snapped shot

I had a little bit of fun with this story yesterday, but failed to point out that Rhonda Shearer and team really have put quite a lot of effort into documenting some of the inconsistencies she uncovered in the original "Fire Doll" story.

For instance, here's a really fascinating comparison:



For more details, be sure to go and read the report. I'll definitely be waiting to hear more from SJ.

First, the video:



Details on how you can keep Shirley Temple* from being flambéed here. Personally? I think they're gonna do it. Continue reading »

You'll be amused at the lengths Reuters will go to tug at your heart-strings... over a self-admitted jihadi:



Hey Reuters: If you love Omar so much, then I'm sure you'll have no problem with us turning him over to you? For the record, we've tried offloading some of the murderers we are currently "looking after" in Gitmo to the very European countries that are complaining about the camp, and you know what kind of response we got?

UPDATE: Reuters has responded again. Has this issue touched a nerve with the GBU Editor? I'm pleased to see them release all the evidence at their disposal, though.

It is important to understand that accuracy and impartiality are central to our reporting, and to everything Reuters represents. We distribute approximately 1,500 pictures per day, and these pass through rigorous editorial evaluation and selection to make it onto our wire. We stand behind the authenticity and accuracy of both the original photo, and the additional images supplied.

I hate to say it, but I'm almost with Reuters on this one: The additional photographs do show quite a bit of undamaged room, in addition to piles of charred wood which, presumably, came from the roof of the house. The ball is back in ASRL's court, though—I'd love to see what their fire experts say about this additional information.



Reuters has been challenged about that pristine doll we were discussing a while back, and is fighting back with a vengeance... of sorts:

The photo is fine. We have examined the whole sequence of pictures that included this one, and there are a number of things in the house - a doorknob here, a picture frame there, etc. - that appear clean despite the serious fire damage around them: GBU Editor

Thanks to Rhonda Shearer from the Art Science Research Laboratory for bringing this to my attention, and for giving me the chance to hit the fauxtography tag once again. I definitely look forward to hearing what becomes of this investigation!



Update: Déjà vu. Reuters really loves standing behind their controversies, don't they?

Update: Here is one of the other images Rhonda referenced. Very nicely composed, too:



Also note that a personal friend of Mario Anzuoni swears that Mario would never stage a photograph—Which is duly noted, Chris. Is it possible that this was merely a very unlikely coincidence? My bet's on "no," but hey, I'm always open to suggestions.

On a related note to that last one, it would seem that Reuters really does have "occupation" on the brain: Notice that Israeli troops were withdrawn from the West Bank city of Jenin—which, incidentally, is known colloquially as "the city of suicide bombers," according to Aaron Klein's excellent book—in the year 2002:



Perhaps Reuters needs to update its stylebook to reflect these "recent" changes? (Many thanks to soccer dad for this excellent catch!)

I think the photo editor manning the AP Middle East desk might be getting just a teensy bit overzealous with that dastardly quote key:



I've seen every possible level of doubt put on the story of the Anbar Awakening, but I don't know that it's really worth disputing whether these are "citizens," and whether or not they are really "concerned."

(NOTE: The above image has been retracted, and is no longer available on the Yahoo! copy of the photo wires. According to GettyImages, the caption has been corrected to read: CORRECTS BULLETS TO UNSPENT An elderly Iraqi woman holds up two unspent bullets at her house following an early coalition forces raid in the predominantly Shiite Baghdad suburb of Sadr City, 14 August 2007. US and Iraqi troops carried out massive assaults against Shiite militants, killing four in Baghdad's volatile slum of Sadr City, and arresting several more across Iraq, the military said today.)

I saw this picture early yesterday afternoon, but got sidetracked before I got a chance to post anything about it. Of course, this may be the same woman that we covered here this past July:



Same photographer, same circumstances. Possibly even the same woman. (Hint: Check out the cheekbones, and the scar on the right cheek..)

What do you suppose the odds are that Wissam is trying to drum something up to try and make the Coalition troops look bad?

See-Also:

Blackfive, Anti-Protester, American Pundit, Hot Air, A Blog for All, Blue Crab Boulevard, The Jawa Report, Ace of Spades, Confederate Yankee, IMAO, Gateway Pundit