L.A. Times Now Hitting “Publish” on Pretty Much Anything
Do they still have editors over there? Scan this screenshot for grammatical errors and generally crappy writing. I count at least one problem per paragraph for the first four paragraphs of the piece.
Let’s take it one paragraph at a time:
The House unanimously agreed Saturday to provide back pay for hundreds of thousands of furloughed federal workers, but they showed no sign of ending the impasse that has forced much of the government to shut down.
Who are (is?) “they”? Is the House “they”? Admittedly, I’m being a little picky here — but for the lede of the article to contain a plural pronoun that refers to a singular noun, to me, is an indication of shoddy writing and editing.
And it gets better. Meaning worse.
Lawmakers faced steep political pressure to ensure that federal workers are paid when the shutdown ends. The bill now goes to the Senate, which also convened for an unusual Saturday session, but Democrats had no immediate plans to approve the approve the back pay bill.
“Approve the approve the back pay”? Who’s writing this, Jimmy Two Times?
Third paragraph:
“We’re trying to ease the pain here,” said zafter the House vote.
“Zafter the House vote” is my favorite Congressman.
The White House has signaled that it will not veto the bill, but Democrats have largely rejected the Republican strategy of trying to reopen selective parts of government, insisting they will accept only full funding of government operations.
Are we trying to reopen only “selective” parts of government? What does that mean? Are we trying to reopen, say, the Department of Justice Honors Program? I remember that was pretty “selective.”
(I think she meant “selected.”)
Layers and layers of editors!
It seems like they took Blutowski’s advice to Flounder seriously,
narciso (3fec35) — 10/5/2013 @ 12:30 pmBe prepared for the inevitable refrain of “newspapers cutbacks mean that we don’t have the copyediting capabilities that we once did. And, oh yeah, it also magically diminished the written English language skills of our reporters.”
Come to think of it, the diminished English language skills will be traced back to alleged budget cuts to the Education Department during the Reagan and then Gingrich years, meaning that all reporters from ages 22-50 are functional illiterates, yet it is somehow not their fault.
JVW (93c84b) — 10/5/2013 @ 12:51 pmThe Brawndo times, electrolytes good,
narciso (3fec35) — 10/5/2013 @ 12:53 pmI like this post. It illustrates our newspapers and our education system have the same standards.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/5/2013 @ 1:23 pmWell, I could be generous and read the first paragraph as having [members] as the third word. But this ain’t the New York Times, after all. With the LA Times, you just have to be glad it isn’t in Spanish yet.
Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 10/5/2013 @ 2:32 pmhe diminished English language skills will be traced back to alleged budget cuts to the Education Department
Pretty sure I could show that the only correlation between test scores and the D of Ed funding is negative.
Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 10/5/2013 @ 2:34 pmYou may have a point,
http://twitchy.com/2013/10/05/cher-accuses-tea-partyers-of-waging-terrorist-war-against-the-us-and-embarrasses-twitchy/
although Spanish is even more precise about pronoums and such.
narciso (3fec35) — 10/5/2013 @ 2:45 pmIf grammatical errors and generally crappy writing were the only problems with the LAT…
Dana (6178d5) — 10/5/2013 @ 3:03 pmThe old type-set Orange County Register was chock full of literal typos, but at least it knew what Freedom and Liberty meant.
Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 10/5/2013 @ 3:12 pmCher clearly needs to go to AA. Booze and Twitter do not mix well.
Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 10/5/2013 @ 3:14 pmAfter reading Cher’s nutty ramblings on Twitter, I really think she should’ve have thought through the new hair color and personifying the dumb blonde stereotype.
Dana (6178d5) — 10/5/2013 @ 3:24 pmSequestration !
Elephant Stone (6b89b2) — 10/5/2013 @ 3:59 pmOr something.
Is this an editing and correction issue, or a matter of the tyranny of the Ministry of Propaganda style-book?
Larry Sheldon (acbb4f) — 10/5/2013 @ 4:20 pmleave Cher alone she honestly doesn’t know any better
politically she’s like Madonna to where you have to just ignore their political burples it’s like when old people smell like pee
happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/5/2013 @ 6:04 pmseriously they just don’t have anyone to tell them how butt stupid they sound when they go there
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U93frWrToI
happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/5/2013 @ 6:06 pmCher is at the age of onset of Alzheimers.
nk (dbc370) — 10/5/2013 @ 6:16 pmI only read the sports section today and looked at a picture of a mountain lion on the front page.
