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18 Aug 2010 23:38

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Politics: Is Obama a Muslim? Let’s just say yes to appease 1/5th of people

  • 20% of people think Obama is a Muslim, according to a new poll
  • 34% think he’s a Christian (which he is); that number is way down
  • 60% of people who believe he’s Muslim found out from the media source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Sep 2009 09:48

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U.S.: Falsified rape allegations shock, then anger Hofstra students

  • Now we hear it’s not real. She is causing herself embarrassment because it’s her first year here. She says all this and it’s not true.
  • Hofstra University student Monique Alvarado • On hearing that a fellow student’s rape allegations were untrue. The unnamed student claimed five men brutally assaulted her in her dorm room – and those men were named and arrested. Alvarado’s words were echoed by fellow student Chris Blue in reference to a Hofstra student who was arrested: “The young man’s life is still going to be ruined. The girl lied about a serious thing.” • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Sep 2009 23:29

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Music: The Revenge of the Revenge of Roxanne Shanté’s Revenge



Nothing like unsubstantiated claims to brighten an evening. Roxanne Shanté, above, was a hip-hop icon before hip hop had its big mainstream breakthrough. Everyone forgot about her for a good twenty years, until this New York Daily News story broke, claiming that Warner Music paid for her to get a doctorate at Cornell. Problem is, it's not true.
  • The lies As reported by the New York Daily News (which will have an interesting retraction to write), the hip-hop icon (who scored her one-hit wonder at 14) had a clause in her contract saying they would pay for her education for life. She fought hard to get the label to pay for her education, eventually earning a doctorate at Cornell in 2001. She’s now a “hip-hop” psychologist.
  • The truth According to Slate, Warner never had a contract with Shanté. School records say that she went to Marymount Manhattan College, but never graduated. She admitted to Slate that she never got a Ph.D. from Cornell or elsewhere. She doesn’t have a license to practice psychology. And Warner says the Daily News never tried to contact them, like the story says.
  • Slate’s dirty workBen Sheffner put together an article for Slate that ranks up there with anything The Smoking Gun has put together in recent memory. It’s just devastating. The way he dissected the Daily News’ article is admirable. The paper only quoted two sources in the article – Shanté and hip-hop Russell Simmons. Protip: When a story’s this good, fact-check your sources. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Jun 2009 20:09

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Offbeat, U.S.: Yesterday’s feel-good story doesn’t feel so good anymore

  • DNA proves the break in the 1955 missing child case isn’t true. Poor John Robert Barnes. Yesterday, Barnes came out in the press to talk about his belief that he was Steven Damman, a kid plucked from the mean streets of Long Island in 1955. Beyond creating lots of attention for himself, it was fodder for the FBI to compare the DNA. Which they did today. Which they confirmed was not a match. Sadly. By the way, Barnes’ dad is still alive and calls his story BS. Good luck patching that one up, dude. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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