Friday, January 21, 2022

Washington Post Saturday "Errata" The readers corrections

 

The Washington Post's Saturday "Free for All" is my favorite part of the paper.  I enjoy reading the comments of the Post readers as they cogently point out and correct the errors made by the Post writers and editors.  The criticisms (if ever acknowledged) will make the paper better.


In the past, I have made a few suggestions to them.  Unfortunately, when they call my home to confirm my submission; they never identify themselves.  I screen my calls for scammers and we rarely make contact.  


I suggest:  1). Hire a Headline editor.  Many headlines are “shortcuts of language to nowhere”, and are often profoundly misinforming.  2). Please add a few more dates to the abscissas of the graphs (the Covid graph has only three dates in almost two years).  I also question if the "running seven day average" is accurate. They might also consider tracking the number of orphans created by Covid deaths.  3). Add maiden names to the women in the obits.  Looking for old girl friends is impossible. 


I've been complaining for a long time about the decline of journalism in general.  I like to use the hash tag #BatBoyJournalism on Twitter.  I am referring to the old



Globe and Enquirer photos of "Hillary Clinton's ' love child ' ".  


So far I haven't been able to get that to trend.



Wednesday, January 19, 2022

Open letter to Every single Commonwealth of Virginia Senator

 

As a former DEQ employee, I believe that I have a valid perspective on environmental issues in Virginia.  I must urge that Andrew Wheeler not be confirmed as Natural Resources Secretary of Virginia.  I cannot imagine a worse choice for this position.  I wonder whether you are aware of his record at the federal EPA:

 

You may wish to poll the level of interest in our environment held by the majority of Virginia voters before you confirm Mr. Wheeler as requested by Governor Youngkin.


Link to VA Senators:  https://apps.senate.virginia.gov/Senator/districtdesclist.php