corrected that sad state of affairs.
They may send him to Palestine to act as a firing-loopy.
I feel like Tamino ...
Are you suggesting that getting to your present exalted status is like having your lips padlocked shut and being flogged?
Bob's probably just tooting his own Flute.
(I kinda like "de-looped," by the way. Wonder if our Kiwi counterparts
really understand what it means?)
I would fondly imagine it means that Gore's been cut out of the loop, i.e. is not kept informed of what's going on and isn't consulted. Effectively, he's gone already but just hasn't left yet.
Not a strictly American term any more, Anna ...
Anna's right, CK, you don't
really understand.
maybe we should leave it for Jackie to 'splain when she gets back from inside the Beltway? she'll be wanting to get to the higher ground, now that someone else has blazed the trail.
In reply to:
Anna's right, CK, you don't really understand. maybe we should leave it for Jackie to 'splain when she gets back from inside the Beltway?
Thank you tsuwm. Your reply seems to confirm my suspicion that "de-looped" referes to being cut out of the loop, with an added reference to DC geography, both physical and political. The Beltway came to mind for me as soon as I read Bob's post, but that doesn't make the term any less ugly, IMO.
tsuwm,
VETERAN ?????? what'd I miss?
(and CapK, Jackie or no Jackie, you almost got it...
)
>but that doesn't make the term any less ugly, IMO.
::nodding head emphatically::
(acknowledging Max's grasp while still pointedly admiring the neologism)
AnnaS is brazenly
still pointedly admiring the neologismI'm sorry, but that's just plain loopy!
de-looped???? Hmmmm. Wasn't there a kiddie game that was called loop de-loop? Maybe it isn't a neologism after all.
"I mean, these good folks are revolutionizing
how businesses conduct their business. And, like
them, I am very optimistic about our position in
the world and about its influence on the United
States. We're concerned about the short-term
economic news, but long term I'm optimistic.
And so, I hope investors, you know-secondly, I
hope investors hold investments for periods of
time-that I've always found the best investments
are those that you salt away based on
economics."- GWB, Austin, Texas, Jan. 4, 2001
GWB, Austin, Texas, Jan. 4, 2001
Yeah.
Who says I didn't understand the provenance? I merely confirmed I understood the definition - which is what I though Annastrophic was questioning!
Really! 
Perhaps it would help if you knew that we get hours of ABC and NBC on TV every day - as well as the Beeb. All things are usually explained in exhaustive detail, particularly when there is no other news worthy of the name. Peter Jennings is my favourite for repeatedly explaining the obvious.
Peter Jennings is my favourite for repeatedly explaining the obvious.Hey, you leave my Petey outta this! Remember, he's A Canuck, so he has to say things repeatedly so that his Southern neighbours can get it!
(much like I'll get it for that crack)
Repeat it Max. It appears you were right,
If I may restrict the geographical confines here, CapK et al, I feel the urge to reproduce a tee-shirt idea told by stand-up Southern US comedienne Brett Butler (sic):
Italian: Fuhgeddaboutit
Jewish: Donworryaboutit
Southern: Uhhwhatwazit?
"It" must have been a repeat performance of the burning of Atlanta ...
Them's fightin' words, CapK.
CapK suggested
"It" must have been a repeat performance of the burning of Atlanta ... Don't even joke about such a disaster!!! This lifelong teetotaller has been worshipping at the altar of the Dynamic Ribbon® since time immemorial - the best thing to come out of Georgia since Eduard Shevardnadze.
Okay, what's the Dynamic Ribbon? You mean Pabst?
In reply to:
Okay, what's the Dynamic Ribbon? You mean Pabst?
I think it's more likely that he means the squiggly thing down the side of a Coca-Cola can.
Or, given his reference to a certain Georgian president, he's referring to the path taken in both directions, separated by a short interval, by bad Georgian wine mixed liberally with vodka. [Disgust emoticon] If Atlanta were in that Georgia, I'd burn it myself. Trouble is, most of Tblisi is already decrepit.
CapKiwi informed us that
Trouble is, most of Tblisi is already decrepit. So, you mean it wasn't
that Georgia which inspired the Ray Charles classic?
No,
that Georgia is very rarely on my mind.
Pop culture reference alert:
Capital Kiwi sez: <No, that Georgia is very rarely on my mind.>
The Beatles beat you to that one, CK. Reference "Back in the USSR" off of the White Album...
Moscow girls make me scream and shout/
That Georgia's always on my mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mind!
Wait a second, I'll wager you knew that!
The Beatles beat you to that one, CK. Reference "Back in the USSR" off of the White AlbumPedantry alert! There was no Beatles album titled "White." The album in question was eponymously titled, and acquired the chromatic designation from its cover.
Wait a second, I'll wager you knew that!
Oof!
Er, um... yeah, I knew that...
BTW, is it now known as the "White CD"? Or is that another post for a different thread?
