tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22165230.post722558853461129671..comments2023-12-16T16:50:25.810-08:00Comments on The Heart of the Matter: The Greatest Trick the Devil Ever PulledBarry Eislerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17785333622697500192noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22165230.post-40437408545481311882013-07-07T04:17:43.263-07:002013-07-07T04:17:43.263-07:00P.S. John Bruton - former Irish prime minister/for...P.S. John Bruton - former Irish prime minister/former EU commissioner/former EU Ambassador to the USA has written an Op Ed in the Irish Times stating that the US has breached the Vienna Convention with it's spying on the EU and that the EU should take a case to the International <br /><br />Aside from the obvious, there are two interesting things about this article.<br /><br />1. Bruton is very much a moderate/centrist/status quo/establishment figure. That he is calling for something like this shows the depth of feeling in the EU on the issue.<br /><br />2. Bruton states quite plainly that the EU mission in Washington would never have discussed security issues, and would have discussed things like trade negotiations or commercial interests of European countries. He questions why the NSA would bug the EU mission in the first place, and hints that the NSA were gleaning information on commercial/economic matters. That opens another Pandora's Box - namely what all this information is being used for and who the end user is of it.<br /><br />http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/snowden-allegations-of-spying-on-eu-must-be-taken-very-seriously-1.1454422David Gaughranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13236692339928690142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22165230.post-10191073969917349122013-07-07T04:08:20.139-07:002013-07-07T04:08:20.139-07:00I thought Taibbi's article was exceptional. Th...I thought Taibbi's article was exceptional. The myth of "objectivity" is one that needs to be punctured.<br /><br />Of course journalists - either wittingly or unwittingly - allow their own assumptions and prejudices to influence what they write about and how they write about it. It manifests itself overtly in the slant put on a particular story, but less overtly in the decisions on what story to cover or what talking head to get a quote from. But it's always there.David Gaughranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13236692339928690142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22165230.post-14219773745210184162013-07-01T21:48:59.663-07:002013-07-01T21:48:59.663-07:00@Big Evil - Yeah, I see what you're talking ab...@Big Evil - Yeah, I see what you're talking about. I apologize for misunderstanding your original point.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22165230.post-29528037012163843812013-07-01T21:44:36.561-07:002013-07-01T21:44:36.561-07:00@Sean - don't we run into a dilution of our di...@Sean - don't we run into a dilution of our discourse? If everything is political then nothing is, and so on? <br /><br />Also, I don't think anyone has set an operating definition for what we mean by political. If by political we mean "imbued with a person's experiences and beliefs" then there is no doubt you are correct. But if political means "designed to advance a political belief or policy agenda" then I'm not sure that's as applicable to everything. Obviously there are more potential definitions and I'm not trying to draw anyone into a false choice fallacy, just providing examples. The latter definition is closest the one I'm operating from. <br /><br />To choose not to be political requires prior knowledge of what you are actively choosing not to participate in. It is possible to not be political out of ignorance and have it not be a statement of any kind. <br /><br />And no one is advocating for a neutral voice. Being non political and having a neutral fictional voice aren't necessarily fungible. <br /><br />Thanks for your reply. Big Evilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17653777625922779721noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22165230.post-77490191914290178222013-07-01T21:27:37.075-07:002013-07-01T21:27:37.075-07:00@Big Evil - The decision to not write with politic...@Big Evil - The decision to not write with political intent is, in itself, a political decision. Every writer has a bias regardless.<br /><br />Besides a neutral voice in writing is boring, especially in fiction. And it's just lazy, too. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22165230.post-41393438981583019432013-07-01T20:37:13.832-07:002013-07-01T20:37:13.832-07:00Jay Rosen: so awesome he needed to be listed twice...Jay Rosen: so awesome he needed to be listed twice.<br /><br />My favorite is David Carr. He's got a great story. Doesn't suffer fools or foolishness. Replacements fan. Fantastic writer.Rob @ 52 Novelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00544302956712678686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22165230.post-70034176248579083932013-07-01T20:30:45.288-07:002013-07-01T20:30:45.288-07:00Do you think the journalistic bias is always consc...Do you think the journalistic bias is always conscious? Or are you saying that pure objectivity is simply impossible? <br /><br />More curiously do you really believe that ALL fiction is political? It is certainly possible to look at any work through a political lens and apply one's own metaphors and symbolism, but I'm not sure that there's political intention to all fiction. Unless again you're saying it's so inherent that it's impossible for the subtext to not be there.Big Evilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17653777625922779721noreply@blogger.com