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Physics. Do Not Read.
Friday August 15, 2003
Dear Mr. Mullings: Is it true that by the end of this weekend you will have appeared on television 20 times since the Schwarzenegger announcement? We're very impressed!
Thanks for writing, Mom. You know how, when there is a State of the Union Address, one Cabinet Secretary is sent away for safe keeping? The opposite happens in August. One Republican is selected to remain in Washington to answer all political questions. This year, it was me.
In the suburbs of beautiful downtown Crawford, Texas the other day, the President was chatting, as he often does, with the press corps about this 'n that when he happened to remark that convincing consumers to return to the stores had been made more difficult by constant TV stories about "marching to war" which topped newscast after newscast after newscast even as early as last August.
Just to review the bidding, American service personnel didn't actually march into Iraq until March 20, 2003 - seven months later.
Nevertheless, the cable nets were all agog about the "THE PRESIDENT BLAMES ECONOMY ON THE MEDIA!" story, into which I allowed myself (Allowed myself. Begged!) to be drawn.
On the Keith Olbermann MSNBC program Wednesday night I said that the media is the working embodiment of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle which states, in part, "The more precisely the position is determined, the less precisely the momentum is known."
The corollary is also true, the better we understand the momentum, the less precisely we understand the precise position.
Dear Mr. Mullings. We have noticed you have been drifting down these obscure paths with increasing frequency. We are neither amused nor interested. Please stop.
Someone once wrote this great line in a book:
The phone rang and he picked up the receiver.
"Whom is this?" he said, for he had been to night school.
Ok. It didn't play that well on Olbermann, either, but here are two small examples of how the focus of the media alters the meaning:
Yesterday morning an NPR reporter said that the previous day's Dow Jones Average had "lost almost one-half percent."
A true fact. However, the announcer could have said the DJIA had "lost less than one-half percent." But she didn't.
In a San Francisco Chronicle piece yesterday about Arnold and the women's vote, this: "Polls show that Schwarzenegger has some support from women, although men clearly favor him in larger numbers."
Then in the next line: "A recent CNN/Gallup poll showed 39 percent of women surveyed were inclined to vote for Schwarzenegger, compared with 21 percent for Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante."
So, the headline might have been "Arnold Leads Cruz by 18 Among Women." But it wasn't.
A quick story about Pat's Steaks in Philadelphia which is generally acknowledged as the originator of the Philly Cheese Steak sandwich, or as it is locally known, "sangwich."
That is the place where, earlier this week, John "I'm-a-man-o'-the-people" Kerry ordered a sahndwich with Swiss Cheese instead of the standard - this is true - Cheez Whiz. A Philadelphia local said ordering Swiss Cheese on a cheese steak sangwich is "considered an alternative lifestyle here."
In 1996 The Lad and I had tickets to the Baseball All-Star game which was played at the Vet.
We decided to go to Pat's, having been told by a greeter at the 30th Street Amtrak station that it was the only place to get a true cheese steak sangwich. However, the woman pronounced it "Pot's" which caused some consternation in our taxi driver when we asked to be driven there.
Pat's web page proudly announces its location as, "Where 9th Street crosses Wharton & Passyunk Ave." which is modestly confusing even when you read it, much less when you try to find it.
We went. Ordered. Ate. And enjoyed. Here's a Traveler's Tip: If you're taking a taxi to Pat's tell the cab to wait.
We didn't know this rule. There were no cabs. I walked up to a guy sitting at an adjoining table and asked, "Are you from here?"
He looked up at me with eyes that said, "Luca Brazzi sleeps with the fishes. You wanna join him?" causing The Lad and me to move quickly on.
We walked about 15 blocks before a cab driver cheez whizzing by, spotted us, stopped, and took us to the ballpark.
I suspect Kerry left in a limo. So, probably, did that guy at the next table.
A pretty good Secret Decoder Ring page today: A photo of Pat's, links to the articles, the President's remarks, and the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.
--END --
Copyright © 2003 Richard A. Galen
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