The only Doug asked
BTW, is it now known as the "White CD"? Or is that another post for a different thread?I still hear it called the White album, probably because most people who refer to it are of an age to remember it as such.
Although, if the other to hich you refer is correct, it never was the White "album", just the White LP - but that way lies madness, wanna join me?
I call it "The Beatles Album with 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' On It". One of the best solos that Eric Clapton ever played, really.
And, Doug, yes I did know ...
In reply to:
I call it "The Beatles Album with 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' On It". One of the best solos that Eric Clapton ever played, really.
One of my top 5 Beatles tracks, even if Clapton isn't actually Steve's boss!
even if Clapton isn't actually Steve's boss!
Uhhwhatwuzzit?
This is a fun little tangent we're off on...
I've never been a huge REM fan, but I love the fact that they actually named one of their albums, Eponymous.
Oh, and by the way, Max, wouldn't that be an achromatic designation? *Hoping the people on this board recognize that this newbie is just geeking and not being a pretentious jerk icon*
Puzzled, CapK repeated
even if Clapton isn't actually Steve's boss!
Uhhwhatwuzzit?Surely you remember the remember the famous graffiti "Clapton is ..."?
Max: Don't remember any Clapton grafitti (except every album after he got seriously smack-bit until he gave it up again).
Doug: Don't worry, we knew you were pretentious right from the start. Why else would you be on this board?
Sagely, Solamete Doug pointed out
Oh, and by the way, Max, wouldn't that be an achromatic designation? Oddly enough, I thought of that when at the stage of previewing that post. Then I thought "What say they? Let them say!" Or, more honestly, I just couldn't be bothered clicking the "Back" button simply to add an "a." At least this light-hearted exchange is helping both of us rack up the posts - a true symbiosis, nicht wahr?
Said the aphid to the ant, "Nicht huh?"
CK - the graffiti in question, which apparently sprouted all over London, said simply, "Clapton is God."
Clapton is God Must have happened while I wasn't looking. Anyway, it's a tautology, isn't it?
Said the aphid to the ant
You-all are starting to bug me.
Re: Fr. Steve's boss: I rec'd a book for Christmas, the title of which is, "Cat Spelled Backwards Does Not Spell
God". Completely plot-free, it is an utterly charming book of dogs.
Just thought I'd throw in a paws for thought.
Did you hear about the dyslexic agnostic insomniac who tossed and turned all night wondering if there was a dog?
And you'll all remember the Larson cartoon which had a flea wandering through a fur forest holding up a sign saying "The End of the Dog is Nigh"!
When I started this thread, I promised (or maybe threatened) to invigilate the airwaves for outrageous usages. Here's a new take on a different problem.
[rant]
I have long been trying to keep myself from screaming when I hear the clearly tautologous expression "revert back", which is, unfortunately, rather common. This morning, listening to the news on National Public Radio, as is my wont, the Washington Post stringer, reporting from Bali, used the expression "return back." Ye Gods! When will people whose profession consists of using the English language learn that you're stepping into linguistic quicksand whenever you combine "re-" and "back"!.
[/rant]
Have you others out there noticed any perverse usages by professional communicators which deserve to be exposed and held up to the ridicule and/or castigation they deserve?
In reply to:
Peter Jennings is my favourite for repeatedly explaining the obvious.
Hey, you leave my Petey outta this! Remember, he's A Canuck, so he has to say things repeatedly so that his Southern neighbours can get it! (much like I'll get it for that crack).
And here it is - Though I'm originally from the Lower 48 (and even the Southern part of that), I never did NOT understand Mr. Jenning's English... what I don't understand is his total lack of knowledge on so very many issues and his complete one-sidedness on certain matters... most notably, the situation in this tiny little country in which I live! Of course, I suppose his bias could have something to do with a certain 'woman' with whom he was known to have dinner and otherwise... I suppose I'm still naive but I always thought that a 'news reader' was supposed to be neutral and just READ the news!
Shoshannah
How many TV anchors write all their own stuff?
In reply to:
When will people whose profession consists of using the English language learn that you're stepping into linguistic quicksand whenever you combine "re-" and "back"!
I'd say that was deja vu all over again... wouldn't you?
Shoshannah
In reply to:
How many TV anchors write all their own stuff?
Hi Bill - but it's not WHAT they say as much as HOW they say it (facial expressions, tone of voice and such) - and how it's edited - so if the 'anchor' (Peter, Dan, and ... who IS on NBC these days?) is also the chief editor (as is usually true on the network shows), then, in fact, they DO 'write' or at least rewrite and make it their own!
news anchors
Personally, I find Jennings to be the best of the lot and probably the most knowledgable. As to the others, I doubt that they know much of anything. What they do is read what is put in front of them, and it's a performance more than anything else. Still, I expect them to use correct English even if their writers don't know what is correct.
Common in judicial opinions, and resistant to efforts to stamp it out, is the phrase "remand back." Argh.
