Fun with Corrections: Agriculture Is Hard

Waxing poetic in a newspaper article can be a dangerous thing — even for a rising star at the Post like Libby Copeland.

Consider this lyrical squib, from Copeland’s recent profile of Senator Sam Brownback:

[A] man who expects a crop must first till the soil. Brownback knows this. He still goes home to his childhood farm for the spring planting and the fall harvest of the wheat.

And from today’s corrections:

A June 7 Style story on Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) misstated the planting and harvest seasons for wheat in Kansas. According to the Kansas Department of Agriculture, the predominant wheat crop in the state is generally planted in September and harvested in June.

Oh, that pesky wheat! Why can’t it get planted in the spring and harvested in the fall, like any self-respecting crop?

Faith-Based Initiative [WP]
CORRECTIONS [WP]

READ MORE: corrections, fun with corrections, libby copeland, sam brownback, washington post, wheat

Fun With Corrections: Old White Guys All Look Alike

Thompson was probably pleased to be identified as a senator. But Radanovich didn’t feel the same way about being mistaken for a wine salesman.

CORRECTIONS [WP]

READ MORE: George Radanovich, corrections, drinking, fun with corrections, mike thompson, old people, washington post

Fun with Corrections: Not a Minister, But Still Really, Really Self-Righteous

From this morning’s Post:

A May 14 article about Sen. John McCain’s speech at Liberty University incorrectly referred to the chairman of Focus on the Family as the Rev. James Dobson. Dobson is not an ordained minister.

So where does he get off telling us we’re on the express train to hell? He doesn’t even have the requisite professional credentials.

CORRECTIONS [WP]

READ MORE: corrections, fun with corrections, james dobson, washington post

Fun With Corrections: Rummy Wuz Here

Or maybe he wasn’t. From this morning’s Post:

In April 16 editions, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was listed as a guest on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” He was a topic of discussion, not a guest.

No big deal. It’s not like he would have said anything — or anything non-circular, at least — even if he had been on the show.

CORRECTIONS [WP]

READ MORE: corrections, donald rumsfeld, fun with corrections, rummy, washington post

For the Record: The Spanking Fetishist Is at the Other Campus

Here at Wonkette, we own up to our mistakes. Earlier today, we stated that Robert Steinbuch, the former lover of Jessica Cutler who is now suing her for invasion of privacy, teaches at the same law school where Bill Clinton — another man with a thing for interns — once taught.

This was erroneous (as several readers explained to us). Here was our favorite correction email:

Forgive the hairsplitting from flyover land (it’s our third favorite hobby here, after flag-wavin’ and meth-producin’), but Mssr. Steinbuch, Esq. is imparting his knowledge at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock law school, not here at the flagship campus in Fayetteville (where Mssr. Clinton, ex-Esq. once taught). While this fact does little to change the gist of your story, it does have some important potential consequences for our quaint inter-school rivalry.

First, it clearly advantages our law students over those in Little Rock, since they can focus on torts and such without the distraction of forcing thoughts about ‘entry through exits’ from their minds. Second, it reinforces our latent sense of superiority over our lesser counterpart in the state capital. Here in flagship Fayetteville, we hire people before they go on to achieve distinction through indiscretion, while poor Little Rock is left to employ has-beens whose days of scandalous productivity have passed them by.

We regret the error — and apologize to the good people of Fayetteville.

Earlier: A Spinoff from Her Sitcom: Jessica Cutler’s Legal Drama

READ MORE: Arkansas, bill clinton, corrections, for the record, fun with corrections, jessica cutler, robert steinbuch, washingtonienne

Fun With Corrections: Bernanke Just as Delphic and Inscrutable as Greenspan

A correction from the Washington Post:

A headline in earlier editions of this story incorrectly described the comments of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke in a speech. He did not say that further Fed interest rate hikes are uncertain. He said it is unclear whether unusually low long-term interest rates mean the Fed should raise short-term interest rates more than it would otherwise.

Are you as confused as we are? Well, that’s the whole point.

CORRECTIONS [WP]
Bernanke Challenges Interest Rate Speculation [WP]

READ MORE: alan greenspan, ben bernanke, corrections, federal reserve board, fun with corrections, washington post

Fun with Corrections: The “Bad, But Not That Bad” Edition

Here are the highlights from this morning’s corrections page in the Washington Post:

Because of a typographical error, a March 6 article on sex trafficking misstated the age of a person Jaron R. Brice was accused of drawing into prostitution. Brice was acquitted of federal charges that he coerced a 19-year-old woman, not a 9-year-old.

Whew — that’s a relief! While it’s still bad to draw a 19-year-old into prostitution, it’s not nearly as bad as forcing a third-grader to ply her trade on the playground.

A March 5 article about problems with MetroAccess service did not make it clear that Scott McDaniel, a MetroAccess rider, is an employee of Service Sources Inc., which operates the Woodmont Center in Arlington County. The article also misstated the nature of his disabilities. McDaniel is legally blind, and although he has other disabilities, he and his parents say he is not mentally disabled.

We’d like to help poor Mr. McDaniel overcome the misimpression left in the minds of hundreds of thousands of Post readers. So listen up, people: Scott McDaniel is not retarded!!!

CORRECTIONS [WP]

READ MORE: corrections, fun with corrections, prostitution, washington post

Fun with Corrections: The “Wouldn’t They Be Dead?” Edition

Here’s our favorite correction in this morning’s Post:

A Feb. 26 article about the crash of a rare Ferrari near Los Angeles misstated the blood alcohol level of the car’s owner. It was 0.09, not 0.9. The article also misspelled the name of the company the man once ran; it is Gizmondo, not Gizmodo.

Gizmodo??? Hey, isn’t that our gadget-obsessed brother?

Look, Gawker Media bloggers may have a reputation for blogging while drunk — but not that drunk. Not long-dead from alcohol poisoning, with the embalmer trying to tap your body like a keg…

CORRECTIONS [WP]
A Quick Spin Malibu-Style Leaves Ferrari in Pieces [WP]

Earlier: Fun With Corrections: Richard Nixon and Raw Beef

READ MORE: alcohol poisoning, corrections, drinking, fun with corrections, gizmodo, washington post

Fun with Corrections: Richard Nixon and Raw Beef

Today’s Washington Post has some amusing corrections. Here are our two favorites:

A Feb. 14 article about a study on happiness incorrectly said that a presidential impeachment occurred in the mid-1970s. President Richard M. Nixon resigned in 1974, after the House Judiciary Committee had approved articles of impeachment but before the full House could vote on the matter.

A pretty bad blooper, eh? But not as bad as this one:

A recipe in the Feb. 8 Food section included an incorrect cooking time for an adaptation of chef Roberto Donna’s recipe for carbonada (braised beef with onions and red wine). The dish should be cooked for 2 1/2 hours, not 10 to 20 minutes.

Historical ignorance is embarrassing — but at least it won’t KILL YOU…

(A note to the beef industry: That last line was for rhetorical effect. We realize that the odds of catching listeria and dying after eating undercooked beef are very low. Heck, we even enjoy steak tartare every now and then. So please don’t sue us! We don’t have the legal defense fund that Oprah does.)

CORRECTIONS [WP]

READ MORE: corrections, fun with corrections, richard nixon, washington post