Friday, July 27, 2007
Spot the fake news stories!
So many astounding news stories scream for our attention that I've decided to arrange them in the form of a game. Spot the fake stories in the list below. I won't tell you how many are concoctions. Possibly, all are real.
Rules: Don't use Google. Don't visit any other sites. Don't even glance at the Buzzflash headlines to your right. Don't click on the links until you've made your choices. (Clicking on the links will reveal the fakes.) Just jot down, or make a mental note of, the number of each story which strikes you as unreal.
Be ruthlessly honest about your results.
1. Pat Tillman's death may have been homicide, not a case of accidental "friendly fire."
2. The Senate has subpoenaed Karl Rove.
3. The Bush administration has subpoenaed Michael Moore.
4. Barbara Bush addresses Aleister Crowley allegation in upcoming issue of Der Speigel.
5. U.S. astronauts have flown while drunk.
6. FBI head Robert Mueller has given testimony contradicting that given by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
7. Aquafina is bottled tap water.
8. Iraq vets are being charged for damaged equipment; if they don't pay, their credit will be ruined.
9. RNC emails reveal vote suppression scheme.
10. J.K. Rowling encouraged Harry Potter death rumors.
11. Actress Lindsay Lohan claims that she was abused as a child by a priest.
12. The FBI is building a KGB-style network of 15,000 informants across the United States.
13. Major Republican candidates fear a YouTube debate similar to recent Democratic one.
14. Senate Democrats are considering perjury charges against A.G. Alberto Gonzales.
15. Tom Delay announces that we will not enjoy the Second Coming unless we support Israel.
16. The U.S. embassy in Iraq was built by slaves.
17. Ancient Egyptians went bowling.
18. The stock market is plummeting due to high energy prices, tight credit, and a collapse in the housing market.
19. CIA agent reveals that mythical creature "Mothman" originated as a psychological experiment.
20. Harriet Miers is a Scientologist who has achieved the level of "Operating Thetan."
Rules: Don't use Google. Don't visit any other sites. Don't even glance at the Buzzflash headlines to your right. Don't click on the links until you've made your choices. (Clicking on the links will reveal the fakes.) Just jot down, or make a mental note of, the number of each story which strikes you as unreal.
Be ruthlessly honest about your results.
1. Pat Tillman's death may have been homicide, not a case of accidental "friendly fire."
2. The Senate has subpoenaed Karl Rove.
3. The Bush administration has subpoenaed Michael Moore.
4. Barbara Bush addresses Aleister Crowley allegation in upcoming issue of Der Speigel.
5. U.S. astronauts have flown while drunk.
6. FBI head Robert Mueller has given testimony contradicting that given by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
7. Aquafina is bottled tap water.
8. Iraq vets are being charged for damaged equipment; if they don't pay, their credit will be ruined.
9. RNC emails reveal vote suppression scheme.
10. J.K. Rowling encouraged Harry Potter death rumors.
11. Actress Lindsay Lohan claims that she was abused as a child by a priest.
12. The FBI is building a KGB-style network of 15,000 informants across the United States.
13. Major Republican candidates fear a YouTube debate similar to recent Democratic one.
14. Senate Democrats are considering perjury charges against A.G. Alberto Gonzales.
15. Tom Delay announces that we will not enjoy the Second Coming unless we support Israel.
16. The U.S. embassy in Iraq was built by slaves.
17. Ancient Egyptians went bowling.
18. The stock market is plummeting due to high energy prices, tight credit, and a collapse in the housing market.
19. CIA agent reveals that mythical creature "Mothman" originated as a psychological experiment.
20. Harriet Miers is a Scientologist who has achieved the level of "Operating Thetan."
"4. Barbara Bush addresses Aleister Crowley allegation in upcoming issue of Der Speigel."
One can hope.
One can hope.
I think the following are made up: 3, 12, 15, 16, 20.
I will check your links to see how far I was off.
I will check your links to see how far I was off.
