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To: elpolvo who wrote (20237)	12/20/2002 1:46:06 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 104216

<<...amatuers!...>> Yup...Your tax dollars at work...;-) -s2

To: elpolvo who wrote (20237)	12/20/2002 4:34:18 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 104216

Decoding Some Top Buzz Words of 2002 by Norman Solomon How words are used can be crucial to understanding and misunderstanding the world around us. The media lexicon is saturated with certain buzz phrases. They're popular -- but what do they mean? "The use of words is to express ideas," James Madison wrote. "Perspicuity, therefore, requires not only that the ideas should be distinctly formed, but that they should be expressed by words distinctly and exclusively appropriate to them." More than two centuries later, surveying the wreckage of public language in political spheres, you might be tempted to murmur: "Dream on, Jim." With 2002 nearing its end in the midst of great international tension, here's a sampling of some top U.S. media jargon: * "Pre-emptive" This adjective represents a kind of inversion of the Golden Rule: "Do violence onto others just in case they might otherwise do violence onto you." Brandished by Uncle Sam, we're led to believe that's a noble concept. * "Weapons of mass destruction" They're bad unless they're good. Globally, the U.S. government leads the way with thousands of unfathomably apocalyptic nuclear weapons. (Cue the media cheers.) Regionally, in the Middle East, only Israel has a nuclear arsenal -- estimated at 200 atomic warheads -- currently under the control of Ariel Sharon, who has proven to be lethally out of control on a number of occasions. (Cue the media shrugs.) Meanwhile, the possibility that Saddam Hussein might someday develop any such weapons is deemed to be sufficient reason to launch a war. (Cue the Pentagon missiles.) * "International community" Honorary members include any and all nations that are allied with Washington or accede to its policies. Other governments are evil rogue states. * "International law" This is the political equivalent of Play Dough, to be shaped, twisted and kneaded as needed. No concept is too outlandish, no rationalization too Orwellian when a powerful government combines with pliant news media. Few members of the national press corps are willing to question the basics when the man in the Oval Office issues the latest pronouncement about international behavior. It's a cinch that fierce condemnation would descend on any contrary power that chooses to do as we do and not as we say. * "Terrorism" The hands-down winner of the rhetorical sweepstakes for 2002, this word aptly condemns as reprehensible the killing of civilians, but the word is applied quite selectively rather than evenhandedly. When the day comes that news outlets accord the life of a Palestinian child the same reverence as the life of an Israeli child, we'll know that media coverage has moved beyond craven mediaspeak to a single standard of human rights. Although you wouldn't know it from U.S. media coverage, 80 percent of the Palestinians killed in recent months by the Israeli Defense Force during curfew enforcement were children, according to an October report from the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem. Twelve people under the age of 16 had been killed, with dozens more wounded by Israeli gunfire in occupied areas, during a period of four months. "None of those killed endangered the lives of soldiers," B'Tselem said. Closer to home, in less dramatic ways, the concept of "human rights" melts away when convenient. Even an assiduous reader of the U.S. press would be surprised to run across some key provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations more than 50 years ago and theoretically in force today. For instance, the document declares without equivocation that "everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment." Perhaps the Universal Declaration passage least likely to succeed with U.S. news media appears in Article 25: "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and the necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control." Words expressing those kinds of ideas are scarce in our media lexicon. Norman Solomon's latest book is "The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media." His syndicated column focuses on media and politics. mediamonitors.net

To: elpolvo who wrote (20237)	12/20/2002 4:51:42 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 104216

A friend just emailed this to me... mirror.co.uk

To: elpolvo who wrote (20237)	12/22/2002 4:04:02 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 104216

Distractions to Peace on Earth By Mary McGrory Columnist The Washington Post Sunday, December 22, 2002 If you're seeking examples of the Christmas spirit -- they do not abound this year -- better to go to SOME (So Others Might Eat). At the legendary nonprofit feeder of the hungry in the federal city, they can show you what it is all about. On Christmas Day, Rabbi Warren Stone of Temple Emmanuel will show up with 20 volunteers who will bring with them all the food for the feast, from turkey to mince pie, and all the helping hands needed to serve the 300 expected guests. They give the regular staff members the day off so they can celebrate at home. The rabbi offers Christmas greetings to all comers, and he and his helpers join in the singing of Christmas carols, which are a regular yuletide feature at SOME, a place known for its amenities. The Rev. John Adams, the Catholic priest in charge, is proud of the fact that every table will have its own small Christmas tree. The celebration of the birth of history's most consequential homeless baby always brings to mind those who can't or won't go home for Christmas. Some can't afford housing, and some don't speak to their families for one reason or another. Whatever the reason, there has been an increase in the number of homeless in our midst since high tech hit the dust and the stock market tanked. Exact figures are unavailable. The District's mayor and city council and homeless advocates have been arguing over available emergency beds in the hypothermia season. The council charges Mayor Anthony Williams with dragging his feet on a promised total of 725 beds. Privately, counselors and homeless advocates grumble that he is not moving fast enough on the conversion of the downtown Franklin School and that this is unbecoming for a man who has been promised a splendid subsidized mansion in the best part of town. The mayor's director of communications, Tony Bullock, says Williams is baffled by the criticism, because no one in search of shelter has been turned away -- proof that capacity is adequate. And the Franklin conversion is weeks away. No one has been paying much attention. The city has been mesmerized by the sight of Trent Lott, Republican leader of the Senate, standing -- and shouting -- on the window ledge, where he had been since he made racist remarks at Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party. He finally jumped from his leadership position on Friday. His party was intensely relieved. It has experienced a mortification similar to that of the Democrats after the November election. This Christmas we are a nation at war, although you could hardly notice it. The president seems bound and determined to start a real one. He increasingly says the planet isn't big enough for him and Saddam Hussein, although he is learning to live with Kim Jong Il, another member of the Bush axis of evil and North Korea's Saddam Hussein. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who sometimes seems to be forgotten in the macho Bush Cabinet, emerged as the president's man for all seasons. On the matter of Trent Lott, who inadvertently labeled African Americans "problems," the general was called in to express his abhorrence of Lott's clumsy good ol' boyism. Soon after, Powell was summoned again -- he is Bush's nearest approximation to a peacenik -- to say that Saddam Hussein was lying, cheating and stealing in his report to the United Nations. The president found time to give shelter to his favorite toy: national missile defense. The president, eager to promote his personal-type evangelism in faith-based organizations, has in missile defense the most faith-based enterprise of them all. Ronald Reagan's folly, a shield over the country, which failed three of its eight tests, seemed more foolish than ever, but it remains the president's dearest dream. Never mind that it would not have stopped the cataclysm of 9/11, or the evidence that terrorists prefer suitcases or shoes as delivery systems, or that it will cost billions. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said with rare understatement that it is "better than nothing." Of its humble housing in Alaska, he said, "you have to put something in place." Republican presidents like to defend the strong -- although Dwight Eisenhower warned them not to -- and extend welfare to the wealthy of the military industrial complex, and President Bush's conservative constituency will doubtless rejoice that he is showing the right stuff in providing the arms manufacturers with a bottomless purse. It is no wonder that "peace on earth and good will to men" aren't uppermost. Treachery, backstabbing, extravagance and war alarms are powerful distractions. It's better to go to SOME and other places that concern themselves with the less fortunate every day of the year for manifestations of Isaiah's prophecy, to "heal the brokenhearted." __________________________________ Mary McGrory, who has been a national columnist since 1960, won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 1975. Her column generally appears on Thursdays and Sundays. © 2002 The Washington Post Company washingtonpost.com