How Words Manipulate Part 2

IN a previous article posted on this blog, I attempted to show how easily we are manipulated by the wording of copyright restriction notices (see How Words Manipulate of January 2007). I wrote that article because it had become annoying enough in my mind and I needed an outlet.

Recently I have been getting annoyed by the rhetoric of the gutter press, magazines, web sites, radio and television — especially when journalists interview serious professionals who cannot resort to quips or soundbites, or when politicians are involved!

That is why I have returned to this subject. This time I want to concentrate on how we are manipulated by the spoken word — by what is known as

How To Stop Traffic Jams & Save Lives

GETTING it right first time is a rarity. But even if something was done right first time, because the surrounding world changes, there has to be a limit to how long it can remain right.

In other words, everything ought to be monitored and reviewed regularly, with changes made as required.

• How likely do you think it is that traffic and town planners have managed to get things right from the start?

What to Take Care of

EACH and every person has areas of their lives in which they have some control or influence. This is important to know and to understand what it can mean, but it is something that is all-too-often overlooked or forgotten.

The news media feeds us information and invites us to ‘do something about it’ — to ‘give money’, to ‘vote now’. We are asked to care and to become involved in some way.