Hamid and others:

I presented the links to the media stories as informational only. I
purposefully used the word "reported" in caps. Each reader must decided for
themselves whether or not information, as presented, is valid and/or
factual. Most people do this subconsciously based on previous experience and
cross checking. As Ronnie Reagan said in reference to the Russian nuclear
disarmament, "trust, but verify".

I try not to condemn another man's point of view until I try on his shoes.
Case in point:

I read a story about the Wellstone crash. It said in part:

"Capt. Richard Conry, 55, and co-pilot Michael Guess, 30, were among the
eight people killed in the crash. The two often flew with the senator,
co-workers said, and were experienced pilots. Conry logged more than 5,000
hours of flying time since he started at Executive Aviation in April 2001,
according to a company news release."

I emailed the author and noted that if the captain flew 5000 hours since
April 2001 that would mean more than 9 hours a day EVERY day in the last
year and a half. He was kind enough to email me back and said:

"Here's a perfect example of how editors sometimes can make you look silly.
This paragraph was not in the story when I left the office at 9 p.m. Friday
night. Sometime later, an editor lifted this paragraph from another story
and inserted it into my story. Obviously, the sentence should have said that
Conry, who began working for Executive Aviation in April 2001, had logged
more than 5,000 hours in his career.

To be fair, editors around here have saved me from embarrassment more than a
few times."


Ted Stanley