Snapped Shot - Misinformation

More Palintography

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:03:00 -0500

Hey, wait a minute, aren't I supposed to be discussing wire service photojournalism?

Yeah, pretty sure that's what Snapped Shot is supposed to be all about.

Apparently, I've missed out on yet another doozy, since I haven't been paying close attention to the presidential press corps. You remember a while ago how the press couldn't seem to get enough of Obama's shining halo? Or even glorious pictures of his warm spirit?

It would seem that the press has a different view of Sarah Palin entirely.

Quite respectful, even.

To think that the it's the Left that constantly refers to us as being "sexist" pigs. Perhaps the insane side of the American political elite needs to spend more time examining itself in the mirror these days?

Anyway, sorry for dropping the ball on this one. I know y'all have high expectations of this blog as a photo-media watcher, and I feel somehow that I've let you down once more. Like I always do.

At least I can comfort myself with the knowledge that we Republicans are still as dark and sinister as ever, right?

See-Also: A bunch of people who are plenty swifter than I am.

Newsbusters, , Ace of Spades

CNN Debunks... CNN?

nospam@example.com (DMartyr) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:00:24 -0500

Call the CNN Truth Squad! CNN is confirming Palin's comments!

Copious Dissent has more...

[Update] If you go to Copious Dissent, you'll find three videos - two from the CNN "Truth" Squad and one contradicting CNN report.

Copious Dissent has now combined the videos:

Watch it, rate it, favorite it, and share it.

Remember, Kids: Indoctrination Starts at School

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 09:46:00 -0500

What your children are learning about history in America's public school system will probably surprise you. (h/t SmoothStone)

The authors found textbooks that stated or suggested:

Jesus was a “Palestinian,” not a Jew.
The Arab nations never attacked Israel. Arab-Israeli wars “just broke out,” or Israel started them
Arab nations want peace, but Israel does not
Israel expelled all Palestinian refugees
Israel put the Palestinians in refugee camps in Arab lands, not Arab governments
Palestinian terrorism is nonexistent or minimal
Israel is not a victim of terrorism, or terrorism against Israel is justified
U.S. support of Israel causes terrorism, including 9/11
The intifadas were children’s revolts not involving adults or terrorism

I invite you to join me in an alternate world, one in which Christianity is afforded the same "respect" that these textbooks currently give to Islam. Imagine, if you will, the outrage that would be pouring out towards the school system if this is what was in the textbooks.
Continue reading "<i>Remember, Kids</i>: Indoctrination Starts at School"

More Fauxtography from the Toledo Blade? [Update: Nope!]

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:00:00 -0500

The Toledo Blade has responded. I won't quote verbatim, but if I may summarize their findings:

I'm a reckless boob. [Ed:—No argument there!]
The Director of Photography was involved in selecting photos on the day of the shoot, and didn't see anything unusual at the time.
They have internally done a frame-by-frame analysis, and the photo in question is in line with the rest of the shots from on-scene.
No alterations were visible in any of the shots.
Mr. Wadsworth used: Canon 5D 16-35mm zoom f/2.8 lens.
Image originally recorded in RAW format, resulting in 30mb file per-frame.
Oddities in photo related to high field-of-view. [Ed.:—combined with absolutely awful image resizing software. Might want to upgrade that, Luann!]
We were caught in the past, so we'll admit it if we get caught again. [Ed.:—Not sure about the logic on that one]
And, last but not least:
We're gonna sue you! [Ed.:—Sigh. Never heard that one before...]

I'm satisfied by their technical answer, and as I had said from the beginning, this was nothing that was a "sure" thing. As such, I do offer my deepest apologies to Jeremy Wadsworth for this, and trust that his reputation will not be affected in the least by someone as insignificant as myself. (Besides which, judging by his bio photo, he'd beat me up right quick on any given day!)

My hat's off to the Blade's editorial staff for their quick (if not intellectually violent) response. And, should their Counsel come calling, please notice that my current net worth can be summarized thusly (see illustration).

Update: From the "You Ever See A Story Come Apart Like That?" department:—Rhonda Shearer of the Art Science Research Laboratory has been in touch with the Steele family regarding this photo. The verdict?

Yeah, you guessed it:—It is completely genuine, and it depicts exactly what they saw when they were in hospital.

It doesn't make me feel any better, but my thanks are due to Ms. Shearer for getting that cleared up with a bit of that old-fashioned "investigative" journalism.

