The Unverified Source Game
I thought of a fun little game we can play. I got the idea from the "Saving Private Lynch" fiasco that occurred in the US press a few months back. In short, for anyone who missed it, no one knew anything for sure about how Private Lynch was captured, so a few media outlets simply made up "facts", and then other outlets quoted those first pieces as "sources" and so on. In less than a week, the story was out that Lynch had killed several Iraqis, firing away with her weapon until she ran out of ammo and was subdued by force, either being shot or stabbed. Of course, all this proved to be false (and, shockingly, there was no outrage from the public over this blatant generation of ficticious news).

So...here's my idea. It'll be sort of like that "telephone" game you probably played as a kid, but we'll use the blog world. I'll just completely make up a piece of "news", and then you guys spread the word. Quote me, and then quote yourselves, and then quote other people quoting yourselves citing me, etc.

Ready? Here goes:

This just in...a former whitehouse aide, who wishes to remain anonymous, has told this reporter that George W. Bush had sex with a goat in the Oval Office, while Don Rumsfeld and Dick Chenney cheered him on and sang "Hail to the Chief". Apparently, the alledged activity took place in February, as the trio were trying to garner world support for a war against Iraq.

The aide said that "a planning meeting ran a little long, and the guys emptied a few bottles of bourbon, and next thing I know, I see Mr. Rumsfeld leading a goat into the Oval Office. As he closed the door, he put one hand up over his lips and winked at me, saying 'This is something we used to do back in my frat days.'"

I stress that this report is unverified at this point, so don't (wink wink) quote me on it.