The pen is mighter than the sword

Subject: The pen is mighter than the sword
From: Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>
To: TECHWR-L Writing <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:02:35 -0400

This borders on a posting for the Friday files, but when you're self-
employed, every day can be Friday. <g> Two recent installments in the
ongoing saga of "the pen is mightier than the sword":

First, an article on the potential military uses of irony appeared in
the recent issue of Harper's magazine:
http://www.turnmaineblue.com/diary/2929/irony-watch
Having read the full article and some of the literature on rhetoric,
I'm honestly not at all sure whether the researchers are serious or
just having a little ironic fun at the expense of the defence
establishment. I assume the latter, and on that basis, it's a
wonderfully entertaining read. Worth hitting the newstand or library.

I confess that I'm left with this giggleworthy image of Lockheed
Martin exhuming Oscar Wilde, Ambrose Bierce, and Dorothy Parker, and
somehow weaponizing them. Or possibly even the infamous Monty Python
skit about the world's most lethal joke. <g>

Second, a more serious article on how words can be used to disarm even
seemingly intractable foes:
http://community.livejournal.com/debunkingwhite/818135.html
Sometimes the best cure for violent idjits is a good dose of public
humiliation.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Geoff Hart (www.geoff-hart.com)
ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca / geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Effective Onscreen Editing:
http://www.geoff-hart.com/books/eoe/onscreen-book.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------------

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Free Software Documentation Project Web Cast: Covers developing Table of
Contents, Context IDs, and Index, as well as Doc-To-Help
2009 tips, tricks, and best practices.
http://www.doctohelp.com/SuperPages/Webcasts/

Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.

Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat


Follow-Ups:

Previous by Author: Adobe eLearning suite documentation failure?
Next by Author: How Do You Decide How Long Things Will Take (in a SCRUM Shop)?
Previous by Thread: RE: Any more dullards out there ...
Next by Thread: Re: The pen is mighter than the sword


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads