Dispatch from the Department of Glass Houses . . .
The Good Morning America crew had a bunch of yucks today at the expense of the Sparks, NV streets department employee who spelled "scool" on the asphalt. But within minutes, two ABCers made math mistakes of their own, one of a political sort, the other climate-related.
RON CLAIBORNE: In Sparks, Nevada, someone in the streets department could use a spelling lesson. A sign painted on the street announces a nearby facility is a "s-c-o-o-l" [sound of Claiborne chuckle]. The city plans to fix the sign as soon as possible. That's a first look at the headlines, back to Bill and Kate. Everybody knows school is spelled with a "k."
Great guffaws ensue.
View video here.
BILL WEIR: There you go. Hooked on phonics: Ron Claiborne. Let's turn to Marisol Castro. You know better, as a former teacher.
MARISOL CASTRO: Those teachers [?] would get an "F" if they were in my class.
But then it was GMA's turn to trip up. First came John Hendren, who concluded a segment on the Dem primary race this way: "Obama concedes he's likely to lose the next nomination contest, in West Virginia on Tuesday. He's pinning his hopes on Oregon, where he hopes to win enough to clinch the nomination."
Sorry, John. Even if Obama were to win all the delegates at stake in Oregon, he would still be well short of the 2,025 needed to clinch the nomination. At best he would assure himself a majority of elected delegates. But the supers could still hand the nomination to Hillary.
Next was Bill Weir's interview of "the Twister Sisters," two tornado experts. The gist was that—surprise!—global warming is responsible for the large number of cyclones this season. So eager was Weir to make the Goreian case that, in introducing the segment, he claimed that "so far some 730 tornadoes have touched down this year, more than double the number for all of last year." There was only one problem, as you'll see from the screen graphic displayed as Weir spoke . . .
I say we send John and Bill back to math "scool."
NB: As for global warming being responsible for an unusually large number of tornadoes this season, I wonder whether Weir and the Twister Sisters had April in mind? You know, the coolest April in 11 years, the April with the average temperature of 51.0 F, -1.0 F cooler than the 20th-century average, the 29th coolest April in 114 years.
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Gosh I hope there are no
May 10, 2008 - 12:30 ET by Mark FinkelsteinGosh I hope there are no typos in this item ;-)
Will let you know after I go
May 10, 2008 - 12:38 ET by motherbeltWill let you know after I go over it with a fine-tooth comb. ;-)
Thanks. Please alert me by
May 10, 2008 - 12:48 ET by Mark FinkelsteinThanks. Please alert me by private message of any errors you catch so I can fix them without people realizing they were ever there ;-)
so when it was warmer, less
May 10, 2008 - 12:32 ET byso when it was warmer, less hurricanes and tornados and now it's cooler more tornados (caused by warming?)
deez i cudda hadda human bean for da same price ---- Benny Hill
botg... You are finally
May 10, 2008 - 12:36 ET by Clear thinkerbotg...
You are finally catching on to liberal logic.
"Abstain from McCain"
thanks i try to be
May 10, 2008 - 12:42 ET bythanks i try to be nuanced
“i am the quixotic botg and i approved this message”
Didn't you get the memo
May 10, 2008 - 12:37 ET by HumblepieThe upper atmosphere with its cooler air keeps bouncing off the hot air from Al Gore and his ranting Gorganights. Just natures way of telling Gore to shut up.
During this time with political correctness at its zenith, I reserve the right to let you know you're an idiot.
Temporary, Local, GW Masking Tornados
May 10, 2008 - 13:32 ET by CobraManThis temporary increase in tornado activity is merely a local phenomena and they are just masking the effects of Global Warming.
/Al Gore mode off
No, not less, but fewer
May 10, 2008 - 16:04 ET by FranksamNo, not less, but fewer hurricanes and tornados. Life is hell for the grammatically correct.
thank you
May 10, 2008 - 18:01 ET bythank you
oh, you dropped your flag
“i am the quixotic botg and i approved this message”
Spelled with a "K"??
May 10, 2008 - 12:34 ET by HumblepieRON CLAIBORNE: Everybody knows school is spelled with a "k."
BILL WEIR: There you go. Hooked on phonics:
MARISOL CASTRO: Those teachers [?] would get an "F" if they were in my class.
There you go folks, GMA stuck on stupid. "Those teachers" comment, where did that come from? What teachers, this was done by people not illiterate enough to make it in the military, at least according to some.
During this time with political correctness at its zenith, I reserve the right to let you know you're an idiot.
Back when my granddaughter
May 10, 2008 - 12:47 ET by Clear thinkerBack when my granddaughter was in 4th grade, she came home one day crying over a spelling test. She was upset because the teacher had given her a "C", something she almost never get's. Along with the test, her teacher sent home a note asking us to work with her to get her spelling up to speed.
Not only did we find 2 spelling errors in the teachers handwritten note, but we also found that one of the words on the test had been spelled incorrectly. Our granddaughter actually spelled it correctly and still the teacher counted it against her. All this made us set up a meeting for the following day. When we talked to the Vice Principle about it he jokingly said that this particular teacher was a lousy speller. Believe it or not this teacher still teaches spelling.
"Abstain from McCain"
I go throught that now
May 10, 2008 - 12:53 ET by HumblepieI have eight year old twins and constantly am required to correct their teachers. Then again, as I was told, "In their early years we like to focus on how they feel." Yea, right, My kids could spell, read and do light math before attending school. Now its a different story. I constantly have to correct their grammar, handwriting and such. What a sorry shape our schools are in.