AZ Bob (c99389) — 10/5/2013 @ 6:57 pmburbank has had a mountain lion running about lately
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-mountain-lion-spotted-in-burbank-dragging-dead-deer-up-driveway-20130919,0,4216932.story
http://myburbank.com/10/news/mountain-lion-spotted-again-in-burbank-foothills/
if i see it I’ll be like oh god oh god oh god
I really should get a more better plan
happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/5/2013 @ 7:06 pm“Steep political pressure” is a mixed metaphor. How can pressure be “steep”?
gwjd (032bef) — 10/5/2013 @ 7:10 pmOnly because of teh failed policies of George Bush, Republicans, the threat to the full faith and credit of the United States, and the fact GITMO is a recruiting tool.
Did I cover all the bases?
Steve57 (234b9e) — 10/5/2013 @ 7:12 pmmy understanding is that cause of Government Shutdown not all members of the mountain lion community have been receiving their food stamps
NO RECIBIR EL STAMPOS DEL FOOZLES!????!!
I for one am spitting mad
happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/5/2013 @ 7:28 pmwe’re trying to ease the pain here
happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/5/2013 @ 7:29 pmAs a former editor, I must say you are not being picky. Ambiguous pronouns like “they” are a big no-no.
As for the mountain lion, read the comments. The LAT fans think it’s all beautiful, and he’s so regal and stuff. Wait till he kills their dog or tears up a kid. Gaia is a bitch.
Patricia (be0117) — 10/5/2013 @ 7:38 pmSomeday when we are inevitably compared to the old Roman Empire, our letting celebrities have Twitter will be considered the equal of the Romans appointing horses to the Senate.
JVW (93c84b) — 10/5/2013 @ 7:39 pmAs for the mountain lion, read the comments. The LAT fans think it’s all beautiful, and he’s so regal and stuff. Wait till he kills their dog or tears up a kid. Gaia is a bitch.
For shame, Patricia. Didn’t you see “The Lion King”? Surely you must know that lions are noble and wise, yet sentimental and cuddly too. Why if I see a mountain lion I will break off into a chorus of “A-koomba-mah-tay-oh” or whatever and let him know that I acknowledge his regal bearing and only wish to share with him an embrace of universal brotherhood of the species.
JVW (93c84b) — 10/5/2013 @ 7:42 pmWe had one in the middle of a semi-upscale yuppie neighborhood a few years ago. I say semi-upscale because the police shot it down next to a Lambretta, not a Vespa I don’t think, in the building’s parking area. It was a Wyoming mountain lion, it had traveled a long way to get to Chicago. Here’s a picture — can you tell what kind of scooter it is? http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BPfMsBhpr6o/SATEXRZWv2I/AAAAAAAAAFM/yIsnacxJWKg/s320/cougar.jpg
nk (dbc370) — 10/5/2013 @ 7:48 pmIt seems like the liberals who comment here have left. It’s probably a coincidence but it may have something to do with this inconvenient but revealing comment by Chuck Schumer:
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/5/2013 @ 7:52 pmI hope they come back. I’d like to know why it’s okay to blame people for exercising their First Amendment rights by disagreeing with Obama and the Democrats. It makes me have second thoughts about whether Americans should have been able to disagree with Bush about Iraq and the War on Terror.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/5/2013 @ 7:55 pmthe tea party is mostly a myth
you either think we should ram obamacares up everyone’s butt or you don’t
me personally I think on balance I favor the argument that says no please to not violate everyone’s butt with the obamacares, thank you very much all the same
does that make me a teadoodle?
no not really least ways you sure couldn’t tell by looking at me
happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/5/2013 @ 7:57 pmThe Tea Party may be a myth where you live but it is real where I live.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/5/2013 @ 7:58 pmThe GOP is pretty much a myth in California, like Zorro and Jake Gittes,
narciso (3fec35) — 10/5/2013 @ 8:03 pmNo myth in Cali… we lay low during the 23.5 hours of Daily Hate, but the enemy is slowly realizing that the joke’s on them.
Colonel Haiku (ee5253) — 10/5/2013 @ 8:13 pmDoes Bezos want to improve his paper;
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2013/10/05/ezra-klein-cites-academic-work-tea-party-racist-sexist-xenophobic-homoph
narciso (3fec35) — 10/5/2013 @ 8:21 pmTea party is a myth? How do you think Cruz got elected?