In reply to:
news anchors
Personally, I find Jennings to be the best of the lot and probably the most knowledgable. As to the others, I doubt thatthey know much of anything. What they do is read what is put in front of them, and it's a performance more than anything else. Still, I expect them to use correct English even if their writers don't know what is correct.
I, on the other hand, am less concerned about their use of the English language as I am about the CONTENT of their reports. MOST, if not ALL of Mr. Jennings reports concerning Israel are either totally misinformed or are outright LIES! (see my comment in a previous post in this thread concerning his 'friend' with whom he has had a well-known ongoing relationship...)
There is simply no question of the media bias AGAINST Israel in favor of the 'palestinians'... the only real concern, then, is how many people actually believe them, and I'm afraid that way too many people in this superficial world run by a totally biased media do!
As I live in Jerusalem, Israel, I happen to know what is really happening here! Unfortunately, not enough people care what I have to say as I look out my living room window or walk down the street or ride the city or intra-city buses (you know, the ones the Arabs like to blow up occasionally?) or go to Mahane Yehuda (the open air market) to shop (remember - they like to target that area as well) or have to don a bulletproof vest for the 10-minute ride in a car just to visit friends!
For a closer look at the situation vis-a-vis 'journalists' (so-called, usually by themselves) and what they report from here, take a look at this piece from today's WorldNetDaily web site: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=21936
And if you are REALLY interested in the TRUTH of the situation, not in what your friend Peter Jennings has to say, drop me a note at wonderworks@iname.com and I'll add you to my distribution list - you'll get some very interesting reading material from time to time!
Shoshannah
Can you tell that this topic makes me HOT
????
This isn't from a professional news person, but it still makes me want to tear my hair out. (Figuratively speaking, of course.) There's a commercial on a local radio station which advertises a treatment "guaranteed to regrow new hair!" Argh!
In reply to:
This isn't from a professional news person, but it still makes me want to tear my hair out. (Figuratively speaking, of course.) There's a commercial on a local radio station which advertises a treatment "guaranteed to regrow new hair!" Argh!
Okay, here we go, stating the obvious, thou one of the long golden mane (only guessing, of course, from your board name), please do NOT tear it out, for then you may have to resort to said treatment and when it does decide to REGROW (speaking from some minor experience...), it just might do so in a NEW and totally different colour! Argh right back at ya!
Shoshannah
One of my hopes for the future of the Internet is that we will all be able read news from other countries in "their own write" without the intrusive comments of TV anchor-units, regardless of the quality of their English.
[rant][Actually on my last trip to the USA (and the UK is not much better), I saw very little news reporting from the rest of the world. All that they seemed to want to show was footage of people with rulers measuring inches of snow in lots of different places (I now know how to make a snow angel!). I'd never known that weather reporting could go ...on and on and on ... for sooooo long.]
In reply to:
One of my hopes for the future of the Internet is that we will all be able read news from other countries in "their own write" without the intrusive comments of TV anchor-units, regardless of the quality of their English.
Jo - actually, you can basically do that NOW - I frequent the Jordan Times (daily English language newspaper at http://www.jordantimes.com) web site and others from the region to see what exactly they are saying (primarily about Israel, of course, but it's always interesting to get their 'spin' on the world at large).
Also - most TV stations and many radio as well - try going to http://www.jpostradio.com for instance - around the world seem to have their own sites - best way to find them is to simply do a search (I use http://www.Go2Net.com) on the country name - except once I typed in "Turkey" and I got pages and pages of URLs with recipes on how to roast the Thanksgiving bird with all the trimmings!) or just try typing in www.tv.gov.__(and the two-letter country code) or sometimes without the .gov part... I just experiment with potential addresses to see what pops up!
Have fun - oh, it would help if we (and our computers) actually could READ some of those other languages as many are now in their own rather than in English, but the ones I gave links for above are all in English and sometimes the "English" they use is very interesting!
- I'll use this as my 'summer smile emoticon' since the sun is quite bright now and I need my shades!
Shoshannah
> Jo - actually, you can basically do that NOW
I agree, perhaps I should have said that more people will choose to do it.
Shoshannah, you said:
There is simply no question of the media bias AGAINST Israel in favor of the 'palestinians'... the only real concern, then, is how many people actually believe them, and I'm afraid that way too many people in this superficial world run by a totally biased media do!You also said that this topic made you hot. So if this becomes frightfully political we can probably move to private, or to another forum or board more conducive to a knock-down debate.
I wonder, however, whether you considered your statement regarding media bias in light of your own phraseology - separating a capitalised
Israel from the dubeity of single inverted commas accorded to the
'palestinians'. In times of conflict language, whose ability to convey unbiased meaning is fragile at the best of times, becomes completely subservient to the (conscious or otherwise) expression of prejudice by the parties concerned. At least, IMO.
In the very next paragraph, for instance, you describe the inconveniences attendent upon your daily life as a result of the current conflict. Others, however, might wonder whether the activities you describe (shopping, visiting friends and c) are even available to Palestinians caught up in this conflict, let alone in the truncated forms that you experience them. From a simple 'analysis' of the language you use I can hardly tell one way or the other.
