Languages Controls Thought

Tell me if this seems wrong crazy, but:


Why are thousands of Palestinians, cut off from the world, hungry and without basic necessities, streaming into Egypt to stock their homes referred to by the NY Times as being on a "shopping spree?" Sorry, but it's not Christmas at a mall in Dallas. That would be a shopping spree. Reminds me of the days after Katrina when the media referred to hungry people in New Orleans taking food and basic necessities as "looters."


And also, why are Fatah and Hamas referred to as "factions?" Are the Democrats and the Republicans also "factions?" No, these are all political parties. But when Palestinians have legitimate political differences, they are breaking into "factions." Sort of like ethnic groups in Africa are "tribes." Makes everything so much more exotic and strange and scary and irrational.


My NY Times corrections for the day.

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