1) From part 3 of Held by the Taliban, New York Times reporter David Rohde’s account of his kidnapping and seven months held in captivity by Taliban extremists:
I argued that the United States was not the menacing, predatory caricature that they believed. I also tried to counter their belief that all Americans were astonishingly rich. Nothing I said, though, seemed to change their minds.
One day, I received a copy of Dawn, an English-language Pakistani newspaper, that featured an article on the perilous financial state of The New York Times. I saved the newspaper until commanders stopped by for visits.
Showing them the headline “New York Times Struggles to Stay Afloat,” I explained that the American newspaper industry — as well as the American economy — was in a free fall. They listened to what I said and nodded. Then, they ignored me.
HA! Stupid terrorists. Your naive Pollyannaism about the newspaper industry is downright charming. Maybe I could hand the phone over to a copy boy or a rewrite girl instead? Don’t you even read Romensko?!
Which brings us to:
Inverted Soapbox 