So in my own way, I fall upon my own biases, and they were
not all moulded by journalists. In fact the sources of my biases in this matter include:
1. Hani - a Palestinian student in Kashmir, whom I met in 1981
2. Innumerable 'plucky little Israel' thrillers, and Reader's Digest articles - Raid on Entebbe and so on. (circa 1975 - 1985)
3. A dawning understanding that (for whatever reason) India (the country in which I grew up) did not accord Israel diplomatic status
4. A smattering of reading concerning the history of the state of Israel
5. Knowledge that one of my mother's mentors, and most beloved friends, Flo Hyam, was planning to retire to Israel (circa 1986)
....and finally
6. The media - primarily the British print media - 1992 onwards.
I think of myself as a pro-Semite anti-Zionist. I do not like the idea of a racially, or religiously-based 'homeland', and I don't care how many millennia old the traditions of that religion/culture/race are. I do not like the idea that the British government salved its conscience for the Holocaust by giving away land that it had no right to. I do not like the idea that the American government time and again provided arms and support to Israel when the state was younger and already demonstrating that it was quite happy to treat territory taken during war as legitimately belonging to it. I do not like the idea that muslim militants consider terrorism a legitimate political tactic. I do not like the idea that even today, in Israel, a large proportion of the population sees no reason why the country cannot continue just as is: asserting the divine right of Israelis to all the land in that area - to the exclusion of equal rights for those of different cultural/religious traditions.
These are my biases. I admit them openly - I would not like the continuation of Israel as anything but a completely secular state, and if my feeble vote in the UK can make a difference in that direction I will use it for that purpose. I am, however, ahppy to be corrected in anything that I may have got wrong factually. For instance, is it incorrect that in the current conflict over 90% of the deaths have been of Palestinians? Is it incorrect that in a number of instances when unarmed Palestinian women and children have been killed it is by Israeli soldiers whose official expanation was that they were being attacked and fired in retaliation?
Notice how I have used language to express not just my biases, but to attempt to sound open-minded, yet cynical of Israeli attempts at PR or political spin on this affair?
Do you really think there is such a thing as a person with access to 'the truth' in such an affair, or that anybody who is thoughtful about language would be willing to believe anybody who might make such a claim?
I think it's a tough one.
cheer
the sunshine warrior
The US media, contrary to popular belief, is pretty carefully, and subtly, controlled to show only an acceptable side of the story. It's great fun to watch and compare the Canadian news and the US news, and see what the US media leaves out.
My brother and I were doing an experiment in this sense. We were watching (a few years ago) coverage of the US bombing of Afghanistan - I can't remember the reason any more. The US channels were all indignant about whatever had capitulated the bombing - some perceived or real threat against the US embassy there, I think. The kept playing various statements by the president, etc., on the need to maintain American sovreignty (in a foreign country???!) The Canadian channels carried much of the same, with some added interviews with Afghanistan officials saying that some of the bombs had hit schools or civilian targets or something like that. Now of course that may not be true - but the US channels didn't even bother to show that side of the story! They had to carefully construct the story so that it would seem necessary to bomb them, with no pity at all for the bomb-ees.
So I agree with Shoshanna, it helps if you can get information from an outside source. I find the Canadian news is not really picking sides in the Israel-Palestine conflict, not in any obvious way. They're just painting the whole picture as really horrible and depressing, actually, both sides filled with some sort of hatred which they've forgotten the reason for, and lots of innocent people on both sides getting killed...
> world conflict (taking sides)
I'm definitely not joining in this debate in this forum. I think that AWAD should be open to people of all opinions, some of which, I'm bound to disagree with.
I'd never known that weather reporting could go ...on and on and on ... for sooooo long.No kidding. I can't watch much of the local news for that reason. Out of one and a half hours of news in the evening, 45 minutes of it has to be weather, no exagerations. The rest is constantly repeated soundbites on local events. I can count on my hand the number of times they've indicated that there was another country besides the US. The national program isn't much better. I think the last time I heard news from home was when a former prime minister died a few months ago. You would think the all news channels would be better, but they really aren't. I'm all for recycling, but not endlessly in the news.
So I get most of my news online, hard as it is to take some days.
Still depressed and angry about the destruction of ancient statuary by the Taliban in Afghanistan. No more news for today... I'm off to clear more snow.
Ali
In reply to:
I wonder, however, whether you considered your statement regarding media bias in light of your own phraseology - separating a capitalised Israel from the dubeity of single inverted commas accorded to the 'palestinians'.
Hi Sunshine - and thanks for taking the time to write such a long and thoughtful piece... we can start on the board like this and if anyone gets completely bent out of shape about it, we can go 'private' - in fact, right now, let me suggest that you approve my adding of your private email address to my "Friends & Family" list and you'll begin to get articles and comments about the 'situation' here... just send me a message to wonderworks@iname.com and I'll add you...
