UPDATE: Truth [sic] Publishing, or half a correction is still a *#%#ing lie

So: Truth Publishing, the people who are apparently in charge of Natural News (and if you don't know who they are, go back and read the last item or two on this blog), failed to respond to the email I sent them several days ago.

When you write to them, they give your email a ticket number, and tell you that you'll be sure to hear from them in two days or less.

When I clicked on my ticket this morning, I was told that no such item existed.

A friend of mine had a similar experience with an email he sent them on the same subject.

Since I live to make people's lives easier, I sent them an email this morning that was much simpler for them to answer than my original request for them to clean up their stupid act. All I wanted was for them to confirm that Natural News was, indeed, their baby.

Here's what I wrote:
 
I'm the editor of Secular Homeschooling Magazine. I contacted you a few days ago, but received no reply.

Please confirm that you're the publisher of Natural News. I have been and will continue to be writing about the outdated, inaccurate article that site still has up about homeschooling in California being illegal. The article is getting some very angry response from the homeschooling community, since there are homeschoolers and people who would like to homeschool who are being told by friends and family that it would be illegal for them to do so.

If Natural News isn't your site, please let me know.

If it is -- please either get them to take the article down, or change your name.

Signed, Deborah Markus, Editor, Secular Homeschooling Magazine
 
Apparently being insultingly snippy is one way to get a response. I received this not two minutes later. In the interest of not misrepresenting Truth Publishing, I have not corrected grammar or stupidity:
 
Hi,
 
We received your message and has put an update in this article about the new ruling. Thank you for contacting us.
 
In health,
 
That comma without anything following it is in the original. They may on occasion answer their mail, but that doesn't mean they're going to admit it.

I ran over to take a look at the update mentioned. Here's what the Natural News article now says:
 
[headline]:

Homeschooling Banned in California as Turns Parents Into Criminals for Teaching Their Own Children

Tuesday, September 23, 2008, by: David Gutierrez

(NaturalNews) A California appeals court has ruled that homeschooling of children is illegal unless their parents have teaching credentials from the state. UPDATE: This ruling has now been overturned. While accurate at the time it was written, this article now no longer reflects the current situation in California.
 
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I wrote back to Truth, Shmuth Publishing:
 
A few things about the Natural News article about homeschooling in California -- and if you're sick of hearing about it, guess what? So am I. I'm getting letters from homeschoolers all over the country saying that they've got anti-homeschooling acquaintances gloating over the fact that California just outlawed homeschooling.
 
Homeschoolers have enough idiocy to deal with from the civilian world. We don't need this kind of thing on top of it.
 
First, your update says that the article was correct at the time it was written. The article was posted and dated September 23. The ruling in question was overturned in August. Therefore, your "correction" is entirely incorrect. This says to me that in spite of the name of your company, you don't want to lose a little face by admitting that this article was a mistake from beginning to end. You'd rather stand by a very untruthful piece.
 
Second, please read the headline on that article and tell me what that conveys to readers long before they reach the "update" -- assuming they bother to read that far.
 
I'm not leaving this alone, and I'm not keeping it to myself.
 
Signed, Deborah Markus, Editor, Secular Homeschooling Magazine
 
Haven't received so much as an automated response yet, but we'll see.

In the meantime, it would be great if I weren't the only one pestering them. You don't have to be a California homeschooler. You don't have to be a homeschooler at all. You can just care.
 
Here's their feedback page:
 
https://www.truthpublishing.com/Articles.asp?ID=46