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rabid1stWhile researching "Raccoon Medicine" earlier today, following last night's encounter with two of the little varmints, I came across an incredible story about a raccoon living in the International Space Station. Had the story been true, it would have been an amazing bit of animal behavior to relate to all of you. However, when I attempted to trace the source of this story, I saw that it was attributed to The Onion. The Onion, as I'm sure many of you know, is a satirical newspaper/website that reports on international news. So, while it is possible there might be some kernel of truth at the bottom of this raccoon story, I fear it is hogwash. I can find no evidence supporting it, beyond other articles that also quote The Onion. Source is a vital component to writing, as any librarian or journalist can tell you.
There is a Wikipedia page featuring some oft-quoted stories that were complete nonsense, but that were taken at face value by and quoted as source by other people...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Onion#The_Onion_taken_seriously
Also, a barrel of laughs, a website listing the Facebook outrage people express over these false stories...or the agreement with them, of course...http://literallyunbelievable.org/
And then, there is this story that had me ROTFL...
http://www.theonion.com/articles/human-civilization-brings-out-worst-in-area-man,27948/
Not that I don't recognize this guy. I see a lot of me in him, as a matter of fact. So, much of me, to be honest, that I've printed out this article and will be using it as a reminder to myself not to get too fed up with modern civilization.
A related website to Literally Unbelievable, hosts a number of truly unhelpful reviews. My personal favorite, so far, is the one for The Neverending Story. It is mid-way down the page right now at...http://leasthelpful.com/
There is a Wikipedia page featuring some oft-quoted stories that were complete nonsense, but that were taken at face value by and quoted as source by other people...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Onion#The_Onion_taken_seriously
Also, a barrel of laughs, a website listing the Facebook outrage people express over these false stories...or the agreement with them, of course...http://literallyunbelievable.org/
And then, there is this story that had me ROTFL...
http://www.theonion.com/articles/human-civilization-brings-out-worst-in-area-man,27948/
Not that I don't recognize this guy. I see a lot of me in him, as a matter of fact. So, much of me, to be honest, that I've printed out this article and will be using it as a reminder to myself not to get too fed up with modern civilization.
A related website to Literally Unbelievable, hosts a number of truly unhelpful reviews. My personal favorite, so far, is the one for The Neverending Story. It is mid-way down the page right now at...http://leasthelpful.com/
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(no subject)
Date: 2012-04-27 04:08 pm (UTC)http://literallyunbelievable.org/
I guess if you don't know about The Onion, you could be truly horrified at their articles...
(no subject)
Date: 2012-04-27 04:16 pm (UTC)The article in RD featured imaginary humorous responses to real life events. Like, the folks who fill in the blanks on a story with outlandish ideas. A report on the sinking of the Titanic..."OMG! I bet the captain was drunk. That happened to me one time. They should see if he was having a party. It is a disgrace that he was drunk at the wheel of a big ocean liner."
(no subject)
Date: 2012-04-27 04:23 pm (UTC)It is amazing how many of the responses featured on http://literallyunbelievable.org/ are similar to the ones the Reader's Digest humorist made up for examples.
It's crazy! People get so outraged over these articles. I think my favorite LU ones are where the comments include something like, "I've looked for other sources for this article and only The Onion is reporting it. I don't think it's legitimate." And I just want to shake them and say, "go one step forward, and research who The Onion is and then you'll know for sure that it's not legit!"
"OMG! I bet the captain was drunk. That happened to me one time. They should see if he was having a party. It is a disgrace that he was drunk at the wheel of a big ocean liner."
Lol! Oh, man.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-04-27 04:32 pm (UTC)I just discovered it and had to once again update my post to include a link.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-04-27 04:41 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-04-27 04:53 pm (UTC)p.s. Congrats on using incredible in its literal sense. :D
(no subject)
Date: 2012-04-27 05:05 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-04-27 05:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-04-27 05:10 pm (UTC)HA! I knew someone would appreciate that. I didn't know that it would be you, but as I wrote it I was like...someone will notice this! :grin:
I think I like the reviews page, because I am sensitive to those unhelpful reviews. Like you, I've seen more interesting examples than these on there. In another comment, someone suggested that Leasthelpful isn't as funny as it thinks it is, and that could well prove to be true. But I did laugh about the Neverending Story ending. And also the argument made for reptilian aliens in support of David Icke's book.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-04-27 05:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-04-27 05:27 pm (UTC)I think they were kidding about the story ending (in fairness, the movie felt like it went on forever, so, uh, props there?), but serious about the name thing. I never knew what it was either.
And in fairness, David Bowie the goblin king is creepy. I can see somebody having a problem showing that to small children. (Like, yes, a villain should be evil, but skeeving on a young teen is kinda optional...)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-04-27 05:29 pm (UTC)Oh, and just to show how some people can be gullible, my sister and I were in a nearly deserted diner recently, and the waitresses were watching Ellen on the complimentary cable TV. On the show, Ellen was offering an audience member a chance to win One Billion Dollars by spinning a wheel. Well, I looked up at that and then asked, "Did she just say one BILLION?" Reason told me that Ellen had nothing close to that kind of budget. And, of course, a few seconds of watching the wheel jump around and go backward on the spin was enough to show me this wasn't Ellen gone mad, but a joke. However, the waitresses continued to watch the program, becoming more and more irate at the "cheating" of the wheel. They spotted it jumping ahead to a nasty outcome for the poor contestant, of spinning wildly backward and they even suggested that it was "a fix." But they were left thinking that Ellen was cheating people, rather than playing a rather obvious joke. Our waitress even came over to our table to ask if we had seen the wheel move and to suggest that someone should write in and complain.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-04-27 05:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-04-27 05:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-04-27 05:38 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-04-27 06:44 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-04-27 08:46 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-04-27 09:42 pm (UTC)*nods* Or else a child becoming sickly.