Now - on the comment above, first I'll say that I have been actively studying the history of this region for about 20 years (more intensely over the past three as I attended a special school to become a licensed tour guide) and though I don't doubt your interest and understanding as far as it goes..., anyone who actually gives any credibility to the notion of a legitimate nation called 'palestinian' just doesn't know real history! So, you'll understand that I used the capital "I" for the word Israel while keeping the word 'palestinian' as a non-proper noun!
The FACT is that the idea of a separate nation/people/country with that name was CREATED officially in 1964 by the Egyptian government at the Intercontinental Hotel on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem when they official created the "Palestine Liberation Organization" - it was to be primarily a 'political' organization but when Arafat and his Fatah hoodlums got hold of it, they used it as a base of support for their murderous tactics - indescriminately killing anyone who got in their way... who opposed their purpose, which was, from the beginning, to drive the Jews into the sea...
Okay - but there's another question going on here - these folks who NOW call themselves 'palestinian' - where did they come from? MOST (and I do mean that, though I actually do know a few Arabs whose families have been in this area for generations) came here well AFTER the Jews began to return in larger numbers from the middle of the 19th century (after their 2000 year exile) as they (the Arabs who came) saw economic possibilities that were simply not available to them in other parts of the quickly disintergrating Ottoman Empire. If you ask MOST of the Arabs who live here today where their families are from, the honest (but perhaps not public) reply will be Syria or east of the Jordan River [not Jordan, mind you - as it was totally created, with no basis in history, by the British in 1920 when Abdullah was "given" that land which was, of course, also called "Palestine" - if you want to talk about legitimacy in history, they simply have NONE - the Hashemites, after all, were native to the Arabian Peninsula and were forced out in war between them and the Saud Family (which is, of course, why the place is not called Saudi Arabia)... all this is basically 19th and 20th century news - not ancient by any stretch of the imagination], the area now called Iraq (also not an ancient nation nor even a reasonably designed political entity - those guys at Versailles and San Remo... what WERE they thinking?) and even perhaps Egypt or Morocco.
Ya know what - I think that's a good beginning - I can go through a world of history on this board, but let's do it another way - write me privately, give me permission to add your e-mail address to my list, and we'll carry on from there - whaddayasay???
And anyone else is welcome to do the same - there's always room on my e-mail list for a few more friends & family!
Shoshannah
One other word - I had in mind to answer some specific points in your message - I'll do that in private - otherwise, I also just wanted to mention that the name Palestine is NOT a legitimate name for this piece of land - it was given to the 'region' in 135CE by the Roman Emperor Hadrian who, by the way, hated the Jews and created the name to honor the Philistines (who were not "Arab" by any stretch of the imagination...)... prior to that, the region had been called Judea since the time of King David... well, actually just before that period. Also, Hadrian tried to change the name of the city of Jerusalem... be quick now - anyone out there know what he called it? He razed the city and built on the site a new city with a typical Roman city plan - the same design used in most of the cities & towns in the world today. Thus, the name Palestine was born - it was not used as the name of a country or a people - rather a dot on the map of the Roman Empire; the name was later kept alive over the centuries ONLY by Christian cartographers for lack of any other ideas (and they certainly did NOT want to give any credibility to the idea of a Jewish presence there, don't ya know) and of course, there were NO ARABS who lived there or had any authority there until the Muslims arrived (in the presence of Caliph Omar) in 638CE. Okay - enough for now... I'm sure you are happy to hear it!
local vs. foreign news
You have hit on a sore spot with me as well. I am always complaining that at 11:00 PM the local news is likely to lead off with a 5-minute story about a family with 6 small children who have been forced to leave their house because of a gas leak, but who are perfectly OK at a relative's house. This followed by 3 minutes (still a long time on local news) about the U. of MD basketball team's success in NC, or something similar. After 2 commercials, 15 minutes into the broadcast, they would get, for about 30 seconds, to something like a war breaking out with hundreds of casualties in some unfamiliar place, like Borneo, or Burkina Fasso; then maybe 15 seconds on an avalanche somewhere killing 150 people (pictures mandatory, or no story at all).
The fact is that all this is market-driven. The finance boys, acting on the info. received from their bean counters, have learned that the average American is primarily interested in what's going on in his immediate locale, and not interested at all, no matter the gravity of the news, in what goes on in places he knows nothing about. Hence the priorities established for local news reports. The worst thing about local news is that the anchors now try to depict themselves as your friends and neighbors and the station as a sort of elder brother who is making this nightly visit by dearly beloved family members possible. Ugh! [holding nose emoticon]
But that's not the worst possible thing about TV news reporting. I hope and pray that no U.S. president will ever again be assassinated, or otherwise die in office. I could not go through another 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week obsession with reporting on that and every possible ramification to the exclusion of virtually everything else, and going over and over the same stuff until you want to scream.
local vs. foreign newsCarefully staying out of the potential quagmire that is Israel/Palestine, I can offer a simple solution to the problem of excessively introspective news media: Move to a small country. Here in NZ, our two major fre-to-air-broadcasters give pretty decent coverage of the outside world, probably because if they did not, they would never fill their 48 minute hours.