(Maybe I'll have to try that out one of these days.)
Continue reading "More Fauxtography from the Toledo Blade? <i>[Update: Nope!]</i>"

Profiling: Un-American or Pro-American?

nospam@example.com (DMartyr) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 08:32:21 -0500

The justice department has put new FBI guidelines on hold - rules that would allow limited profiling of suspected terrorists.

The Justice Department has agreed to delay new rules giving the FBI greater leeway in investigations of suspected terrorists, deferring to concerns by senators that innocent Americans might be targeted.

[...]

Currently, the FBI must have evidence or allegations of wrongdoing before opening an investigation of U.S. citizens or legal residents from other countries. The new policy could let agents start investigating after building a profile of traits that, taken together, were deemed suspicious.

In other words, there must be clear evidence that an act of terrorism has already been committed or is being planned before the FBI could begin investigating individuals.

CAIR whines:

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today termed "unconstitutional and un-American" a proposed Justice Department policy change that would allow the FBI to investigate Americans without evidence of wrongdoing and could permit religious and ethnic profiling.

Under the new guidelines, which are expected to be implemented later this summer, the FBI would be permitted to consider race and ethnicity when opening an investigation. Agents would also be allowed to ask open-ended questions about the activities of American Muslims and Arab-Americans...

Well now, Let's just have a look at the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists list and see if we can find any noticeable similarities to "American Muslims" or "Arab-Americans"... Remember, we are looking for visible traits of indications of Muslim or Arab characteristics:

Click to Enlarge

Think profiling would help? Nah...

NBC Olympics & The Country of Palestine

nospam@example.com (DMartyr) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:29:42 -0500

NBC Olympics updates visitors on the country of Palestine:

Click to Enlarge

Never won an Olympic medal

Thank you, NBC Sports!

(Hat Tip: Sharon)

Test Your Dhimmi Knowledge!

nospam@example.com (DMartyr) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:50:22 -0500

Watch this video and see if you can discover what's missing:

Continue reading "Test Your Dhimmi Knowledge!"

Obamassiah Lifted On High

nospam@example.com (captainfish) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 23:00:12 -0500

During Obamassiah's glorious lecture to us peons on how to sacrifice for a better life, a picture was taken at the moment prior to his re-ascension back up to heaven. We must all be happy that he gave us just a bit of his time to come down to hell and do his miracle work to make our lives better and have meaning.

Meanwhile, earthlings are still trying to figure out the policy part of his energy policy for earthlings. As it stands at this time, we are unable to find anything of substance to his coded lecture he recently gave in Lansing Michigan to unemployed factory workers.

He did once again proclaim that he is all-knowing and all-sided as he mentioned that we should drill but should not drill, he will tax but then give the money away, and will lower temperature of the galaxy while sending America back to the pre-oil 13th century.

Continue reading "Obamassiah Lifted On High"

A Very Warped Sense of Reality

nospam@example.com (captainfish) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 19:27:19 -0500

And people wonder why black families are having a real problem today with the majority of people in prison being black.

Members and leaders from black churches gathered at Howard University School of Divinity [Ed: get that, at a divinity school] this week to discuss sexuality, including how to make churches inclusive for homosexuals and what they say is the failure of federally funded abstinence-only education programs.

A program of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC), a nationwide coalition of religious groups trying to advance abortion rights, the 12th annual National Black Church Summit on Sexuality featured speeches by the majority whip of the U.S. House, Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), and former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Joycelyn Elders.

Dr. Elders was the one who pushed for the nation to teach actual sex education, masturbation and homosexuality in public schools. Why are they doing this? Also, why does there need to be a national conference to discuss HOW to let homosexuals into their churches? Are they saying that they are currently STOPPING them? Shouldn't that be the news? Or, are they asking how to devise the best way to change their philosophy and doctrine to allow homosexuality to be seen as more favored than non-homosexuality?

...attendees were taught how to lobby Congress to end funding of abstinence-only programs in favor of funding for “comprehensive sex education.” [Ed: forcing abortion on demand for kids in elementary school.]

The Rev. Carlton W. Veazey, president and CEO of RCRC, told Cybercast News Service that teaching abstinence isn’t enough to help stop the rise of teenage pregnancies in the black community.

Why that sounds like he does not believe in abstinence education. I wonder what his suggested alternatives are? Read on...
Continue reading "A Very Warped Sense of Reality"

D.C Mayor Will Rehire Racist Aide

nospam@example.com (captainfish) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:17:33 -0500

Update[Brian]: Retracted—Don't worry about it, Cap'n. Not all of us are up to date on the latest D.C. scandals.

