>Jargon has its uses, and that is indeed one of them; I'm annoyed by
>it, but not nearly as much as I am when someone busts it out solely to
>establish that he or she is cleverer than the reader. (Richard
>Dawkins does this a lot. Dawkins is routinely so insufferable I'm
>vaguely embarrassed to agree with him.)

I have the same relationship with Dawkins that I have with the late Christopher Hitchens; I spent a number of years thinking he was pretty amazing, then a number of years realizing that just because I agree with the guy in the abstract it doesn't mean he's not a jerk, and then came to the conclusion that he is, in fact, a loathsome human being.

>True story:

I'm curious, does your book have stories like this about your time at the newspaper, or is it just a collection of your columns?

Also, cripes, this Aaron guy sounds like a shitty editor. If you hadn't specifically mentioned he went to J-school, I would have assumed he was a newly-minted MBA. "We don't use jargon?" Have you opened the business section of any newspaper in the country there, buddy?

Although having said that, J-school... may have inadequately prepared him for his chosen career. I have a friend who graduated from KU's J-school. Very good program (the University Daily Kansan is perhaps the finest student newspaper in the country), very good teachers. He did some fine editorial work there.

Only he graduated in 2002. I.E, his entire education was in what is today called "traditional" media, taught by people whose experience and wisdom turned out to be wholly irrelevant to the journalism environment he was entering.

He was real bitter and angry about that for a long time, and sometimes acted out on it inappropriately.

-Merc
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