On the other issue, all I will say is that Lord Acton had it right.
Dear Max: My deafness kept me from hearing what Lord Acton said.
Sorry, Bill: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Oh, is that what he said. My hearing aid batteries are getting weak, and the 2K trinkets are in my desk drawer.
Maybe that's my problem. Dear Max, forgive me for taking advantage of your good nature. You are one of my favorite people.
My hearing aid batteries are getting weakI would have been much more concerned if you said that you had
heard what Lord Acton said, as it would mean that you are more than twice the age you claim to be!
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
"Liberty too can corrupt, and absolute liberty can corrupt absolutely" - Getrude Himmelfarb
Gertrude Himmelfarb was right, if she was talking about using obscenities.
> But that's not the worst possible thing about TV news reporting. I hope and pray that no U.S. president will ever again be assassinated, or otherwise die in office. I could not go through another 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week obsession with reporting on that and every possible ramification to the exclusion of virtually everything else, and going over and over the same stuff until you want to scream.
Of course we had virtually a whole week of Diana, so I sympathise. Sad as I was, the wall to wall news reporting didn't help. My partner in life was in the USA for coverage of the bomb that went off in Oklahoma. He was amazed at the highly repetitive and intrusive coverage which went on for days and days.
> ....going over and over the same stuff until you want to scream.
Nobody makes you watch it! One way round it, is to avoid television completely. The mind-numbing repetiton of 'breaking-news' is not worth it, nor is television on the whole. Just throw out your T.V. or find five good reasons to keep it (teletext is not one :-)
uninformedruffian
'C' - first question: are you FROM Munich and if not, from where? I ask because of the name Betts (from your profile, of course) and the fact that I grew up knowing a Betts family who were/are good friends of my family and quite an interesting group!
In reply to:
Nobody makes you watch it! One way round it, is to avoid television completely. The mind-numbing repetiton of 'breaking-news' is not worth it, nor is television on the whole.
About TV - here in Israel, we have only two non-cable Israeli channels (1 & 2 - very creative names, don't ya think?). They are different only in that Channel 1 is without adverts and Channel 2 is supported by adverts (so they overwhelm each program, of course). But the programming is very similar - lots of talk shows (Israelis love to talk and debate and scream and rant and carry on - especially about politics...), cooking shows, children's programming, and English-language sitcoms and dramas (from the US, Australia, UK). Channel 2 also buys from HBO, so we get, for instance, "Sex & the City" on the regular channel - but only late at night... not that that really means anything since Israelis are very open about sex and related issues.
Late at night, after Channel 1 goes off the air (around midnight), I can sometimes receive Palestinian TV - which is interesting, since most of its programming consists of Arabic-language talk shows in which the participants rant on about evil Israel and how important it is for them to just kill us all and get it over with.... in the daytime, they show their own version of Sesame Street (in Arabic) in which little children are shown sitting around learning from their adult teachers to songs about killing themselves while they kill Jews to become martyrs - by the way, this program is supported by American tax dollars!
I don't like cable, so I'm reduced to those two choices and occasionally, on a clear day, Jordan's TV channel (used to be a separate foreign language channel - mostly English but also French and now they've consolidated into one 24-hour/day 'superchannel' which, unfortunately, is mostly in Arabic...). Jordan TV is interesting as they also show American sitcoms and dramas - but they edit out any male-female contact, such as kissing and even, in some cases, handholding and so forth!
So - the answer for me is to watch the schedule and turn it on a bit before the program I intend to watch - otherwise, I keep it off and enjoy either music on the radio (I prefer jazz, swing, oldies rock & roll and such) or just listen to the quiet (when I can't hear the shooting and shelling and resulting ambulance sirens these days).
Shoshannah
Oh, Jo, you are so right, most US coverage is repetative, and boring--and the best solution is to avoid it as much as possible.
I recognize that i have this deep seated anti-anglosaxon bent-- I try to keep it check-- and not let it influence me-- (but i always thing bloody brits!) But inspite of that-- i try to read the economist. Its not perfect-- but it, unlike most US "new weekly" acutaly covers the world--
US news and world report-- is pretty short on the world report part-- and news in general in US is covers as--"Plane crashes-- 3 americans killed, detail to follow-- and the details are jumbo jet crashes into school, or hospital or what ever-- but the lead is 3 americans killed---and it there had been no americans aboard, it might not make it to TV news!-- the times (NY Times) is a bit better, it actually acknowledges there is world beyond the US borders.
Most TV station (ie the big three, CBS, NBC, and ABC) no longer even have foriegn corespondants-- and use BBC stringers, or independant news organization reporters.
and as for the weather! the US is a big geographic mass-- there is always interesting weather going on somewhere, and it always makes the news--
Wasn't it Mark Twain who said:"Everybody talks about the news, but nobody does anything about it."
