xria:
And then you have the Tom Clancy one where a plane crashes into the White House to make Mary Sue Ryan President by default. And no doubt hundreds of others, its hardly a massive leap of imagination.

It was the Capitol, not the White House.

blatz514: 6.  Global warming is real

And evolution! And geocentrism!

Oh, those silly scientists and their "theories".

Another Government Employee


(TNel: #6. We landed on the Moon.)

I don't know so much about the landing, but the launch was real.

\At Merritt Island Mall.
\\ Felt like an earthquake.

A Lunar orbiting satellite has returned pictures of the moon landing site, showing the equipment left behind.
________

The news media has been lying often to us since around the mid 70's. Not sure just what exactly changed, aside from the introduction of cable, but it become noticeable around then. I think it was the exaggeration of various stories which caught my attention.

Back in the 50's and 60's, with things like the 'Huntley, Brinkley Report', news was a serious business. No clowning around and no fluff pieces. I'm not sure when that changed, but suddenly it seemed the televised news especially was concentrating more on ratings than accuracy.

The local news tried real hard, several years ago, to make out like a hurricane that just brushed us (meaning it was a mild squall) was a storm of the century. My brother, a cop at the time, witnessed the crews scrambling around the beach, trying to get shots which exaggerated the storm.

I do recall that it was around about the same time that movies started splicing together their TV trailers to make the shows look more action backed than they were. A perfectly legal, though somewhat unethical, form of advertising previously more or less -- and a different fashion -- used in traveling carnivals and circuses. (The side shows.)

Naturally, we as a society haven't done a thing about getting it all stopped.

I just watched the movie 'Flight', which showed the pilot turning a jetliner upside down as it was crashing to save it. Had I known that the actual story was going to be a lengthy one about an alcoholic pilot, I'd have not wasted my money.

BTW, check out 'Excedrin Migraine headache pills' -- which are more costly than the extra-strength version. The contents are the same. The only difference I've found is that the Migraine version are not easy to dissolve in water. Both versions contain the same active ingredients. Which are also in Equate, a Walmart product, generic, that sells for 1/3 the cost.

So, it seems acceptable to exaggerate and/or lie to consumers these days for rates and sales.

Wait, so the media sometimes makes up stories? Someone should alert, uh, wait...