February 2, 2006

A suggestion

Destiny Campbell, the 3-year-old girl in Delaware who was severely mauled by a relative's pit bull earlier this week, remains in critical but stable condition. One bit of good news: the dog, which was put down, has been determined to be non-rabid.

In this week's "Fact" article in The New Yorker, "Troublemakers: What pit bulls can teach us about profiling," Malcolm Gladwell mounts a deeply disingenuous 4,800 word attack on racial profiling by way of defending pit bulls from legal persecution. According to Mr. Gladwell, his contract with The New Yorker requires him to publish 40,000-50,000 words per year in that magazine. According to New York magazine, his salary is $250,000. (On top of this he makes about $750,000 annually from public speaking, as well as million-plus book advances, and the sale of Blink to the movies, where Leonardo DiCaprio is slated to play him.)

So, Mr. Gladwell was paid roughly $25,000 for his intentionally misleading article on pit bulls. What could be more appropriate than that he donate that $25,000 to a fund for the care of little Destiny?


My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer

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