Max enthused Here in NZ, our two major fre-to-air-broadcasters give pretty decent coverage of the outside world, probably because if they did not, they would never fill their 48 minute hours.
Being a news junkie, I take at least SOME issue with what my compatriot says above. Generally we get about half an hour of local (including Oz) news and then quarter of an hour to twenty minutes of international news, including REALLY interesting "cat up tree rescued by firemen" type topics. (Why they bother beats me - have you ever seen a cat skeleton up a tree?) The rest is sport.
To top up, I find myself watching or taping the BBC, NBC and ABC plus current affairs programmes sourced from overseas, as well as scanning the newspaper websites on the Internet. To supplement our lamentably parochial newspapers, I subscribe to Time (although its quality is going downhill fast) and read the UK newspapers at our local fish and chip shop!
Being a news junkie, I take at least SOME issue with what my compatriot says above. Generally we get about half an hour of local (including Oz) news and then quarter of an hour to twenty minutes of international news,Once again, Max has demonstrated his failure to grasp the arcane concept of clearly communicating thought content.
What I
meant to say, was that NZ TV had quite good non-local coverage when measured against ABC's World News Tonght, the only US news show I see on a regular basis. As much as I enjoy listening to Peter Jennings, it does seem that "World News" is something of a misnomer for that bulletin, as its amount of non-US news makes the 20-25% non-local content in our news look very good. On a related note, I was horrified and very angry to read yesterday that TVNZ is dumping its link with BBC World. No more Hardtalk, no more real
world news
. If I didn't have acess to this internet thingy I would be even more of an ignorant buffoon than I am.
read the UK newspapers at our local fish and chip shop!
It this a service of the fish and chip shop? or do you have to read through the grease?
Fish and chip shops are one of the things i envy -- fish and chip (while no more healthy) is, to me, a better choice than Micky D's.
There used to be a nice little fish and chip shop on City Island-- a little bit of a NE sea port town hidden in Long Island sound and technialy part of the bronx-- but its become more popular, and since its an island-- there is only but so much land, and all of it is getting more expensive. and the rents became to high-- now the store is a fancy boutique.
One of its claims to fame is Oliver Sacks lives there... and scenes in Awakenings where shot there.
fish and chip (while no more healthy)
Surprisingly, fish and chips as a meal is a healthier choice than McD's. Apparently it has to do with the amount of fat absorbed by the cjhips, as opposed to the shoestring fries used by outlets like McD's, KFC, Burger King, etc. The bigger, thicker chips absorb significantly less fat, something to do with surface area as a proportion of total mass, or summat like dat. Our Ministry of Health published a survey on this last year.
Fish n'Chips one of my favorite English treats!
Many food places here offer F n'C but generally lack the nice fat "chips."
(French Fries in USA, Pont Neuf style according to my French Chef friend)
Finally found one place that comes really close and discovered one of their secrets is malt vinegar as opposed to the usual cider vinegar.
wow
Helen of the fryer that burnt a thousand chips, asks
It this a service of the fish and chip shop? or do you have to read through the grease?It's illegal to wrap fish and chips (or any other cooked food) in newspaper these days. All those long-strand polymers in the ink, don'cha know.
It's a service, albeit a very casual one. The grease shop is next door to a dairy which sells magazines. At the end of their shelf life, the magazines are clipped and go next door for the delectation of for those awaiting their golden, crisply fried and totally delicious fish'n chips!
And thinking about it, I'm hungry and I haven't had any lunch yet ...
Wow,
As a lifelong connoisseur of fish and chips, I can tell you, regardless of any cries of derision from the east of you, that the Brits don't, cannot and never will make fish and chips properly.
I suggest that you go and stand on the beach to await the sounds of overwrought emotion from our pommy friends; they should take about four and a half hours to reach you.
The reasons are simple and repairable if they so desired (but they don't). They cook them at too low a temperature and they use beef dripping. Soggy, soggy, soggy.
We've been contemplating starting a grease shop in London to feed all the starving Australians and New Zealanders living there. I reckon it would take six months at the most before the locals abandoned the dripping mess they normally deposit in their quivering bellies and come a-runnin'!
[Running-off-to-find-somewhere-to-hide-muttering-"Vindaloo-vindaloo-vindaloo" emoticon]
As a lifelong connoisseur of fish and chips, I can tell you, regardless of any cries of derision from the east of you, that the Brits don't, cannot and never will make fish and chips properly.
Having never had to endure eating UK fushnchups, I can only add that I am left bewildered whenever Pommie friends salivate rapturously as they describe their longing for "real" fish and chips. They actually miss the very blandness and sogginess you describe! (bemused-shuddering-emoticon)
Dear Max: I saw recently on BBC news that there is a serious shortage of the Cod usually used for their so-called delicacy (de gustibus and all that.) I have noticed difference here in the kind of fish used in different places. Not even sure what kind it is that I like best.
