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Calling Bullshit

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calling bullshit

Happy Happiest Day of the Year Day!

Hey everyone it's the happiest goddamn day of the year! You probably read as much in your local paper? According to a scientist—a scientist!—June 20 is the happiest day of 2008. He uses a mathematical formula to prove it! With science! Look, here is the equation: O + (N x S) + Cpm/T + He. The scientician who developed this formula is named Cliff Arnall. If that name is familiar, it may be because you read him calling January 22 the saddest day of the year. In 2007. And 2006, and 2005. The story runs, twice a year, like clockwork, in newspapers across the US and the UK. All because a quack psychologist is more than happy to sign a check from some corporation and then attach his name to a press release. It's the happiest day of the year for newspaper editors desperate to fill a news hole on a summer Friday! [Mind Hacks]

2:12 PM on Fri Jun 20 2008
By Pareene
1,387 views, 77 comments

Latest by your Mrs. Robinson: srsly? today fucking sucks! more »

bullshit?

Those Amazonian Tribespeople: Bullshit?

A rare, isolated, never-before-seen tribe photographed from a plane high above the Amazon! Dressed in red warpaint and shooting arrows at the camera! What a story! Well... you know us, we love to call bullshit on things. Just last weekend we were ready to call bullshit on the guy who made the "self-portrait" with DHL and a GPS device-equipped suitcase (honestly, people!) but then the dude called himself on it before we got the chance. (Stupid holiday weekend!) Anyway. Is this tribe shit for real? More »

3:34 PM on Fri May 30 2008
By Pareene
8,431 views, 94 comments

Latest by Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy: @Calraigh: And Stakeout partly brought us Rosie O'Donnell. I see the wisdom in your words. I redact my previous comment. more »

calling bullshit

5 Bullshit Stories the Whole Internet Fell For

The internet loves bullshit. While many of its denizens will brag of their skepticism, claim thousands of readers make the best fact-checkers, and say the web holds the mainstream media accountable, the fact remains that made-up bullshit still drives huge traffic, if it's marketed right. Hence, "13-year-old Steals Dad's Credit Car to Buy Hookers," a realistic-looking "news story" posted on some financial site no one had ever heard of before called monkey.co.uk. The fact that there were no sources other than this dodgy domain didn't stop the story from making the front page of Digg and Fark and racking up probably hundreds of thousands of views. Then "real" news sites began picking it up. It made the UK Sun's print edition. This tale was invented by an online marketer to boost a client's SEO ranking. And no one on Digg or anywhere else BUSTED the hoax. Nor do they bother to debunk any of the rest of the snappily headlined bullshit that makes the rounds every day. Four more examples, below. More »

4:35 PM on Thu May 22 2008
By Pareene
28,827 views, 44 comments

Latest by imjustskinny!: Ha! I live in Collier County, FL, and no one knew what the hell this was! We were all trying to guess which loser that we knew could possibly have tried jenkem. What in the hell?? more »

calling bullshit

How To Create An "Odd News" Hit In One Easy Step

So the story about the twins, separated at birth, who accidentally married each other years later? The sole source is a speech by a nutty pro-life former MP on the floor of the irrelevant House of Lords in the UK. And there are no names nor identifying details. There is so little to this story that CNN.com could not actually squeeze three separate, distinct "STORY HIGHLIGHT" bullet points to summarize up top. Happy Friday! If it's not a slow news day, your newsmedia shall create one. [CNN]

2:27 PM on Fri Jan 11 2008
By Pareene
5,111 views, 20 comments

Latest by n/a: see? this is what happens when you let gays marry! First it's siblings marrying each other, next people will be marrying their pets, and then what's to stop people from marrying THEMSELVES?! more »