Except, of course, when they don’t.<\/p>\n
\nPolitical science professor Gay \u2014 who stepped down amid a tempest of allegations that she did not do enough to combat antisemitism and academic plagiarism<\/strong><\/a> Tuesday \u2014 will return to a position on the Cambridge, Mass., school\u2019s faculty.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Bold mine, and indicative of some truly prime bullshit: 1) they are NOT<\/strong> \u201callegations,\u201d and 2) it isn\u2019t that she \u201cdidn\u2019t do enough\u201d to combat anything\u2014she did plenty. Among other disgraceful things she is known for a fact<\/em> to have done: she DID<\/strong> commit plagiarism, and she DID<\/strong> express her ((((JooJooJooJOOOOO!!!)))) hate clearly, unequivocally, even pridefully.<\/p>\n
This, mind, while the selfsame dicks-with-ears puff out their sunken chests to indignantly declare the madman Trump ineligible to run for President because he\u2019s a known \u201cinsurrectionist\u201d and treasonous revolutionary\u2014proving for all time that they really are<\/em> incapable of shame, because otherwise they\u2019d all be blushing so hard they\u2019d stroke out and die of it.<\/p>\n
The above rampant horsepuckey is but one of many abuses of the Mother Tongue we see perpetrated in the mass media every single day; in fact, I doubt it was even the most egregious example from that particular day. Fred Reed offers a primer for those who aspire to do better, a category which would not include any \u201cmainstream\u201d Jurassic Media \u201cjournalists.”<\/p>\n
\nEnglish, What\u2019s Left of It, & Its Management<\/strong><\/a>
Recently I took part in a discussion of writing and how to do it on Counter-Currents. This being a topic of some importance to me, I decided to throw together a few thoughts in a form more coherent that I could do in a podcast. A danger in doing this is that readers will joyfully point out instances in which I have failed to follow my own suggestions. To these sins I confess in advance. Anyway:<\/p>\nThis is not a golden age of writing. For one thing, few today have the grasp of English grammar that long ago we had learned by the fifth grade, or any idea why it might be important. Nor, I suspect, have many read much in the best authors in English, and so have not acquired an ingrained feel for what is good and what isn\u2019t. I may be wrong. I hope so.<\/p>\n
For another, good writing is elitist, and must be. Elitism means a preference for the better to the worse. In an intellectual climate resembling that of an urban bus station, in which the lower cultural orders seek to drag standards to the bottom, few will prefer good writing to bad, or know the difference.<\/p>\n
Further, when people are in constant communication via telephones, garbling and semi-literacy are less important than they were when poor communication demanded clarity. In the following we will pretend that it is 1955 and that I am speaking to young people who want to write well.<\/p>\n
To begin, my advice to the aspiring writer is to forget \u201ccreativity.\u201d Writing is first a craft, involving rules and principles and things to which the student should learn to pay attention. Later, perhaps, writing is an art. You have to learn the notes before playing a concerto. Accepting this is important.<\/p>\n
Also important, crucial I would say, is the habit of paying attention to language itself, not just its content. By this I mean the structure of sentences, choice of words, turn of phrase. If you read a piece and think it good, read it again and ask why it is good. If an analytical piece, is the analysis clear and compelling? The phrasing fresh and devoid of clich\u00e9? The vocabulary extensive and correct in use?<\/p>\n
To again use a comparison to music, the listener doesn\u2019t have to know music theory, but the musician does.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Lots, lots more good stuff to follow, including several rules I gleefully traduce on a habitual basis myself, just ’cause I think it’s funny. Even if you\u2019re not a professional writer, you may find it interesting. NYPost link via JJ<\/a>, Fred link via WRSA<\/a>. Thanks, fellas!<\/p>\n