The Changes: Read it, Got it.

Warning: Spoiler. Because I’m a hick living near a train station and a jazz cafe, I rely on the the LA Times to spell out things for me. For instance, in today's Opinion Section (which has wisely been moved up to Section A), Editorial Page Editor Andrés Martinez explained what the Letters Page Editor would be explaining in her explanation.

So in case I was wondering, the explanation in today's Opinon section clarifies that the Letters Section is for letters. The intention of this was to reveal the process of picking those for publication, while others are available for viewing only online. Conversely, there are letters worth shredding and those letter writers are best contributing to the boneyard of fleeting thoughts, the LA Times opinion blog . Just remember that The Times doesn’t have room for letters over 150 words. Think about that the next time you're channeling Leo Tolstoy when writing about the war in Iraq.

Show, don't tell. I could hear the drum and fife as I read the statement of principles. They issue maxims, such as "Engagement with the rest of the world is a requirement of good citizenship." It reads like a manifesto --overblown and wordy. Couldn't they have edited their own verbal flabbiness so that it could be printed into a font that the average person could read without the aid of a magnifying glass? Maybe next time they’ll opt for the better version, which is to let Matt Welch summarize the explanation with a less paternal approach.

Announcing our fundraising scheme Small type? No problem. We’re going to sell The Official LA Times Pressmens Magnifying Reading Glasses. We’ll all be rich. News worthy for the Skybox on page one. We’ll use the current officers as our models. Or on second thought, just hire the chihuahua. We'll make more money.

Chihuahua from American Reading Glasses. Click on the link to see their site.