Sloppy journalists fall for fake news

May 26, 2004 10:43 AM

Did Rumsfeld ban cameraphones in Iraq?(Follow up to this thread) Seems sloppy journalists fell for fake news from the web. Again.
posted by PenDevil to MetaFilter-Related at 10:43 AM (25 comments total)

I hate to lead with this comment but why do these follow-ups get posted here? If nothing else, it's bad because you won't be able to find both of them with one site search. Anyone who searches MeFi for "Rumsfeld cameraphone" is only going to find the thread which this follow-up debunks. How logical is that? IMHO, please post this stuff to the blue.
posted by scarabic at 1:01 PM on May 26, 2004

Hmm, perhaps amberglow has not won the bet after all. Not that there was a bet.
posted by Krrrlson at 2:23 PM on May 26, 2004

The main thread is only 3 days old and obviously still open. In fact, it is still relatively active. This update should have been posted as a comment in the thread.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 2:37 PM on May 26, 2004

Hmm, perhaps you shouldn't be an ass, Krrrlson, and accuse people of being conspiracy theorists a la "black helicopters" until the facts are known?
posted by amberglow at 2:57 PM on May 26, 2004

Are you kidding? That's Krrrlson's whole raison d'etre.
posted by scarabic at 3:08 PM on May 26, 2004

That's cool amberglow... I'll just forget about how you all but labeled me a homophobe a few threads back (and as your own posts have indicated, you obviously consider that a most serious insult).
posted by Krrrlson at 3:29 PM on May 26, 2004

translation:

I'll just note here something you almost did, but not quite, and then make a grand show about how I've forgotten all about it.

Ahh... magnanimity. Dig, man, dig! The comedy never fucking ends!
posted by scarabic at 3:42 PM on May 26, 2004

" you obviously consider that a most serious insult"

yes, all decent people consider "homophobe" a serious insult because hating fellow human beings for their sexual orientation is a bad thing. it's like, you know, hating people because of their religion or ethnicity.
so yes, it's bad.
b-a-d.
don't do it.

funny that somebody had to spell that out for you.

*piles on krrlson*
posted by matteo at 3:56 PM on May 26, 2004

interesting. thanks for posting this here - i probably wouldn't have seen it in the old thread.
posted by andrew cooke at 4:00 PM on May 26, 2004

Isn't this a good argument for why NewsFilter-type topics don't make good frontpage posts? This has happen twice now, pretty recently, no?
posted by Witty at 4:34 PM on May 26, 2004

'decent people consider "homophobe" a serious insult because hating fellow human beings for their sexual orientation is a bad thing'

So do homophobes hate homosexuals, or fear them?

'Cause if it's hate, we need to come up with a new word. Simple rural Western folks like myself get mighty confused otherwise.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 4:43 PM on May 26, 2004

"hate them or fear them"... in this society, is there a difference?
posted by five fresh fish at 4:51 PM on May 26, 2004

Well, I'd say "fear," only because "homophobic," for me, covers straight guys who aren't even comfortable with another straight guy putting his arm around their shoulders. This is fear of being perceived as gay themselves, fear that someone they thought straight might not be, fear of enjoying a little male affection too much, etc. A lot of this is directed at the self, so I'd call it fear, not hate. In the context of hating gay people, I just use the word "bigot."
posted by scarabic at 4:57 PM on May 26, 2004

From Donald Rumsfeld to homosexuality in 5 comments! Perhaps Rummy's trying to tell us something?
posted by PrinceValium at 6:13 PM on May 26, 2004

I'll just note here something you almost did, but not quite, and then make a grand show about how I've forgotten all about it.

Ahh... magnanimity. Dig, man, dig! The comedy never fucking ends!

Well scarabic, I must say you really got that whole "old-time lecturing young'un" act nailed, right down to the inability to detect sarcasm.


And what's that? Matteo being his usual equivocal trollish self? No!!!
posted by Krrrlson at 6:17 PM on May 26, 2004

"routinely blows up somebody's ultra-lame comments" = "troll"

why not "anti-semite", then?
posted by matteo at 7:50 PM on May 26, 2004

Your sense of humor comes in quick bursts on a wavelength too short to see with the naked eye, Krrrlson. Kinda like X-rays. If I don't bite down on some film and don a lead jacket the next time you crack a joke, I'm going to either miss it or get a radiation burn (or both).
posted by scarabic at 9:58 PM on May 26, 2004

If "blowing up" means leaving completely irrelevant links to my old posts along with an insult or two, and then disappearing magically when called on it, then I guess you've blown up a helluva lot matteo, though I suspect most of it was your ego. Fine by me though, don't let the real world bite. All the best. Your pal, Krrrlson.

As for scarabic, I'll just let him sober up a bit.

I accept your flamebait, eat it, and am well on my way, gentlemen. You clearly don't need my presence to shit on this thread.
posted by Krrrlson at 12:12 AM on May 27, 2004

boy, this thread is screwed
posted by Eirixon at 3:32 AM on May 27, 2004

eugh.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 4:23 AM on May 27, 2004

all decent people consider "homophobe" a serious insult

i think it depends on who makes the charges. some people seem to be under the impression that if they throw this label out often enough and far enough, it will somehow increase the status of homosexuals as victims and so - presumably in american realpolitik - get them more power. that seems kind of odd, but it's the only way that things make sense to me.

what's the phobia for right-wing politics? reactionaphobe? sometimes seems like there's more reactionaphobes (that's not going to fly, is it?) than homophobes, round here.

i should be banned, no doubt.
posted by andrew cooke at 5:07 AM on May 27, 2004

what's the phobia for right-wing politics?

I call it humanity and compassion, but I'm a bit of a softy.
posted by The God Complex at 9:02 AM on May 27, 2004

what's the phobia for right-wing politics? reactionaphobe?

Bubbaphobia.
posted by scarabic at 11:34 AM on May 27, 2004

what's the phobia for right-wing politics?

Realityphobia?

I too should be banned, no doubt.
posted by hama7 at 3:42 PM on May 27, 2004

metaphobia.
posted by namespan at 3:30 AM on May 28, 2004