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Dan...'s avatar

That’s strange. English is spoken everywhere. It is a language that crosses boundaries, unites outlooks, merges differences, and offers bridges across all forms of gaps. It is being actively co-created by most of the 8 billion users of speech. Consequently, it may be seen as the most creative form of communication all over the world.

And we can’t properly name simple sentences? Really? Do we really need to reach to ancient cultures, steal their words, destroy their original meanings, contaminate their context, twist their interpretations?

It is pure doublespeak in action, you can see it live. In fact, YOU are the creator of this doublespeak. You - meaning every one of us who flows with this stream.

Maybe we are afraid to call things what they really are? We prefer advertising to propaganda, or “not really true” to “obvious lie”. “Public relations” sounds safer than “Department of Truth”. “Expert opinion” is certainly more effective than “subjective view paid by the sponsor”. “Professional” is better than “authoritarian”. “Politically correct” is much better than “adjusted to expectations beyond the recognition of the true meaning”.

We actively participate in this game. Does it matter? Not really. In a short time, we won’t worry about meanings. Safe or effective, nobody will know what it means, because we will all readily recognize it: “Oh, yes, our mantra”.

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Ammiel Alcalay's avatar

Thank you Celia, you continue to amaze! I've been seriously engaged, in one way or another, with these issues for about forty years & your choice of sources, your instinct for the real, is incredibly accurate. I would suggest that readers familiarize themselves, also, with some of the on-the-ground journalists in Gaza, many of whom have seen their families targeted & killed (in addition to about 80+ and counting,journalists, photographers, cameramen etc. who have been killed). Rarely will you see such dignity & courage as these journalists are often called upon to report on the deaths of their own families. Thank you again for your cogent & direct presentation.

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