Story Archive

The Deeper He Swam, the Higher He Got

The Associated Press has “an ongoing effort to fact-check claims” in “suspected” false news stories. That’s why, they say, they looked into a report by the fake news site “Boston Leader” that claimed a man from Boston, Mass., invited friends over to “demonstrate” his home-made “scuba bong” — a scuba tank filled with marijuana smoke. The drunk man, his supposed friends say, knocked the tank over and it “exploded”; the only injury, the report says, was to the man: he “lost his testicles.” The story, AP found, was very similar to another fake story from Calgary, Alta., Canada, and they checked with police in both cities; there were “no such complaints” filed in either city. The accompanying photos in the Boston story were taken from a legitimate news site illustrating a different story, AP says, and it concludes the story “is false.” (RC/AP) ...As the Constitutionally-protected watchdog of American Democracy circles the drain, don’t worry: the AP has investigative reporters assigned to ensure you’re not fooled by reports of ball-shredding explodabongs.