Okay, I'll play along. I know most of those stories are real because I've seen them around. The FBI informants' network and the Iraq vets paying for damaged equipment are the only political ones I haven't seen -- call both a tossup, with the lean towards probably yes for the first and probably no for the second.
Of the more frivolous items, I'd be inclined to believe in astronauts flying drunk, Rowling encouraging rumors, and ancient Egyptians bowling. On the other hand, the Barbara Bush/Crowley, the Mothman, and the Harriet Miers/Scientology all sound extremely dubious, if only because they would have shown up at the Anomalist if they were real.
And Lindsay Lohan -- well, basically, who gives a rat's ass either way?
Of the more frivolous items, I'd be inclined to believe in astronauts flying drunk, Rowling encouraging rumors, and ancient Egyptians bowling. On the other hand, the Barbara Bush/Crowley, the Mothman, and the Harriet Miers/Scientology all sound extremely dubious, if only because they would have shown up at the Anomalist if they were real.
And Lindsay Lohan -- well, basically, who gives a rat's ass either way?
I agree with Matt. They are all true. Doesn't that just scare the living shit out of you? They are all true. I've been here too long.......
I have never heard of the story "Iraq vets are being charged for damaged equipment". I thought for sure this had to be a fake, this is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of, Iraq vets discharged from 2003 being charged 4 years later for damage to pieces of equipment that they can't even get a description of.
This has to be more heinous than really bad or non-existent healthcare/job retraining for Iraq vets.
apparently this is happening to alot of soldiers lucky enough to come back alive, a bill for the equipment they used! what friggin private contractor is making big bucks off this scam?
not only are these private military contractors bankrupting the US gov, they are outsourcing the military (see the book "Blackwater"), underfunding the VA healthcare system and then to add insult to injury they have the gall to "bill" our soldiers for the damaged equipment.
unbelievable.
This has to be more heinous than really bad or non-existent healthcare/job retraining for Iraq vets.
apparently this is happening to alot of soldiers lucky enough to come back alive, a bill for the equipment they used! what friggin private contractor is making big bucks off this scam?
not only are these private military contractors bankrupting the US gov, they are outsourcing the military (see the book "Blackwater"), underfunding the VA healthcare system and then to add insult to injury they have the gall to "bill" our soldiers for the damaged equipment.
unbelievable.
the last two are fake. oh, and the barbara and alistair story; can't imagine she'd bother her 'beautiful mind' with that one!
that was fun.
that was fun.
Man, I was way off.
At the very least I should have thought the Tom Delay story was true since I am aware of Israel's importance to the End-Timers (the real Dead-Enders).
Also didn't think the FBI story was real. The reason being I read it as saying the KGB was building the network. dang dsylxeia! :-))
I thought the story that the "U.S. embassy in Iraq was built by slaves" was made up, too.
My reasoning was that it was an allegation put out by an anti-war group in order to further cast bad light on Bush's war. I of all people should have known better.
Even after reading the Rawstory article I still think that, while not a made up story, it is a bit hyped to an extent since the plight of the workers at the US embassy in Iraq is just business as usual in some countries in that part of the world. I can speak to two.
.
Having lived in Saudi Arabia (KSA) for awhile back in '98, and visiting Dubai, I know for a fact that the scenario described in the Rawstory article happens on a large scale in those two countries everyday, yet we do not read stories in the MSM about slaves in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, or sex slaves in Dubai, and most Americans do not think of those countries as "Slave States".
I like the Saudi Arabian people, they are very friendly, and the place I was, Jiddah, by the Red Sea, is beautiful, especially at night. But the Saudi social system has a seedy, corrupt, underbelly.
At the Saudi airbase where I worked, we had what the locals referred to as "Tea" boys. We also had Janitors who, of course, cleaned up around our building.
For 20 rips (Riyals) a week, about 5 US dollars, these men would wash your car everyday.
I always gave them a 100, though many of my co-workers just paid the 20, it being such a good deal and all.
These Tea boys and Janitors were from India and Pakistan.
