Poor Rachel Kovner. She writes a klunker and they stick it on Page 1 for all the world to see. But when she does good, she's relegated to Page 3. Today's contribution, "Most New York Kids Suffer Post-9/11," covers a recently released survey about the emotional impact of the World trade Center disaster. No barnburner, but Ms. Kovner covers all the bases, talks to the right people, and answers the right questions.

But that's on Page 3; Page 1 brings us "China Leader Snubs Solons over Protest" in the lead spot. The story, culled from wire reports (!), informs us that Chinese VP Hu Jintao refused to accept letters from various members of Congress asking him to release political prisoners, letters given to him by Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Where's the New York angle? Page 1 won't tell you. The only front-page quotes we get are from a Pelosi press release. Inside doesn't help either. The story deteriorates into a blow-by-blow of Hu's visit with Bush, complete with limp Ari Fleischer quotes and blanket rehashing of the Bush administration's China policy.

Hello! What happened to "Every Issue Revolves around New York"? Could this be another airing of the Sun's rabid anti-China bias? After all, Tuesday brought us "Red China" in a headline, a phrase not seen since the Nixon administration. Every paper has its biases — isn't that the idea behind ME Ira Stoll's now-defunct smartertimes.com? — but few papers consciously let them influence their editorial decisions. And when those biases make the paper noticeably worse, well ... Sorry, Rachel. Maybe your father should dole out a little more cash and get some real editors.

What's this solon thing, though? Solon, you might recall, was an Athenian lawmaker. Some people, 150 years ago, borrowed his name to denote a politician. Congratulations to the Sun for being the first paper in decades to use the word in a headline. The choice may seem painfully uppity, but Smarternysun understands — "politicians who have nothing at all to do with New York" didn't fit.

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WIRE WATCH: 24 stories, five and a half from the Sun. The half is being generous, the above-discussed lead is almost all wire work. So today, again, the Sun comes dangerously close to 80 percent wire feed. And of those five, only three are really news: Kovner's piece, Ben Smith's piece on racial tensions in Williamsburg and R.H. Hammond's "Pataki's Budget Deal Leaves City Schools out of Mayor's Control." The other two are human interest: a feature-lite on the new city maps in taxis and a bit on a temporary exhibit downtown honoring National Salad Month (is there really nothing else going on in Gotham?). The salad story is titled, argh, "Caesar the Moment: 'Salad Museum' Opens Its Doors at South Street Seaport." The subhead is even better: "Lettuce Ponder the History of the Green Leafy Stuff, at a New Tourist Destination that Can't be Beet." Ahem. The Sun, unfortunately, is here all week. Try the fish.