The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.
Boy Rescues Firefighters–Now That Would Be News
“Boise Firefighters Rescue Boy Whose Tongue Was Stuck to Metal Pole”–headline, Idaho Statesman, Dec. 9
Other Than That, the Story Was Accurate
“There are some things I want to correct and clear up about a column on Nov. 13, ‘Of fruit flies and drones.’ I suggested that research being done on fruit flies at the California Institute of Technology was done for military purposes. The research does receive military funding, but the director of the laboratory, Michael H. Dickinson, is a zoologist who studies insect neurobiology and neither he nor his lab contribute directly to the development of robots, drones or weapons. I did not speak to Professor Dickinson. A source I identified as a graduate student is in fact a former graduate student who works part-time as a technician in the lab. Finally, biomechanics refers to the application of mechanical principles to living organisms–not the application of living organisms to mechanisms.”–Roger Cohen, New York Times, Dec. 8
It’s Always in the Last Place You Look
“Baby Alligator, Snakes Found in University Dorm”–headline, Associated Press, Dec. 9
For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for the “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.