So, my question is, what kinds of fish are used in your area, and which kind do you like best ?
what kinds of fish are used in your area, and which kind do you like best
Shark is common as a cheap fish, terakihi and snapper are quite nice. Gurnard is fairly popular too.
I can't imagine shark in fish and chips. Fifty years ago a Nisei classmate shared some kamaboko with me, and I had trouble being polite.It reminded me of kidney, which I do not enjoy. The unagi(sliced smoked eel) was delicious, but I have never had any since. Surprising how few Japanese restaurants there are here, compared to Chinese.
It's illegal to wrap fish and chips (or any other cooked food) in newspaper these days. All those long-strand polymers in the ink, don'cha know.The local fish 'n chips I buy from occasionally is cute and has parchment printed to look like newspaper.
Ali
i have know idea why these posts inspired me to googlize "sushi"... but i'm glad i did, because i learned something interesting:
In Japan, they have a custom before eating sushi (or presumably any meal):
"They place their hands together in a "praying" position, with the chopsticks crosswise, under the thumbs, and say "Ita-daki-mas", just before tucking into the food. It's not very religious, and young people do it almost ironically with their friends in restaurants or on picnics: "Ita-daki-MAAAS". It just means 'I eat' or 'I partake'.
It seems very much akin to "Bon Appetit", and since i'm a *huge* sushi fan, i've made a mental note to ask about this next time i partake in that fantabulous fare.
I'm curious.. do any of you know of - or use - any other pre-meal expressions, aside from Grace?
and no, "Between the teeth and through the gums, look out stomach 'cuz here it comes" doesn't count.
~b96
The local fish 'n chips I buy from occasionally is cute and has parchment printed to look like newspaper.Ummmm...describe "cute", please. I'm having trouble visualising it!
In reply to:
Also, Hadrian tried to change the name of the city of Jerusalem... be quick now - anyone out there know what he called it?
Aelia Capitolina
Bingley
Very good Bingley - but did you have to look it up?
And if not, here's another -
we have a city in the northern part of the Jordan Valley (just south of the Sea of Galilee) called Beit She'an - fabulous excavations - any idea of the Greek/Roman name?Shoshannah
Bridget96>
I'm curious.. do any of you know of - or use - any other pre-meal expressions, aside from Grace?Well, yes.
Here (and in 'most' Jewish homes around the world - or in restaurants or just walking down the street with a
felafel), we say the standard blessings, thus:
Baruch atta Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam (Blessed art Thou, O Lord, Our G-d, King of the Universe) ... and then the appropriate food, such as
hamotzei lechem mein ha'aretz (who brings forth bread from the earth) - this is said over bread IF one is having bread with the meal - and it has to be said FIRST before partaking of any portion of the meal, but AFTER washing of hands (a ceremonial washing during which another prayer is said...).
We also have prayers to be said before partaking of the first fruit of the season and so on and so on...
We do say Grace, as well, but that is AFTER the meal, during which we thank G-d for giving us the food we just ate and for just being G-d who created all things, etc. etc. etc.....
Shoshannah
I knew it was something Capitolina, but I confess I had to pop over to Perseus for the Aelia.
Bingley
Don't know about Beit She'an, but is it the same place as my translation of the Bible calls Bethshan?
Bingley
How about:
Good gravy
Good meat,
Good God!
Let's eat!
My mother hated that-- thought it border on sacrilegious... I nearly got the back of her hand when i suggest it wasn't quite true-- the meat was good, (daddy was a butcher!) but the gravy came from the cook... and my mother had a well deserved reputation for not being a good cook.
-- and Bridget-- an other custom is to never stick your chopsticks into a bowl of rice so they "stand up"-- It signifies death-- and yes Ita daki maas is said before every meal, including breakfast, and "lunch on go" from the noodle venders!
My Grandfather, as head of the family, i.e. the oldest male, was asked to say something at a Thanksgiving dinner way back in the 1930s and it became an annual feature at every gathering of family and/or friends.
"Thanks be to God for our next meal. We're sure of this one."
wow
what kinds of fish are used in your area
We use halibut, cod, haddock. In NEW England they do fry 'em in hot fat and it's yummy.
Given descriptions of yukky in UK fish shops, I guess I was lucky because the portions I had were crisp and good!
wow
Ummmm...describe "cute", please. I'm having trouble visualising it! At least I didn't say "fishy".
"Cute" as in amusing in a sometimes nauseatingly sweet way. "Precious". I know I could have used better punctuation and grammar, but it was late, and, and, and....
Ali
Good gravy
Good meat,
Good God!
Let's eat!The boys at my Dad's boarding school, near Rawalpindi, were probably treading on very dangerous ground with their favourite after-meal chant:
Allah be praised,
my belly be raised
six inches above the table
Somehow I don't think that students currently attending that school would be permitted to utter that chant today.