BradnSA (f34a47) — 10/5/2013 @ 9:51 pmhe got elected mostly cause Texas people were sick to death of useless Kay Bailey and her stupid hair and David Dewhurst is a useless twat just like her and electing Ted was a good way to slap her upside her slackjawed Meghan’s coward daddy loving face
it’s really that simple you don’t have to factor any tea party stuff into the equation to explain it
happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/5/2013 @ 9:59 pmActually you do, the smart money was with Dewhurst, so it was said, who would not have challenged Hagel or Brennan, or gone on this filibuster.
narciso (3fec35) — 10/5/2013 @ 10:07 pmI wouldn’t call Perry money *smart* money exactly
unless you were just being nice
happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/5/2013 @ 10:22 pmI guess happyfeet has it all figured out because he lives in Yexas? It was Dewhurst’s election to lose except for the fact that tea party people got him there.
Sorry the facts don’t fit your narrative.
BradnSA (f34a47) — 10/5/2013 @ 10:50 pmi live in the san fernando valley actually
so there
happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/5/2013 @ 10:56 pmSo *that* is why you are so nervous, eh, feets ? You are one of those dears what don’t want to be dragged up a driveway by a mountain lion, eh ?
(I’m practising my canajun, eh)
Alastor (2e7f9f) — 10/5/2013 @ 11:15 pmmountain lions freak me out Mr. Alastor cause you never see them before they turn you into a helpless cat toy
mountain lions and also bears freak me out
I’m just a lil pikachu and I have this recurring tendency to wander into areas where these beasts are known to frequent
and I have no plan whatsoever
I pretend I do sometimes but actually I don’t
a knife with a 3 or 4 inch blade is not the same as a plan
I know this
and ever since I read about that poor girl what got eated by the bears in Russia I’ve become increasingly anxious and yet I still keep wandering into their carnivorous demesnes not unlike a momo
mountain lions and bears taped over your mouth scribbled out the truth with their lies
crush
crushcrushcrush
happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/5/2013 @ 11:23 pmrecomennded on pd netflix
pdbuttons (1d6e96) — 10/5/2013 @ 11:29 pm‘Grizzly Man’-werner herzog..plus he did ;aguirre/wrath of god’
my opinion only
#33,
Actually if there is a part of the Republican party that is least likely to be those things, it is the TEAs. Ezra ought to look to his own side if he’s looking for racists anyway. Clue: they voted for a guy based mostly on his skin color.
Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 10/6/2013 @ 12:40 amA sum up of the news;
http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/10/when_mettle_meets_the_toads_1.html
narciso (3fec35) — 10/6/2013 @ 6:13 amI routinely see this and more egregious mistakes in “major” English-language publications.
Nobody actually looks at what they publish any longer. I am convinced this is how those fake Chinese pilot names got broadcast after that plane crashed in San Fran.
WarEagle82 (2b7355) — 10/6/2013 @ 4:53 pmOnce we kicked out the critical thinkers in English instruction, it was a slippery downward slope. As Henry Hill notes, “for us, living any other way was crazy.” I think the LA Slimes thinks the same way as the Goodfellas.
Dirty Old Man (4bf1c0) — 10/6/2013 @ 5:50 pmNot true 100% of the time, Mr. Feets. That’s what dogs are for. They’ll point out the mountain lion too you before you become cat chow, if you’ll let them.
I recommend skidplates and brushgaurds, Mr. Feets.
This was turned into road kill by an F350.
http://graphics1.snopes.com/photos/animals/graphics/garagelion1.jpg
I don’t think you need an F350 to kill a mountain lion. I think you can use a RAV4.
http://www.off-road.com/trucks-4×4/trails/rav4-crawler-trail-testing-15038.html
Or really pretty much anything. Except a Trabant. Hit a German Shepherd with a Trabant and the German Shepherd will walk away but your Trabant won’t. I lump Smart Cars and Nissan Leafs in the same category.
Odds are you don’t have something that is ideal for turning mountain lions that freak you out into road kill (I say if they’re not actively freaking you out leave them alone) like an F350 or even better a GMC Kodiak that is idealized at the factory for running over mountain lions. But odds are you do have a car that will kill mountain lions who take it upon themselves to freak you out.
The difference is the brush guard and skidplates means the lion won’t claw your radiator or oil pan to death during its death throes.
Which allows you to use it again. For deer hunting.
Steve57 (234b9e) — 10/6/2013 @ 6:43 pmI dunno, I kinda like the British use of plural for collective nouns: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_noun
Carl B (3016c0) — 10/6/2013 @ 9:08 pm