Some 40 years ago or so, we learned that eggs were bad for your cholesterol, “according to recent studies.” This was about the same time that Baby Boomers were suddenly launched on the no-fat craze. Now we learn that those earlier studies were all wrong, and eggs and even fat in some situations are okay after all. Follow the science! This past week, The Wall Street Journal has a report that the flood of fake papers has become so overwhelming that scientific journals can’t keep up with the corrections; some have even shut down. (It’s behind the paywall but I’ve unlocked it.)
It was heartrending. A photo on the front page of The New York Times showed a mother holding what appeared to be her severely malnourished child. Other news media around the world displayed the photo. The photo went viral on social media. But it turned out to “misleading;” carefully edited out was the child’s healthy brother standing next to his sibling, and the child wasn’t suffering from starvation but from a pre-existing medical condition. Facts are such bothersome things. The Times, to its credit, ran a correction, although it was somewhat muted, with an editor’s note buried well below the story, and it was added four days after the photo was published. Even that buried correction earned the Times vandalism of its offices.
However, not all was lost. On Thursday, Literary Hub posted an article that explains how you, too, can join the propaganda war for Hamas: Pressure mainstream media to cover the Gaza famine. The post laments the action by The New York Times to correct the photograph but notes that it did achieve an instant public outcry. And writers can support the Flood the Newsrooms campaign, which helpfully provides the names of editors and addresses of their newspapers, including a suggested form letter. I suppose this is what passes for critical thinking in some American literary circles.
More Good Reads
America 250
Will We Remember the Fallen of Long-Ago Wars? – Andrew Mizsak at Emerging Civil War.
Summer 1775: Washington Takes Command of the Continental Army – Michael Cecere at the Journal of the American Revolution.
“If Jefferson Was Wrong, America Is Wrong” – Rich Lowry at The Coolidge Review.
Tarleton at the Waxhaws: A Proposal for Reconciliation – Robert Ford at the Journal of the American Revolution.
Israel
I’m a War Scholar. There Is No Genocide in Gaza – John Spencer at Urban Warfare.
A genocide is underway, but it’s not in Gaza – Niall Ferguson at Time Machine.
Writing and Literature
Nora Charles, or how I discovered my favorite cocktail – Amelia Friedline at Dispatches to Jack.
What is The Odyssey About? Fathers & Sons – Henry Oliver at The Common Reader.
Write Your Way Forward – Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.
Joyce Carol Oates on True Crime, Genre, and Writing and Experimental Mystery Novel – Matthew Coleman Turbeville at CrimeReads.
Life and Culture
Old Models --- Amabelle Edamala at Front Porch Republic.
How China Hijacked America’s Climate Fears – The Free Press.
A Dress Code for Democracy – Brandon McNeice at Front Porch Republic.
News Media
Open Letter to the Columbia Journalism Review on the Atrocious New York Times – Matt Taibbi at Racket News.
Faith
60 Questions for Pro-Choice Christians – Jamie Wilder at Mere Orthodoxy.
A Tongue for Every Tribe: How English Serves the Global Church – Seth Porch at Desiring God.
When Broken Relationships Break Your Heart – Rev. Dave Harvey.
Fairest Lord Jesus – Anthony Esolen at Word & Song.
Poetry
“Sudden Light,” poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.
“My Days among the Dead Are Past,” poem by Robert Southey – Joseph Bottum at Poems Ancient and Modern.
American Stuff
Robert E. Lee four months after Appomattox: Lexington – Mark Maloy at Emerging Civil War.
Come Saturday Morning – The Sandpipers
A Young Woman Reading a Love Letter, oil on canvas by Pietro Antonio Rotari (1707-1762).
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