READERS’ FORUM
READERS’ FORUM
Comments under 300 words, please. We cannot engage in correspondence but do appreciate your contribution. We do not publish insults or attacks against other readers. Points should stand on their own merits. You are welcome to express your religious views but not to criticize the views of others. Our mission is to unify our readers, not divide them. Send comments here.
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NEW CONTAGIOUS DISEASE
2015 Dec 18 from Larry Spitler
Dear Dear Friends, I am sorry that I have not been consistently responsive lately to your emails. I have been somewhat under the weather since my doctors informed me that I have an acute case of Post Islamic Stress Trauma with Apologetic White House Fatigue (PIST-AWF).
For those of you who do not know what that is, PIST-AWF is a newly defined disease that is found to be widespread and highly contagious. Symptoms include, but may not be limited to: Severe pain of the scalp from pulling your own hair while viewing the President pander to Muslim terrorists. Loose bowels from swallowing the fact we elected Obama twice. Extreme hunger due to vomiting from nightly seeing terrorists murdering innocent people.
If you feel you have Post Islamic Stress Trauma with Apologetic White House Fatigue, please notify your local election board and place your name on the list for a cure. It is hoped that the cure will be available in November of 2016.
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CANCER QUACKERY IN AUSTRALIA
2015 Dec 16 from Malcolm Hickman
Dear Mr. Griffin, A late cheer for your eighty-fourth birthday. Because of you, I’m 88. Thank you for saving my life, World Without Cancer was the beginning of a long road of discovery. I have a tumor on the upper lobe of my left lung. Quackery [in mainstream medicine] is alive and thriving in Australia. The FDA fear & corruption is here. The Government has just banned apricot kernels for the second time.
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HYPE IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
2015 Dec 9 from Robert Gregory
Your messages always seem hyped up with bold and big print – I wonder why?
RESPONSE FROM GEG:
This message is in response to a promotional mailing I made recently in which there was a headline and some bold text. The headline read: “Good news does not need hype” and it was followed by three testimonials from people who report health benefits from a product called Cardio Miracle.
Bold text was used in the heading of one paragraph and also as an example of common marketing hype. These bolded words add up to 33 out of 499 in the full article. Mr. Gregory feels that using larger type for an article headline or sectional headings and using bold type for emphasis in 6.6% of the article is hype. You can see the original message here.
However hype may be defined, it includes the concept of being distasteful and unacceptable. Therefore hype is in the eye of the beholder. I believe that the Cardio Miracle article is a fairly good example of restraint and good taste in preparing an advertising message and that it contains no hype whatsoever. However, if there is a broad public perception that I am resorting to the very hype I speak against, then I need to adjust my writing style. To help me with that, please let me know if you feel that my advertising messages are with or without hype. Please vote here.