Continue reading "D.C Mayor Will Rehire Racist Aide"

Daily Dictators: Congressional Version

nospam@example.com (captainfish) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:46:38 -0500

Ok, it is time to fire them all. I mean it. ALL of them have to go. Republican, Democrat, Independent, Socialist, Commie and Obama. They all have to be fired. Some in Congress want to nationalize oil companies. Others want to nationalize health care (we are half way there already).

Now some in Congress believe that you are too stupid to know how to drive and pay for the gas yourself. They do not believe that you are capable of knowing when and how to limit yourself.

WASHINGTON - An influential Republican senator suggested Thursday that Congress might want to consider reimposing a national speed limit to save gasoline and, in turn possibly ease fuel prices.

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., asked Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman to look into what speed limit would provide optimum gasoline efficiency given current technology. He said he wants to know if the administration might support efforts in Congress to require a lower speed limit.

Warner cited studies that showed the 55 mph speed limit saved 167,000 barrels of oil a day, or 2 percent of the country's highway fuel consumption, while avoiding up to 4,000 traffic deaths a year.

"Given the significant increase in the number of vehicles on America's highway system from 1974 to 2008, one could assume that the amount of fuel that could be conserved today is far greater," Warner wrote ...

A Republican? How about INCREASING SUPPLY instead of decreasing users and usage? Forcibly decreasing usage???

How can anyone even think that they can begin to limit the increase in users and consumption of oil? There is no way. There is no way, short of an international shortage. It is time for these people to just admit that our country is growing and we still need energy. If not, they should all be fired. If they can't stand up for what is right, then they are in the way.

Right to only own gun for self-defense?

nospam@example.com (captainfish) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:07:46 -0500

It would seem that according to the mainstream media today, that one of the latest rulings from the US Supreme Court was all about reaffirming the right of ordinary people to only own guns for self-defense.

While self-defense was a major portion of the debate in front the Court, the main argument was whether or not ordinary citizens of this country are allowed to own guns as opposed to regulated militias and government armies.

Take a look at this photo and tell me what the MSM believe was the major crux of the ruling?

Americans can keep guns at home for self-defense, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday in the justices' first-ever pronouncement on the meaning of gun rights under the Second Amendment.

Well, no, not really. First, the ruling was not their "first-ever pronouncement" of guns rights. They made a semi-ruling back in 1791 and in 1939. But that was not a solid ruling to determine, FOR THE LEFT, what the 2nd Amendment really meant. And, from what I read of the ruling, the primary ruling was that people in general, no matter where they are living, have the unbridgeable constitutional right to own a gun. AND self-defense is one of the primary reasons for having that right to own a gun.

Continue reading "Right to only own gun for self-defense?"

More Media Bias in Action

nospam@example.com (captainfish) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:38:00 -0500

With today's recent developments in the US Senate, the media had a lovely May-day this day. To tell you the facts, the Senate did not pass a plan to increase taxes on profits earned by US oil companies. With all the focus of Americans today on the price of gas, this movement in the Senate was pretty profound and news-worthy.

$4.42 per gallon of gas!?!?!? Two years ago it was half that price. Who is to blame?

Now, how did the mainstream media handle this news? The NewsBuster's site has two postings about this as well, here and here, highlighting the media's bias in their reporting on the Senate vote. Let's take a look for ourselves shall we? From Yahoo News comes this AP report:

Senate GOP blocks windfall taxes on Big Oil

The author of this piece is H. Josef Hebert. This was his second posting to the internet. This post occurred around 6pm (central). The first post was around 2pm. Its title was:

Senate GOP blocks oil taxes

Evil Senate GOP'ers have actively blocked the passage of the plan to tax windfall profits of BIG OIL. And that was just the titles. The body of the piece highlights the author's apparent bias towards GOP'ers and taxing BIG OIL. (added emphasis is mine)...

Continue reading "More Media Bias in Action"

BBC & Palestinian Propaganda

nospam@example.com (DMartyr) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 14:00:53 -0500

HonestReporting uncovered this blatant Palestinian propaganda, which was fueled by a reporter for the BBC. This is how the BBC's Aleem Maqbool covered the story:

One weekday last year, at about three in the afternoon, Israeli armoured jeeps moved into the centre of Ramallah, pulling up outside the most popular hummus cafe.

In full view of passers-by, including children on their way back from school, the troops dragged a man in his early 20s out of the cafe. He was a wanted militant. They shot him - first in the legs, then stomach, then his head.

