SAY WHAT? -- "Do you oppose cuttng Social Security benefits to help offset the current losses?" That question was on a survey conducted by a group calling itself the National Retirement Security Task Force, sponsored by the National Center for Policy Research. At best, it's a loaded question, since no one wants to cut benefits. Secondly, it may be inaccurate, since it implies there are, in fact, "current losses." And third, it's confusing. We had to read it several times to get some semblance of meaning from it, and that's with a background of 30 years in journalism, supplemented by degrees in English, Linquistics, and Economics. The Samurai Rim Man has seen far too many polls and surveys with questions phrased in such a way as to seduce an answer that the survey makers want, to build support for their political positions. Moreover, many of the mailings come from groups previously unheard of, raising the suspicion that they are merely covers for political activists. Especially when they include a pitch for money to support their campaign.
GLEANINGS of an Itinerant Speller -- "A tougher road to hoe." Good luck with that chore, putting a hand-held farm implement to pavement. Farm hands hoe a row, not a road.
FROM THE RIM -- Proofread your own text, but don't be the only one to do it. You'll miss a lot, because you know what you meant, and the eye sees what the brain knows should be there.
BEWARE THE SOUNDALIKES -- When you hear someone say, "Hire the bridge," does the speaker really mean "Higher the bridge"?
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