Patterico's Pontifications

9/11/2005

Those Wacky Corrections

Filed under: Dog Trainer,General — Patterico @ 10:34 pm



Today’s L.A. Times corrections are awesome. I never do this, but this time I’m quoting each and every one in full:

Turkish author — The subheadline on a Sept. 1 article in Section A about a Turkish author accused of denigrating his country referred to Turkey’s “alleged slaying of Armenians.” It should not have been qualified with the word “alleged” in reference to the slayings of Armenians during and after World War I.

Roadside vendors — A photo caption in Wednesday’s Section A with an article about roadside vendors who had gone to the Gulf Coast to sell necessities to hurricane victims misidentified one of the vendors, Paul Clark, as Everett Majors.

CTG director’s name — An article last Sunday on the play “Dead End” incorrectly spelled the name of the technical director for Center Theatre Group as Alice Holden. Her first name is Alys.

Puzzle clue — The 19 Across crossword puzzle clue last Sunday was “Moises of the Cubs.” The answer was “Alou,” the baseball player, but the clue should have said “formerly of the Cubs.”

Japanese city — The Her World column in the Sept. 4 Travel section said the city of Nara is north of Tokyo. Nara is southwest of Tokyo.

Raquel Welch home — The Aug. 28 Hot Property column reported that the Beverly Hills home Raquel Welch recently put on the market was purchased by the actress in 2002. She purchased it in 1997.

It’s tough to select the best one, but I think my favorite is the second one. I can just visualize the end of the conversation:

L.A. Times reporter: “Well, it’s been nice talking to you, Mr. Majors.”

Paul Clark: “Actually, it was Clark. Paul Clark.”

L.A. Times reporter: “Of course. We’re always interested in accuracy. So how do you spell that last name? M – A – J –”

Paul Clark: “No, it’s Clark! C – L – A — ”

L.A. Times reporter:: “Majors doesn’t begin with a ‘C,’ Mr. Majors!”

Paul Clark: “But I’m telling you, my name is Clark! Paul Clark! P – A – U – L — ”

L.A. Times reporter: “I think I know how to spell the name “Everett,” Mr. Majors!”

Meanwhile, no correction on the assertion that George W. Bush “never” met with Cindy Sheehan. But it’s all context, Mr. Majors!

Galloway on Tour

Filed under: Scum,War — Patterico @ 9:35 pm



Saddam supporter George Galloway is going on tour, and will be making a stop in Los Angeles on September 22. (Here is some background on Galloway generally, and here is some background information from Clint Taylor on some of Galloway’s apparent lies to Congress.) I am considering going — to heckle, hand out leaflets, ask embarrassing questions, and/or generally make a stink. Anyone else interested?

P.S. Armed Liberal is interested in handing out leaflets. He says the crowd will be thick with Hollywood types. Jane Fonda might speak, and so might Sean Penn — fresh off his heroic rescue efforts with his personal photographer and his tiny, leaking boat.

UPDATE: I knew that date sounded familiar. I have recollected that I have a previous engagement: a party celebrating the promotions of numerous people in my office — including Mrs. P. (Yes, I remembered on my own. I’m not in the doghouse — at least not completely.)

Can’t go; sorry. But don’t let that stop you!

Head Bread and Head Cheese

Filed under: Humor — Patterico @ 8:58 pm



Diet tip: you can make an excellent sandwich with this bread and some head cheese.

If you make such sandwiches a major part of your diet, you’ll lose weight . . . I guarantee it.

(Hat tip: Joe Katzman.)

Kinsley on Katrina: Not Bush’s Fault

Filed under: Current Events,Dog Trainer — Patterico @ 9:15 am



Michael Kinsley knocks it out of the park with his op-ed this morning titled The fetid aroma of hindsight:

AS A GOOD AMERICAN, you no doubt have been worried sick for years about the levees around New Orleans. Or you’ve been worried at least since you read that official report in August 2001 — the one that ranked a biblical flood of the Big Easy as one of our top three potential national emergencies. No? You didn’t read that report in 2001? You just read about it in the newspapers this last week?

. . . .

You never gave five seconds of thought to the risk of flooding in New Orleans until it became impossible to think about anything else? Me neither. Nor have I given much thought to the risk of a big earthquake along the West Coast — the only one of the top three catastrophes that hasn’t happened yet — even though I live and work in the earthquake zone.

Of course, my job isn’t to predict and prepare for disasters. My job is to recriminate when they occur. It’s not easy. These days the recriminations business is overrun with amateurs, who are squatting on all the high ground. The fetid aroma of hindsight is everywhere.

Kinsley has a few words for the prescient Corps of Engineers:

The Corps of Engineers has done many marvelous things. But it would cement over the Great Lakes and level Mt. Rainier if we would let it. Its warnings about natural disasters are like the warnings of that famous economist who has predicted 10 of the last five recessions.

as well as for Democrat Senator Mary Landrieu:

Likewise, a senator may not be the best judge of the need for a vast federal construction project in her state. Landrieu’s I-told-you-so’s would be more impressive if the press release archive on her website didn’t contain equally urgent calls to spend billions of dollars to build boats the Navy hasn’t asked for in Louisiana shipyards, self-congratulations for having planted a billion dollars of “coastal impact assistance” for Louisiana in the energy bill (this is before the flood), and so on. Did she want flood control or did she want $10 million to have “America’s largest river swamp” declared a “National Heritage Area”?

Kinsley says that the only president you can’t blame for the disaster happening to begin with is . . . George W. Bush:

Obviously — obviously in hindsight, that is — we should have spent the money to strengthen the New Orleans levees. President Clinton should have done it. Presidents Bush the Elder and Reagan should have done it. As Tim Noah notes in Slate, warnings about the perilous New Orleans levees go back at least to Fanny Trollope in 1832. In fact, the one president who is pretty much in the clear on this is our current Bush — not because he did anything about the levees but because even if he had started something, it probably wouldn’t have been finished yet.

Amen.

Okay, leftists. In your eyes, anyone who disagrees with you on Bush’s allegedly obvious responsibility for Katrina is just a right-wing hack. I guess it’s time for you to start trying to pin that label on Michael Kinsley.

Good luck.


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