Within minutes, the "Palestinian reflex" had kicked in. Schoolboys piled into the area to throw stones at the soldiers until they left. As we arrived, the troops fired back with live bullets, injuring four people, before the jeeps sped out of the city.

Once the army had gone, I have to say, I was a little surprised to see grown Palestinian men standing by the side of the road, weeping and hugging, and teenagers who'd been throwing stones, breaking down.

And this is what really happened according to the IDF, supported by accounts reported by Ha'aretz, The New York Times and AFP:

The force identified Abed Al-Halim aiming his AK-47 assault rifle at them and opened fire at him. Abed Al-Halim attempted to flee the scene. Forces fired at him once more and identified hitting him. The soldiers ceased fire at the moment Abed Al-Halim no longer posed a threat to him. ...

During the operation, shots were fired and stones were hurled at the Border Police force, which responded with warning shots and specific fire at an identified source of fire. The IDF has received no information regarding civilian injuries and no such claims were registered with the DCO.

HonestReporting.com

Proper Use Of A File Photo

nospam@example.com (captainfish) — Sat, 31 May 2008 00:55:50 -0500

Thank you for coming to class today. Today, we are going to discuss the proper, or rather the improper, use of file photos. As you know, file photos are shots that are used to generally display the topic of your article. For example, if one were to talk of whales and cite a recent research showing their grissly death due to global warming, you could find a file photo of a nice happy whale swimming in the sea. You have to make sure that the whale is of the same species that your article is referring to. And, preferably, in the same body of water or region.

So, for our first real example, I give you this webpage. Now, in case Ma'an News decides to correct their mistake, I have created a screen capture of the offending webpage and post it here.

Now, notice that the story talks of an bombing by an failure of a palestinian homicide bomber. Actually, in this case, we can accurately call this person a SUICIDE bomber because when he blew up his vehicle that was LOADED with explosives, he only managed to kill himself. Tack one up for the useful idiots.

Continue reading "Proper Use Of A File Photo"

The Death of Mohammed al Dura - HOAX?

nospam@example.com (DMartyr) — Thu, 29 May 2008 07:32:50 -0500

One of the greatest pieces of propaganda to come out of Pallywood has been deemed questionable by a Court of Appeals in France.

The Israeli army, using the angles of the shots, demonstrated that the gunfire could not have come from their position. The independent investigators led by Philippe Karsenty, a director of the Media-Ratings watchdog, went further and said the scenes had been staged and that report was a “hoax”.

He was successfully sued for defamation but opted to press on to a higher court.

Last week, he was vindicated. Senior French judge Laurence Trebucq, sitting on the Court of Appeals in the Palais de Justice, acquitted Karsenty and ruled against France 2 and its reporter, Enderlin. They now intend to take the matter to the nation’s highest court, which rules on technicalities, not facts.

Judge Trebucq’s meticulous ruling upheld - point-by-point - Karsenty’s case against the al-Durra footage.

The inflammatory report was essentially destroyed when he ordered the government-owned broadcaster to produce all the raw footage shot of the incident and instead of a few seconds of film, an 18-minute excerpt, still not the complete sequence, was shown to the court.

It revealed staged battle scenes, rehearsed ambulance evacuations - but nothing to substantiate the toxic television report.

No shots were seen coming from the Israeli position, no bullets were shown striking the boy, no blood was seen on the father’s shirt, though he was said to have cradled his eviscerated son in his arms, and the boy is seen to move, even to look conspiratorially at the television camera, when he is supposed to have been dead.

View The Second Draft footage below the fold.
Continue reading "The Death of Mohammed al Dura - HOAX?"

Postville Raid Update 2

nospam@example.com (captainfish) — Fri, 23 May 2008 00:51:25 -0500

Ok, here are some more updates on that ICE raid on the AgriProcessing plant raid that yielded nearly 400 illegal democrat voters.. umm.. I mean illegal immigrants.

From a member of Congress comes this message of respect and admiration...

U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley on Tuesday asked federal officials for a tally of the costs of last week's immigration raid in Postville and similar enforcement actions in 2006 at Swift & Co. meatpacking plants in Marshalltown and five other Midwest cities.

"It is important that my constituents in Iowa and all U.S. taxpayers know how their tax dollars are being spent," the Waterloo Democrat said in a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement Assistant Secretary Julie Myers.

Braley said it's important for federal immigration officials to be as transparent as possible when enforcement actions occur.

