Good AM, folks!
Praise for WFUBMC, condemnation for Donald Kaul, and a British expat's commentary on Rupert Murdoch's holdings. Do what you can with them.
The top hospital
DR. FRANKLYN M. MILLMAN
DR. FRANCIS X. O'BRIEN
WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Winston-Salem
Lowest common denominator
JOHN HARRISON
Winston-Salem
Replacement
SCOTT KEITH
Winston-Salem
Praise for WFUBMC, condemnation for Donald Kaul, and a British expat's commentary on Rupert Murdoch's holdings. Do what you can with them.
The top hospital
We read with interest the small blurb that appeared in the July 20 business section, "Wake Forest Baptist tops area ranking," noting that U.S. News & World Report had named Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center the top hospital in the Triad in its hospital rankings for 2011-2012. It was such a small notice of such an important recognition that it encouraged us to write a letter to you.
There is a revolution going on at the medical center to ensure continued improvement and the best care for our community.
We are sure the staff of the Journal will join us in congratulating the medical center on its most recent recognition of excellence and in wishing the people who work and support the medical center continued success.
DR. FRANKLYN M. MILLMAN
DR. FRANCIS X. O'BRIEN
WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Winston-Salem
Lowest common denominator
As a migrant Brit, I find the whole Rupert Murdoch episode both astounding and distasteful.
Murdoch and News International, especially their tabloids (known in Britain as the "gutter press"), have pandered to the lowest common denominator in public taste and driven down journalistic standards for decades. Their use of fear and unethical practices has been recognized for many years, long before the first News of the World hacking case in 2005.
As long as it seemed to be confined to publicity-craving celebrities and hypocritical politicians, no one minded too much. When it was extended to lesser mortals and the victims of tragedies, then sentiments began to harden, with the result that Murdoch's media empire in Britain has lost all credibility and suffered irreparable damage. The recent Parliamentary inquiries showed this clearly as officials who previously might have been diffident about taking on the Murdochs and Rebekah Brooks for fear of reprisal perhaps belatedly "unclothed the emperor."
The revelations of the relations between News International, the police and the government is now subject to investigation and the social and political elite in Britain has managed to undermine the respect the average Brit has for these institutions, which is truly lamentable.
The main worry for the Murdochs must be how this will affect their interests in the U.S. and worldwide, especially if they are found to have bribed British officials, which would be a contravention of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
JOHN HARRISON
Winston-Salem
Replacement
I strongly urge the Journal to remove columnist Donald Kaul from its editorial page and replace him with a fifth-grader who spent the summer operating a lemonade stand in his or her front yard. Of the two, there is no doubt the fifth-grader would possess the stronger economic and financial acumen.
SCOTT KEITH
Winston-Salem
I should think the Journal forum readers..all 9 of them(?) would be happy now. They have Don Kaul for guidance and a flacid commentary of raging moderation.
ReplyDeleteLTE #1 speaking from years of experience, North Carolina is very fortunate to have medical centers like WFBMC, UNC-hospitals, and DUMC, along with the RTP.
ReplyDeleteLTE #2! ARGHHH!
LTE #3 Like the 85 5th graders elected to the House of Representatives last year?
Good AM, WW!
ReplyDeleteKaul is not exactly an exemplar of moderation. I recall a column he wrote some years back in which he excoriated southerners as a group. Now, I'm not one to celebrate "Southern heritage," which includes slavery. However, I found the column (for which I searched online, and was going to post in the accompanying "Leopard's Limb" post for today) very offensive, not to mention hypocritical. If a conservative columnist had written a column of similar vitriol directed toward African-Americans, Kaul's keyboard would have thundered with righteous indignation.
Good AM, Buffcoach!
ReplyDeleteLTE1: Ditto to the medics' LTE, but also a grateful salute to Forsyth Medical Center, whose staff have done such a fine job for my family.
LTE2: The scandal in Britain is indeed sordid, and asl's comment in the Forum about bribery is interesting. I suspect that News Corp.'s holdings here in the US will remain separate from the British mess.
LTE3: See my comments above re Kaul. But, he has a right to his fulminations, and the "Journal" has a right to publish them. We have a right to read them or not, and to subscribe to the "Journal" or not. Since the "Journal" furnishes the grist for this particular mill, I continue to subscribe.
I've never heard of Don Kaul
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon folks!
ReplyDeleteLTE 1: A well deserved honor. Health care is also providing the most jobs in the Triad.
LTE 2: It is indeed astounding and distasteful. I would like to say it's surprising the depths some would sink to get a story, but unfortunately in the tabloid times of today, it comes as no shock. The actions and attitudes displayed by employees are a reflection of the top. If this is the beginning of the end of Murdoch's empire, he has only himself to blame for not instilling a moral culture.
LTE 3: I think Kaul would get a kick out of this LTE. If he's not generating LTE's, then he's not doing his job. I wonder how loudly Mr. Keith would be crying censorship if his favorite columnist (say, Cal Thomas?) was no longer carried by the Journal.
A new low for Glenn Beck: responding to the massacre in Norway: " "there was a shooting at a political camp, which sounds a little like, you know, the Hitler Youth. I mean, who does a camp for kids that's all about politics? Disturbing."
ReplyDelete(SAGINAW -- The Saginaw Tea Party is sponsoring a children's camp at a local church, but instead of teaching Bible stories, this event will “educate, enlighten, and excite our youth about the beliefs, fundamentals, and principles on which this country was founded.”) Well, Glenn?