The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal’s “Best of the Web” at WSJ written by the editor, James Taranto.
Why Do Bad Things Always Happen to Him?
“Sean Penn Says El Chapo’s Capture Spoiled His Article”—headline, New York Times website, Jan. 15
Other Than That, the Story Was Accurate
- “An earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to DuPont’s response in the 1970s when the company discovered high concentrations of PFOA in the blood of workers at Washington Works, a DuPont factory. DuPont withheld the information from the E.P.A., not from its workers. The article also misstated the year DuPont agreed to a $16.5 million settlement with the E.P.A. It was 2005, not 2006. In addition, the article misidentified the water district where a resident received a letter from the district noting that PFOA had been detected in the drinking water. It was Lubeck, W.Va.—not Little Hocking, Ohio. The article also misidentified the district where water tested positive for PFOA at seven times the limit. It was Little Hocking, not Lubeck. And the article misidentified the city in Washington State that has fluorochemicals in its drinking water. It is Issaquah, not Seattle.”—New York Times, Jan. 11
- “An article of 11 Sept contained incorrect details about a communication sent by Charlotte Proudman to her paternal grandmother. We wish to make clear that the last contact Miss Proudman had with her grandmother was more than two years before her death—not ‘shortly before,’ as the article stated – and that Miss Proudman did not accuse her grandmother of having ‘failed in life.’ Nor had Miss Proudman ‘thought up’ her surname; she adopted her maternal family’s surname. Her grandmother in fact died in January 2014, not April 2014 as stated. Miss Proudman has also asked us to clarify that one estranged family member expressed anger to the media, not her whole family. We are happy to set the record straight and apologise for the errors.”—Daily Telegraph (London), Jan. 14
Out on a Limb
“No, Joe Biden Isn’t Going to Cure Cancer”—headline, NationalReview, Jan. 14
News You Can Use
“How Often You Should Clean Your Refrigerator—and the Right Way to Do It”—headline, Today .com, Jan. 14
Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places
From the Washington Times:
Elaborating on his admitted failure to heal the partisan divide in Washington, President Obama said Thursday his presidency got off to a bad start in 2009 because some Republican lawmakers were more concerned about their re-election than they were in helping him to save the nation from economic ruin.
Speaking at a town-hall-style event in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the president, expanding on a theme he raised in Tuesday’s State of the Union address, said he has “done soul-searching” in office about what he could have done differently to work more effectively with Republicans in Congress. . . .
The problem, Mr. Obama said, was that “people in Washington sometimes weren’t always as focused on getting the job done as they were [on], ‘How’s this going to position us for future elections?’”
If you arrive at the conclusion that other people are to blame for your problems, chances are you’ve been searching something other than your soul.
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.”
