Aug
7
2006

URLs du Jour

2006-08-07

After a couple false alarms, Pun Salad seems to have a solid hold on Wiggly Worm status in the TTLB Ecosystem. I'm a little confused about how that happens, but thanks to everyone who made that happen, however you did it.

  • Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs has (again) performed above and beyond the call of duty in detecting and publicizing fraudulent reporting. The latest example is a faked Reuters photo of Beirut, photoshopped to boost apparent damage from an Israeli airstrike.

    This has been pretty well-covered in certain parts of the blogosphere, but if you've managed to not hear about it, Michelle is your go-to girl: here, here, here, and here.

    I'll get all preachy here and point out the General Issue of which this latest kerfuffle is but a Shining Example: ideology can easily trump honesty and professionalism in the mainstream media. Journalists who think their job description includes "afflicting the comfortable" are perfectly happy to lie on behalf of that goal. A sharp-eyed skeptical editor can transmogrify into a credulous sucker when convinced he's in the job of "speaking truth to power."

    This is nothing new; for a historical example, ask the Google about Walter Duranty.

    What is new is that we have the good fortune to be fully in an era where mainstream media lies can be found and made widely known within a few days, or even hours. Not only do we have a "library card that is close to the one the angels have in their wallets," we have a powerful tool to improve democracy.

    Just sayin', is all. You and I should not take this for granted.

  • If you have a local 9/11 conspiracy theorist (like I do) that you feel like confronting (like I don't, sorry), Stuart Buck has a pretty good question you could ask that, as near as I can tell, could only provoke (a) confused silence or (b) irrelevant and incoherent bluster. So go for it.

  • You can learn useful stuff on the Internets. Today's lesson: How to Open a Beer Bottle with a Piece of Paper. (Via my close personal friend, Dave Barry, of course.)