During this time with political correctness at its zenith, I reserve the right to let you know you're an idiot.
Humblepie... I'm sure
May 10, 2008 - 13:10 ET by Clear thinkerHumblepie...
I'm sure it's like this in almost every public school district in the country, but having this happen to my granddaughter here in NC might affect everyone in the future....
NC Governor Mike Easley has been traveling around with Hillary and stumping for her (plus, he's a super delegate). For his commitment to the Clinton cause he has been promised the Cabinet position of Dept of Education. For some damn reason, Easley is known as the EDUCATION Governor. Only a Democrat would give one of their own this monicker after taking NC's education ratings from 4th form the bottom (out of 50) to 5th from the bottom. BIG WHOOP-DEE-DOO!
Here's another tid-bit. Easley fought like hell to get a "Education Lottery" and finally got it by using very dirty tactics. Anyway, we now have it, but ZERO of the proceeds will go to the western part of our state. One third of the state will not see any of the money raised by the lottery, and this is the part of the state that needs it most. Beware Hillary and her cronies!
"Abstain from McCain"
Clear
May 10, 2008 - 13:43 ET by ricklailUnfortunately you don't get the lottery money because your property tax rates are too low. The same thing is happening in Onslow County. Craven only gets about 400,000 of it. That is not enough to build 2 much needed schools near Havelock. The lottery is a big joke. The only ones getting rich are the ones running it.
Easley is a big joke. So is Perdue. I know that you are going to do your best to spread the word about her in WNC. I rather have a sharp stick stuck in my eye than have her for governor.
During the Easley administration, teacher pay has climbed, classroom sizes have been reduced and we are still stuck at the bottom. Did I mention that dropout rates are way up and climbing.
"A pharisee is hard on others and easy on himself, but a spiritual man is easy on others and hard on himself." A.W. Tozer (Pharisee=modern day liberal)
So, CT, what you're saying is
May 10, 2008 - 21:28 ET by FastEdder bes a teesher still teach spilling at hur scool?
There is no sense in being stupid, if you can't prove it! - my dad V
What teachers, this was done
May 10, 2008 - 14:24 ET by BacchusWhat teachers, this was done by people not illiterate enough to make it in the military, at least according to some.
haha
...the fact is if you can read, you can walk into a job later on. If you don't, then you've got the Street Department, Nevada, I don't know, something like that. It's not as bright," ...
Teachers?
May 10, 2008 - 21:30 ET by FastEdwho did the sign - the road department would have been involved, unless the teachers are making so little they need to moonlight in another department.
There is no sense in being stupid, if you can't prove it! - my dad V
This is clear evidence that
May 10, 2008 - 13:19 ET by ThisnThatThis is clear evidence that the smart people are going to Iraq just to successfully avoid an education in today's public scools.
___________________________________
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it is in English, thank a Soldier. - My barber
That was a good one!
May 10, 2008 - 21:30 ET by CobraManYou should post that on King's blog.
Back in the Day
May 10, 2008 - 13:29 ET by third eyeThis has nothing to do with anything, but I used to actually live on that street in the screen capture for a year while I went to school at UNR.
Does that mean you're
May 10, 2008 - 21:24 ET by FastEdSo cool?
There is no sense in being stupid, if you can't prove it! - my dad V
Mark, Not only did
May 10, 2008 - 13:41 ET by ThisnThatMark,
Not only did someone miss-spell school, but the person responsible for ensuring that the job was done right -- so the workers can get paid -- probably took a look, scratched his chin, and concluded: "Yep, looks right to me."
___________________________________
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it is in English, thank a Soldier. - My barber
730 or 731, the number is
May 10, 2008 - 18:08 ET by Ken Shepherd730 or 731, the number is still less than twice the number from the prior year.
Weir claimed it was "more than double" 2007's stat.
Spelling and math -
May 10, 2008 - 21:19 ET by FastEdboth strong points of the stupidand newsies. We might want to remember that dumb and dumber is spelled with: wabc, wcbs, wnbc, cnn, msnbc, etc.!
There is no sense in being stupid, if you can't prove it! - my dad V
OOOh, OOOh!
May 10, 2008 - 21:22 ET by FastEd(using my best Hosrhack imitation) "Oh, Mr. Kotter - the answer is 918!!"
There is no sense in being stupid, if you can't prove it! - my dad V
FastE... LOL... Thanks..
May 10, 2008 - 21:28 ET by bigtimerFastE...
LOL...
Thanks...I can just hear and see that too!
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Churchill
Tornado Data = GMA Incompetence
May 11, 2008 - 09:09 ET by aikibob1First point: The 2007 figure does not represent all of 2007 (1080+ tornadoes-NOAA). The 409 number is apparently for the Jan-May period - AS EXPLICITLY SHOWN ON THE GRAPHIC.
Second Point: The "tornado sisters" are not qualified to supply authoritive data on global warming. They are tornado chasers not climatologists.
It isn't surprising that a staff that can't perform a simple arithmetic comparison of numbers cannot read a data graphic or locate a reliable reference source.
More money
May 11, 2008 - 13:02 ET by iveseenitallPay the "teachers", no matter how bad they are, more money. That'll solve the problem of poor education in America. Riiight!!
BTW, the left loves to talk of corporate greed and no accountability. There are reports surfacing about some New York State school district superintendents making up to $320 thousand dollars a year--IN RETIREMENT! A reward for their "success", I guess. ( check out N.Y. Newsday )
NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"