Euphemisms and cliches. They're strangling journalism, you know. Clogging up the sink like tea leaves is how I believe George Orwell put it in his essay "Politics and the English Language." I choked on more than a few this morning while listening to this Associated Press story about U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on NPR. … Continue reading Reason #138 why journalism is dying
Author: anthonypignataro
Happiness at the DMV
And no, I'm not being either ironic or sarcastic. This morning, I had a great experience at the Kihei office of the County of Maui Department of Motor Vehicles. I was there to get a copy of my truck's Certificate of Title (I accidentally shipped off the original with a bunch of books last week) … Continue reading Happiness at the DMV
Okay, don’t Run and Hide!
With no sense of irony or responsibility, CNN.com is reporting that swine flu "hysteria" is sweeping the nation, and that this is not really a good thing. "After a week of headlines about the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, many emergency rooms and hospitals are crammed with people, many of whom don't need to be … Continue reading Okay, don’t Run and Hide!
Run and Hide! Run and Hide!
So this year's big doomsday threat to humanity is swine flu (H1N1 to you scientific types out there). Can't turn on the radio, television or log on to the Internet without seeing some story like this one from CNN filled with terrifying phrases like "worldwide outbreak," "potentially pandemic virus" and "the number of confirmed cases … Continue reading Run and Hide! Run and Hide!
Military-Speak gone mad
I was watching this History Channel program a while ago and realized that, at least publicly, military officers speak a language that's exactly half technical jargon and half stale cliche. The reason for this, I believe, is that it thoroughly eliminates the possibility of any original thought falling into civilian ears. Everything that comes out of … Continue reading Military-Speak gone mad
How come Republicans like teabagging so much?
So let me get this straight: Yesterday "tens of thousands" of people (Republicans) across the country (estimated population 307 million) rallied and protested the Obama Administration's "government spending and taxation" by chanting slogans like "no more spending" and waved signs saying "Over Taxation is Tyranny" and, in at least one case, threw a box of … Continue reading How come Republicans like teabagging so much?
‘Superpower’
I don't ever want to hear or read again that the United States is a "Superpower." "Superpowers" do not do this.
What a difference a year makes
A tip from a friend today led me to reread Governor Linda Lingle's April 25, 2008 speech before the Hawaii Economic Association's Annual Conference. This speech exemplifies everything that's wrong with the Lingle Administration. When it first came out, I briefly commented on the speech here (third item), but looking back now, it's clear I … Continue reading What a difference a year makes
Maui ‘Humane’ Society
There are many good and decent people who work at the Maui Humane Society, but I've got to say I'm not surprised at all at the really awful, heart-breaking stories appearing in The Maui News and Honolulu Advertiser these days about mistaken euthanizations and internal staff quarrels. Five years ago, I wrote about exactly these … Continue reading Maui ‘Humane’ Society
War! Or something like that…
So I woke up this morning to the news that we were at war with North Korea. Okay, I'm being hyperbolic, but not as much as you might think. It started with a Twitter message I received from Maui News reporter Ilima Loomis: "Oops! Lanai beach mistakenly evacuated over N. Korean missile threat!" The message … Continue reading War! Or something like that…
Anthony Pignataro 