TV News LIES

The Numbers Deniers claim that the unemployment rate dropping below 8% is a vast government conspiracy orchestrated by the Muslim-Keyan-socialist-liberal-anti colonial-fascist in the White House. Their proof, the report was created using Arab 'numerals', we all know that real Americans would use Chinese made 'numerals' bought at Walmart.

To understand what is really going on requires some background, the initial jobs reports that come out each month are based on surveys, and are revised later as more data comes in. The job creation number is based on an employer sampling survey, and this number can be way off
from reality if the growth or decline is concentrated in a particular area.

Last month, climate scientists announced that Arctic sea ice had shrunk to its smallest surface area since satellite observations began in 1979. An ice-free summer in the Arctic, once projected to be more than a century away, now looks possible just a few decades from now. Some scientists say it may happen within the next few years.

The loss is hugely significant because Arctic sea ice reflects most solar energy into space, helping to keep the Earth at a moderate temperature. But when the ice melts it reveals dark waters below, which absorb more than 90 percent of the solar energy that hits them, leading to faster warming both locally and globally.

Big Bird was an Angry Bird today. He had his friend Count crunch the numbers and they don't add up. He counted 27, 27 big lies in Mr Romney's debate performance in just 36 minutes.

Big Bird isn't happy that the bad man bullied his friend the nice Mr Lehrer either.

If you've not noticed in this enchanting election cycle -- now heading into its eternal, unending, 19th year -- reality as we once knew it has dived into a hole somewhere, hiding out, on hiatus, with a shakily-lettered sign hung out that reads, "Go Away!"

While grim political candidates and their even-grimmer supporters are taking major psychotic breaks from reality, facts, and the truth, I'm content taking much smaller time-outs from this bat-guano-crazed world.

Since when do bees make honey in various shades of blue and green?

Beekeepers in northeastern France were posing that most reasonable question lately, until they suspected their bees were eating the sugary waste from M&Ms -- those brightly colored, candy-shelled chocolates.

A biogas plant in Alsace is thought to be the culprit.  It deals with waste from a Mars chocolate factory.  Combine a harsh winter with a rainy summer, and the bees have had less time than usual for foraging, forcing beekeepers to set out sugar syrup for the bees.

Just when you think you've got the hang of things, the solar system or universe will show you something you've never seen before. Case in point:  What are those little black things on Mars -- where do they come from each spring, and where do they go when winter approaches?

Now, I know I've been running a fever -- it's early-voting-and-flu season here -- and been having trouble with gravity thanks to inner-ear plumbing, but black, spidery things on Mars?