The congressman asked for a breakdown of ICE's expenses, including planning, execution, processing, detention and deportation costs. He also asked for the budgets of other cooperating agencies that assisted with the raids.

Now, I wonder why in the world he would want to know that kind of information?? And, isn't it interesting that Braley's political affiliation is not mentioned.
Continue reading "Postville Raid Update 2"

Fauxtographic Bullet Injury?

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Fri, 16 May 2008 08:19:00 -0500

Notice: This story was first reported by Bob Owens over at Confederate Yankee. He's placed an inquiry with his contacts at the Associated Press, but at time of writing, has not heard back from them yet.

A blogger over at the Virginia College Republican Federation has raised some questions about the truthfulness of this AP photograph (alternate angle here). I don't know if I'm totally convinced yet, but if any of y'all have experience with the standard techniques for removing bullets from a patient's arm, I'm definitely open to hearing your thoughts.

Here's a real close crop of the area in question. Hopefully, this is just enough of the picture to show you what we're talking about, without angering the angry mob of lawyers. (Oh, and if you're from the aforementioned mob and have a problem with this, just let me know, and I'll fix it for you.)

A doctor tries to pull out a bullet from a woman's arm in a hospital in the Shiite enclave of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, May 14, 2008. The woman was hit yesterday standing in front of her house in Sadr City. It was not clear who fired the round. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

Of course, the truly important thing in this scenario is what I've bolded in the caption above. A bullet was most likely fired. It appears to have hit a bystander. It is not, however, known where the bullet came from, which means that the blame can't be immediately laid on the U.S. Army and its Iraqi allies.

(And for the record, I'm very glad to see that the Associated Press didn't start by repeating such baseless allegations!)

Update: I can comfortably say that upon review of the alternate angle, Archimedes' point #10 is total bunk. And while the crop on the alternate shot is too tight to say for sure, I'd suspect that there's also a good chance that #7 is, too—as there's most likely a surgical table around somewhere with instruments on it. In fact, if you look in the lower-right-hand corner of the main shot, you can see the legs of such a table.

It does look pretty crowded for a surgical operation, though. Perhaps that's another "cultural thing" about Iraq that I just don't understand?

I'd definitely love to hear from all you medical and weaponry experts about this.

Update: From the "How'd I miss that?" department, Bob Owens points out that he's already covered this story. His conclusion?

I suspect that this is less a case of "fauxtography" than a curious physiological response, but Associated Press cameraman Karim Kadim captured this photo of a Sadr City woman having a bullet removed from her forearm.

In his (e-mailed) opinion, the only points on Archimedes' list that are most likely valid are #1 and #7. (I'd argue about #7, since there may have been an incision that is obscured by the doctor's hand, but I'll admit that's not a very strong argument..)

Sorry I missed your earlier post, Bob!

More Obama Preacher Idiocy

nospam@example.com (captainfish) — Tue, 06 May 2008 08:19:36 -0500

I don't know if you guys know this or not. I had not heard this until I started listening to the Jeremiah Wright Press Club video.

At about 9:30 into this video he is asked if he thinks that Jesus is the only way to Heaven or is Islam also a viable way to salvation?

Continue reading "More Obama Preacher Idiocy"

United Nations Condemned Hamas?

nospam@example.com (DMartyr) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:21:54 -0500

Seraphym sent me this little note:

Try this fun little exercise:

Copy and paste these lines of text into Google (separately, that is):

"United Nations condemns Israel"
"United Nations condemned Israel"

Lots of links, right?

Then try these:

"United Nations condemns Hamas"
"United Nations condemned Hamas"

"United Nations condemns Fatah"
"United Nations condemned Fatah"

Enjoy the "No Results Found" hilarity.

So, I decided to try it by randomly selecting "United Nations condemned Hamas". You were wrong, Seraphym. My search resulted in many links. Just see for yourself:

Continue reading "United Nations Condemned Hamas?"

One, Three, Five or Seven?

nospam@example.com (DMartyr) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 11:14:13 -0500

Reuters is claiming FIVE Hamas gunmen were killed by Israeli air strikes in retaliation to an earlier attack against an Israeli border crossing.

No, wait. The AP says it was SEVEN. No, wait again - AFP claims it was ONE. No, THREE.

What the hell, lets just add them together and call them civilians... SIXTEEN Palestinian civilians were killed in IDF air strikes!!

Damn Israel.

Update [Brian]: Fixed your Yahoo! links for ya.