Poor spelling of editors

I've been told that reporters don't write the captions for photographs carried with their stories or for the headline above the story.

On page 7A of today's Northwest Herald is an Associated Press story about Pakistan's blocking NATO supplies at its border. A photo above the story shows large trucks stopped on a road.

The caption includes "...with other trucks at a roadside near the boarder crossing ..." and then, a little further on, the caption spells "border" correctly.

If this type of error were rare, it wouldn't deserve mention. Unfortunately, it's common. In this case it's probably carelessness. In the caption "border (correctly spelled) crossing" appears only 16 words after "boarder crossing".

Of course, the more important issue is the topic of the article. Why is the border closed to NATO trucks? It is explained in the last paragraph. Pakistan is mad because two NATO helicopters fired on and killed three Pakistani paramilitary soldiers. Why? Because the soldiers fired "warning shots" at them.

What is a "warning shot" fired at a helicopter? Ha! Not a "warning" shot. I say it's a shot that missed the helicopter, and the guys aboard decided to take out the threat.