The company that hired them told them they would be paid 1200 rips a month, which in 1998 was equal to about $300 US dollars.
The promise of making $300 a month working in Saudi Arabia was big money compared to what these men could make in their home countries.
Most of these men were married and had children and families in their home countries to which they wanted to send money each month, and making $300 a month meant they would have plenty of money left over to send back home. Hell, they thought they would be rich after a couple of years making that kind of money.
However, unbeknownst to the workers, out of that $300 a month, the workers had to pay the company about $150 a month for rent and transportation.
These guys lived about 6 to a room in tiny trailers located in compounds, and transportation consisted of a truck or van packed to the gills with workers being dropped off at their various places of work.
In addition to the rent and transportation payments the company extracted a small amount from their paychecks to pay the company back for the cost of the airline ticket to bring them to Saudi Arabia to work. In the end, what with having to eat and extravagant stuff like that, these guys pretty much made nothing.
At the end of the "contract", usually a couple of years, the worker had to come up with the money to buy their own ticket back home. If they didn't have the money for a ticket home they would have to sign another "contract" because they couldn't stay in KSA without a job. And they couldn't just run away because the company has keeps all the documents necessary for them to get out of Saudi Arabia, and back into their own country. Yeah, that really sucks, and they do it to every foreigner who works there.
In Dubai I heard about the plight of the working women plying their trade in that country. The Companies that hire these young women tell them they will be working as domestics or in a factory making big money, but once they get to Dubai, surprise, there is no domestic job, no factory job.
So they are trapped because, again, they are into the Company for the cost of their airline ticket and accommodations, and the company holds their papers.
Fortunately (not) for them the company will let them work off their debt as prostitutes. And the KSA scenario above is repeated.
These young women are mostly from the former Soviet states, but they are also from China, India, the Philippians, and parts of Africa. Many of them have children as well as families to support back home on the farm where the majority of them come from, and so they do what the have to do, what they are forced into doing, in order to survive and to keep their children and families from starving.
Of course I think it is deplorable, and, well, unbelievable that those US Embassy workers in Iraq are virtually slaves in this day and age.
But when I say I think the story was hype to an extent, what I mean is: if the fact that some workers building the US embassy in Iraq are virtually slaves is to be considered worthy of note, then we should acknowledge that this virtually slavery happens elsewhere in the Middle East, all the time.
Articles like the Rawstory article should point out that things like this are "just business as usual" in some countries in that part of the world.
At the very least I should have thought the Tom Delay story was true since I am aware of Israel's importance to the End-Timers (the real Dead-Enders).
Also didn't think the FBI story was real. The reason being I read it as saying the KGB was building the network. dang dsylxeia! :-))
I thought the story that the "U.S. embassy in Iraq was built by slaves" was made up, too.
My reasoning was that it was an allegation put out by an anti-war group in order to further cast bad light on Bush's war. I of all people should have known better.
Even after reading the Rawstory article I still think that, while not a made up story, it is a bit hyped to an extent since the plight of the workers at the US embassy in Iraq is just business as usual in some countries in that part of the world. I can speak to two.
.
Having lived in Saudi Arabia (KSA) for awhile back in '98, and visiting Dubai, I know for a fact that the scenario described in the Rawstory article happens on a large scale in those two countries everyday, yet we do not read stories in the MSM about slaves in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, or sex slaves in Dubai, and most Americans do not think of those countries as "Slave States".
I like the Saudi Arabian people, they are very friendly, and the place I was, Jiddah, by the Red Sea, is beautiful, especially at night. But the Saudi social system has a seedy, corrupt, underbelly.
At the Saudi airbase where I worked, we had what the locals referred to as "Tea" boys. We also had Janitors who, of course, cleaned up around our building.
For 20 rips (Riyals) a week, about 5 US dollars, these men would wash your car everyday.
I always gave them a 100, though many of my co-workers just paid the 20, it being such a good deal and all.
These Tea boys and Janitors were from India and Pakistan.
