It's how you say it...

I was listening to the radio the other day; I listen to the radio a lot because radio is my work.

As prescribed in radio land, on the hour the news bulletin came on and as usual I listened with half an ear because all news is nothing but the propaganda that the government of the day wants you to hear.

I was half listening to a story that I'd heard on every newsbreak all morning when I heard something that made my brain have a second look so to speak.

You can Google this news story, if you wish, to confirm what I'm talking about.

The story centred around a woman that had placed rat poison pellets into the salad bar of 2 Sizzler restaurants in Brisbane Australia.

In every news break all morning she had been described at "a 57-year old Brisbane woman"... Then came the moment that made my brain have a second look... In the latest news break she was described as "a 57-year old Muslim woman"... Just in case you missed it the key word inserted into the news story there was MUSLIM

What has anyone’s religious persuasion got to do with anything in a news story?

Would the newsreader have said...?

"… A 57-year old Christian woman..."
"… A 57-year old Jewish woman..."
"… A 57-year old Greek Orthodox woman..."
"… A 57-year old Mormon woman.."
"… A 57-year old Wicca woman.."

You get my drift here?

Just so happens that the newsreader is an associate of mine so I called him to ask why he had inserted the word Muslim into that particular news break and he said...

"I don't remember saying that... I don't know why I would say that... I might have thought about saying 'maniac' but not Muslim..."

There's no way I can prove or disprove whether it was said or not as when I called him 5-days later his computer file for that story had been deleted, but I am very sure of what I heard said.

Maybe he's been reading the daily propaganda too long and now his brain is just hardwired towards trigger words like 'terrorism', 'Muslim', 'evil-doers' and it inserts them into his speech without him even realising.

Words are very powerful and when combined and spoken in a certain way their effect can have serious results... Just think back to all the stereotypical magicians and witches we ever read about or saw on kids TV shows and movies they combined words and spoke them in a particular way to cast spells...

Remember 'it's how you say it..."