Every day public opinion is the target of rewritten history, official amnesia and outright lying, all of which is benevolently termed ‘spin’, as if it were no more harmful than a ride on a merry-go-round. We know better than what they tell us, yet we hope otherwise.” Thomas Pynchon, in his Introduction to George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four.A man was walking down the street when he was accosted by a particularly dirty and shabby-looking vagrant who asked him for ten dollars for dinner. The man took out his wallet, extracted a ten dollar bill and asked, "If I give you this money, will you buy beer with it instead?"
"No, I stopped drinking years ago," the vagrant said.
"Will you use it to gamble instead of buying food?" the man asked.
"No, I don't gamble. I need everything I can get just to stay alive."
"Will you spend the money on greens fees at a golf course instead of food?" the man asked.
"Are you bloody NUTS!" replied the vagrant. "Where could I play golf for $10?? I haven't played golf in 20 years!"
"Well," said the man, "I'm not going to give you ten dollars. I'm going to take you home for a terrific dinner cooked by my wife." The vagrant was astounded.
"Won't your wife be furious with you for doing that? I'm very dirty, and I probably smell pretty bad."
The man replied, "That's okay, Mate! I just want her to see what a man looks like who's given up beer, gambling, and golf!