Earthquake Tilts Washington Monument?

At 1:51PM, 45 minutes after the 5.9 magnitude earthquake hit the Eastern seaboard, Fox News reported:

"Megyn Kelly just shared word that a D.C. police officer told a Fox News producer that there is concern that the Washington Monument may be tilting following a 5.9 magnitude earthquake."  

You know, Fox News:  The bastion of misinformation.  Well, despite the source, the news went viral.  Twitter was aflutter with the news that Washington had inherited it's very own Leaning Tower of Pisa.  According to USA Today, however, this is a picture of the Washington Monument, moments after the quake hit:

Um....not leaning.  Still phallic.  Still perfectly erect.  Quoting Park Service spokesman Jeffrey Olson, there was "absolutely no damage" to the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial or other memorials along the National Mall.

Fox News has yet to recant or remove their story from their website.  In fact, it's still highlighted as one of the stories in their "Fox News Spotlight".

Now that's journalism.

UPDATE:  NBC Washington is reporting that upon a secondary inspection, cracks have been discovered in the stones at the top of the Washington Monument.

"The NPS said it is evaluating the structures to ensure that they are structurally sound and safe for all visitors. Agency spokesman Jeffrey Olson had told the AP that there was "absolutely no damage" to the Washington Monument, contrary to media reports elsewhere that it was leaning.

"Absolutely incorrect," U.S. Park Police Sgt. David Schlosser said of media reports that the Washington Monument was leaning.  "It stands tall and proud."

The NPS said said a preliminary inspection of the Washington Monument and found it to be structurally sound. The NPS will continue to inspect the interior of the Monument before any decisions are made about reopening it to the public."

Viral Photo Of The Day

I have seen the following picture on nearly a dozen sites in the last hour.  Yahoo, Mashable and even The Trevor Project are posting the photo, claiming that it was taken last night at Niagara Falls.  With the photo showing up on Lance Bass' Twitter feed last night, the world has just assumed it to be true.  Some have even credited Bass with the photo.

Well, Lance Bass didn't take the photo.  Turns out, the photo isn't even from last night.  If any of these "journalists" would have done 30 seconds of research, they would have discovered that the photo was taken by Mykelle Nicole, in June of 2008.  You can see the original on Nicole's Flickr page.  It's one out of a series of pictures taken in Niagara Falls that night.  I recommend taking a look at her page.  She's quite talented.

Regardless of when the photo was taken, I think it is still a wonderful symbol for marriage equality in New York.  It just upsets me when people take something at face value, when the truth could have been discovered in one Google search in less than a minute.  Ugh.

OK, I'll Go There

Since no one else has.....and you know we're all thinking it.

News of the World printed it's last issue Sunday and closed it's doors after 168 years and 8,674 editions, amid widespread reports of illegal and immoral journalistic practices.  Reporters and senior management alike have been implicated in hacking the personal emails and phone lines of celebrities, politicians, and even a missing 13 year old girl, just to get a story.

Rupert Murdoch, the owner of the paper, has kept quiet over the last week, as he is currently in London picking up the pieces of one of his four UK newspapers.  With each day that passes, more and more information is coming to light showing just how heinous and morally bankrupt the institution was.  People were threatened.  Policemen were bribed.  Even the Prime Minister's personal information was hacked, simply to get a lead and sell a few extra newspapers.

So, people are wondering:  How much did Murdoch know?  He hand-picked many of the higher ups that were personally involved in the illegal activity.  This has been going on for a decade.  He had to know.  He HAD to.

What I'm asking is this:  Murdoch owned News of the World.  He also owns Fox Broadcasting and Fox News.  You can't tell me that the UK half of his media empire is corrupt, yet the U.S. half is squeaky clean.  If Murdoch was in on it, what's not to say that he had a "what's good for the goose is good for the gander" attitude toward his other outlets.

News of the World went to these horrific extremes to simply sell newspapers.  Fox News is the voice of the Republican party in the United States.  It's viewers are told what issues are important to them, how to think, and who to vote for.  Fox has former White House press secretaries, campaign managers, and party strategists on their payroll.  They also have had a half dozen Republican Presidential candidates as commentators. 

Wouldn't Rupert Murdoch have more of an interest in changing minds and public policy in the United States than selling tabloids in the UK?  He has a $6+ billion personal fortune to protect, after all. 


It's common knowledge that Fox News lies to their viewers.  It's also common knowledge that their viewers are the least knowledgeable when compared to those of other programs.  It's not a coincidence.  Many of Fox's drones still believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim or that he wasn't born in the United States.  More than 60% don't believe in global warming.  What is Fox News up to?

When the payoff becomes the White House, along with the possibility of decades of corporate and personal tax legislation in your favor, wouldn't you want to protect your investment?

'Fox & Friends': Get A Pap Smear At Walgreens

I don't know how I missed this a few days ago, but better late than never, right?

Last Monday, April 11th, when the cable news channels were still talking about the "The Government Shutdown That Almost Happened, But Didn't, Of 2011", the community college journalism minors at 'Fox & Friends' started talking about Democrats and funding Planned Parenthood.  Then, one of the dumbest sentences ever uttered on television was spoken.  I'll let Stephen Colbert explain.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Pap Smears at Walgreens
www.colbertnation.com
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A group of women nationwide decided to go to their local Walgreens, and see if they could get a pap smear or a breast exam.  They videotaped their experience.  I think they scared the stock boy.  Spoiler alert:  No stirrups next to the cat food.



I know, this post is a little video heavy, but bear with me.  It's worth it.

Just a week before the Walgreens debacle, 'Fox & Friends' reported on a "new" line of multicultural Crayola crayons and markers, meant to give children a variety of options when it comes to skin colors for their coloring books.  When I was a kid, you had a peachish color, tar black, or "burnt sienna" (which in no way resembled any person of color, whether they be Native American, African American, or Latino).  Of course, the people at 'Fox & Friends' didn't find the product as a step forward towards a conversation in diversity, but somehow offensive.



The crayons are not actually "new" by any means.  Crayola introduced them in 1992.  They've been on the market for 19 years!

Keep in mind, I do not watch Fox News at all.  The heads up on these "lapses in journalistic integrity" come second hand, usually from the internet or 'The Daily Show'.  Imagine how many blog posts I could do if only I watched the program every day.  Nah, not worth it.

My favorite 'Fox & Friends' gaffe of the last 6 months or so comes from October of last year. They reported on a story that the City of Los Angeles was investing $1 billion on 100,000 jetpacks for firefighters, paramedics, and emergency responders.  Their news source, unfortunately, turned out to be 'The Weekly World News', the same paper who had a headline yesterday called, "Obama Was Born - On Mars".  It claims that he was indeed born on Mars, and brought here as a child by aliens from the planet Zeeba.  The original jetpack story is here, by the way.




It appears that the, "Oh yeah, by the way, that story we did 45 minutes ago was complete bullshit" bit is a regular thing on the program.  SNL picked up on this a couple of weeks ago, and hit the nail right on the head.  The best part comes in at the last 30 seconds or so.



Is this even supposed to be considered news anymore?  Shouldn't they be held to the same standards as CNN or MSNBC?  Hell, shouldn't they be held to the same journalistic standards as the 'Today' show or 'Good Morning America'?  If Al Roker came on your set tomorrow, and said it was going to be 93 in Anchorage, Alaska, and snowing and -23 in Miami, wouldn't he be fired?  Why aren't these people?  Don't answer that.  It was a rhetorical question.