Wapsi Square Forum

The text of the motion.

{Apparently there actually IS a picture of a kitten in one of the exhibits referenced.)

I think some lawyer(s) had a great amount of fun writing that.

April 1st isn't until Saturday, you know...

Sgt. Howard wrote:April 1st isn't until Saturday, you know...

It's real.

So a conservative rag bashes a liberal rag, then when said liberal rag actually has the effrontery to sue over libel, they try to use some slick lawyer trick so they can use a buddy-buddy judge to get themselves off with a slap on the wrist.

The only part of this that I find amazing? That it is actually being taken to court. For which I strongly applaud. Too long, rags on both ends have stopped reporting news and have sunk to the levels of demagoguery. It's about time we brought some respectability back to the journalism industry.

ShneekeyTheLost wrote:So a conservative rag bashes a liberal rag, then when said liberal rag actually has the effrontery to sue over libel, they try to use some slick lawyer trick so they can use a buddy-buddy judge to get themselves off with a slap on the wrist.

The only part of this that I find amazing? That it is actually being taken to court. For which I strongly applaud. Too long, rags on both ends have stopped reporting news and have sunk to the levels of demagoguery. It's about time we brought some respectability back to the journalism industry.

The cynical in me wants to ask if there ever was, respectability in journalism...

I recall working int the NBC4 Amarillo newsroom during the early hours of Desert Storm I. Brokaw was handed a bulletin about a breaking development. He immediately asked if the item had been confirmed... when the producer could not verify confirmation, Brokaw said he did not want to see that item again until it could be confirmed.

Boy, have things changed in the past 16 years.

lake_wrangler wrote:

ShneekeyTheLost wrote:So a conservative rag bashes a liberal rag, then when said liberal rag actually has the effrontery to sue over libel, they try to use some slick lawyer trick so they can use a buddy-buddy judge to get themselves off with a slap on the wrist.

The only part of this that I find amazing? That it is actually being taken to court. For which I strongly applaud. Too long, rags on both ends have stopped reporting news and have sunk to the levels of demagoguery. It's about time we brought some respectability back to the journalism industry.

The cynical in me wants to ask if there ever was, respectability in journalism...

In January of 1898, two things of import happened in Cuba- the USS Main steamed into the harbor at Havana, and Fredrick Remington (the artist) and Steven Crane (the author) received a telegram from their boss, William Randolf Hearst in response to their letter complaining about heat, mosquitos and no popular rebellion against Spanish rule- the telegram read and I quote; " No, please stay stop you supply the story stop I'll supply the war stop"

... three weeks later, the Main went sky high- you may draw your own conclusions...

Sgt. Howard wrote:... three weeks later, the Main went sky high- you may draw your own conclusions...

What's not commonly known is the Battleship Maine, sunk February 1898, was investigated in 1974 by none other than Adm Hiram Rickover (Retired). The two 1898 and 1911 inquiries were reviewed, and photos from the 1911-12 work to raise, refloat, and remove the wreck from the harbor were examined in light of modern investigative techniques. The original inquiries concluded an external mine did the deed, but Rickover noted the blast damage was from the inside out, and not the reverse. Moreover, the ship had been designed to use Anthracite (hard) coal, but had been stocked with cheaper and more common Bituminous (soft) coal. Soft coal burns hotter so ships can go faster, but it's more gassy in storage. The stink it puts off is called Firedamp, a mix of methane and other goodies that makes coal mines blow up. He concluded the poor (for soft coal) bunker ventilation and proximity to a powder magazine led to a bunker explosion causing a magazine explosion with destroyed the front end of the ship, sinking it.

AmriloJim wrote:I recall working int the NBC4 Amarillo newsroom during the early hours of Desert Storm I. Brokaw was handed a bulletin about a breaking development. He immediately asked if the item had been confirmed... when the producer could not verify confirmation, Brokaw said he did not want to see that item again until it could be confirmed.

Boy, have things changed in the past 16 years.

It wasn't too long after that when I got to watch a world-famous news announcer (whom I shall not name) trying his hardest to cause a quarrel between the leaders of two opposing sides who were just wrapping up a long and shaky process of negotiating an end to a very unpleasant war. Apparently peace wasn't flashy enough for his reporting.

Atomic wrote:What's not commonly known is the Battleship Maine, sunk February 1898, was investigated in 1974 by none other than Adm Hiram Rickover (Retired). . . . He concluded the poor (for soft coal) bunker ventilation and proximity to a powder magazine led to a bunker explosion causing a magazine explosion with destroyed the front end of the ship, sinking it.

That isn't commonly known?

Catawampus wrote:

Atomic wrote:What's not commonly known is the Battleship Maine, sunk February 1898, was investigated in 1974 by none other than Adm Hiram Rickover (Retired). . . . He concluded the poor (for soft coal) bunker ventilation and proximity to a powder magazine led to a bunker explosion causing a magazine explosion with destroyed the front end of the ship, sinking it.

That isn't commonly known?

Well, I certainly didn't know it...

lake_wrangler wrote:

Catawampus wrote:That isn't commonly known?

Well, I certainly didn't know it...

But you're an UNcommon person, so it's OK that you didn't know it. D:

scantrontb wrote:But you're an UNcommon person

Why, thank you, kind sir...