Devil is in the details

So yesterday was a big day in the war against terror. I'm not going to bother talking about the actual news story, that's not what I do. In fact, when I was watching the news, the "news" of it wasn't very interesting to me. What really caught my eye was the image to your right (stolen from Reuters).

The picture of the dead guy was a mental speedbump. Ba-dunk! I was trying to pay attention to the story, to be the responsible and educated individual who would listen intently to this kind of stuff. But... I was also struck by something silly. My two sides had a minor discussion:

The Dude: "Dude, check it out, they freak'n framed the picture!"

The Scholar: "What are you talking about?"

D: "The picture man... the dead guy, he's framed"

S: "Look, I'm trying to pay attention to this story... it's important."

D: "This is important too, I mean, why did they frame it? Is Bushie going to put that on his wall?"

S: "Maybe, who cares! ..... Do you think this will impact the elections in November?"

D: "That's a nice frame. I wonder if an intern stood around Aaron Brother's Art Mart and picked it out. 'Well, I like the silver metallic but the wood really brings out the mort-flesh shade. Ok, let's go with that. Does it come with free matteing?' I want that job!"

S: "What... ARE you talking about?!"

D: "Ok dude, let me speak-a your language. They framed the dead guy's picture. That's totally a marketing thing man. It's a classic subtle move to suggest professionalism. If they had put the picture up with thumb tacks, it would have worked but subconsciousousishly, peeps wouldn't be as impressed."

S: "Oh, you're right."

D: "Wicked! Check out that gnarly scar!"

S: "You're a moron."