The company that hired them told them they would be paid 1200 rips a month, which in 1998 was equal to about $300 US dollars.
The promise of making $300 a month working in Saudi Arabia was big money compared to what these men could make in their home countries.
Most of these men were married and had children and families in their home countries to which they wanted to send money each month, and making $300 a month meant they would have plenty of money left over to send back home. Hell, they thought they would be rich after a couple of years making that kind of money.
However, unbeknownst to the workers, out of that $300 a month, the workers had to pay the company about $150 a month for rent and transportation.
These guys lived about 6 to a room in tiny trailers located in compounds, and transportation consisted of a truck or van packed to the gills with workers being dropped off at their various places of work.
In addition to the rent and transportation payments the company extracted a small amount from their paychecks to pay the company back for the cost of the airline ticket to bring them to Saudi Arabia to work. In the end, what with having to eat and extravagant stuff like that, these guys pretty much made nothing.
At the end of the "contract", usually a couple of years, the worker had to come up with the money to buy their own ticket back home. If they didn't have the money for a ticket home they would have to sign another "contract" because they couldn't stay in KSA without a job. And they couldn't just run away because the company has keeps all the documents necessary for them to get out of Saudi Arabia, and back into their own country. Yeah, that really sucks, and they do it to every foreigner who works there.
In Dubai I heard about the plight of the working women plying their trade in that country. The Companies that hire these young women tell them they will be working as domestics or in a factory making big money, but once they get to Dubai, surprise, there is no domestic job, no factory job.
So they are trapped because, again, they are into the Company for the cost of their airline ticket and accommodations, and the company holds their papers.
Fortunately (not) for them the company will let them work off their debt as prostitutes. And the KSA scenario above is repeated.
These young women are mostly from the former Soviet states, but they are also from China, India, the Philippians, and parts of Africa. Many of them have children as well as families to support back home on the farm where the majority of them come from, and so they do what the have to do, what they are forced into doing, in order to survive and to keep their children and families from starving.
Of course I think it is deplorable, and, well, unbelievable that those US Embassy workers in Iraq are virtually slaves in this day and age.
But when I say I think the story was hype to an extent, what I mean is: if the fact that some workers building the US embassy in Iraq are virtually slaves is to be considered worthy of note, then we should acknowledge that this virtually slavery happens elsewhere in the Middle East, all the time.
Articles like the Rawstory article should point out that things like this are "just business as usual" in some countries in that part of the world.
The story about Iraq vets being charged for lost of damaged equipment is disgusting. Almost as disgusting as the Nightline report a couple of weeks ago about vets being declared mentally unstable, thereby tossing them out of the military without any benefits whatsoever. Many of them suffered injuries in Iraq and had suffered PTSD as a result of their combat tours. But that didn't seem to matter to the military.
And some people claim that those of us against this insane military misadventure are not supporting the troops?!! Puh-lease!!
And some people claim that those of us against this insane military misadventure are not supporting the troops?!! Puh-lease!!
This was fun and I may do it again. I'll try to come up with more subtle fakes.
Upon reflection, I feel rather bad about the Lindsay Lohan remark. I had not seen her on film until the movie version of "A Prairie Home Companion," in which she does a terrific job playing a death-obsessed youngster. I'm sorry to hear that this talented young lady is having personal difficulties.
Upon reflection, I feel rather bad about the Lindsay Lohan remark. I had not seen her on film until the movie version of "A Prairie Home Companion," in which she does a terrific job playing a death-obsessed youngster. I'm sorry to hear that this talented young lady is having personal difficulties.
Daninalabama...you're absolutely correct about the manner in which "commerce" is conducted in many parts of the world. Nice to see that the Bush administration is so intent on pushing for "freedom" and "democracy" while it tactily enables all manner of coercion, slavery and worse, all in the name of business. If they really were all about the spread of freedom and democracy, then they would demand that such practices stop and they would hold back billions of dollars in aid and infrastructure until it it did stop. But, obviously, they don't care about that. And they never have. But they do need to be called on it.
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