Stuff that wasn't true this week

[gumby]

A weekly column on fakery.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the- ... basically/

[gumby]

The fault, it seems, lies with the facts. They need to be more fun.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/30/upsho ... 0002&abg=0

Or take the bizarre but instructive example of the woman who claimed to have had an implant to add a third breast — clearly an example of an implausible story that was too good to check. Initial reports circulated widely on social networks, totaling over 188,000 shares according to Emergent’s data. The story was quickly discredited after it was reported that a three-breast prosthesis had been previously found in the woman’s luggage, but the articles reporting that it was false never attracted even one-third as many shares as the initial false reports.

Longhorned has three testicles. Pass it on (the rumor, not the spare ball).

[Longhorned]

My wife told me one morning a few months ago that Viking objects were found along Lake Michigan. I thought that was incredible news. The source was a fake story being passed around Facebook. I assumed she was reading the New York Times.

And no, I don't have an "extra testicle." That was misunderstanding of the original report of my "extraterrestrial." I don't actually have an extraterrestrial, but I get emails from one, and I deposit money into his bank account so that he go home and pay me back with a hologram of Nancy Lieberman, which I think is a good deal.

[UAEebs86]

The fault, it seems, lies with the facts. They need to be more fun.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/30/upsho ... 0002&abg=0

Or take the bizarre but instructive example of the woman who claimed to have had an implant to add a third breast — clearly an example of an implausible story that was too good to check. Initial reports circulated widely on social networks, totaling over 188,000 shares according to Emergent’s data. The story was quickly discredited after it was reported that a three-breast prosthesis had been previously found in the woman’s luggage, but the articles reporting that it was false never attracted even one-third as many shares as the initial false

I posted in the "news of the weird" thread a couple days ago that Snopes was calling BS on that story.

Guess we need a "news of the fake" thread where we can move stuff like this.

[Longhorned]

Guess we need a "news of the fake" thread where we can move stuff like this.

I think I might know where we can find one!

[Merkin]

I think I saw a movie about the 3 nutted guy back in the 1970s.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067212/

Longhorned is a three-testicle, sexually insatiable man who goes around bedding all women in town (regardless of age), until one day things goes terribly wrong.


Never saw this, but this was really clever:



U2 was involved in such a giveaway before: 20-plus years ago, it claimed, Walkman customers were forcibly given a cassette of the band’s 1983 album,

Although 1983 was "20-plus" years ago?

Math not their strong point.

[catgrad97]

"Sharp-eyed social media observers"?

What, the '80s hair in the ad wasn't enough of a giveaway?