Of all the rumors that get spread around these days, we're perhaps most shocked at the spurious gossip that a certain snarky little internet mag is for sale. Who would benefit from spreading the hearsay that Slate is on the auction block? Even if Microsoft's Bill Gates is looking to unload the fashionable — if occasionally unprofitable — Slate, well, who on earth would buy it?

Yesterday — July 19th — we emailed Slate's editor, Jacob Weisberg, for comment on this sordid scuttlebutt, and received only this autoreply: "I'm on vacation from the afternoon of Weds., June 30 through Tuesday July 6." Eh, don't worry about your email, Jacob — it's not like you're running a website or anything.

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