Apparently, on a recent episode of Jeopardy, the college kid contestants “avoided” the category of African American History until there was no other choice. Writer Lindy West of Jezebel.com thought this was some kind of sign of soft racism, I guess. She wrote the contestants avoided the topic like the “black plague” during the Double Jeopardy round.

Well, she included a video link that was the entire program, so we could watch this shameful avoidance of an uncomfortable topic. However, in the Jeopardy round the kids also avoided the category “‘U. S.’ Eh” until it too was the last option. Are we to assume these college kids were avoiding words that start with the letters U and S like the black plague?

I think this is an example of taking insult where none is given.

Ms West in writing her piece about finding insult where none existed also committed an error that set of my pedantry alarm. She wrote, “LOLOLLLOLLOLLOOOOLOLOLOL”.

That translates to, “Laugh out loud out loud loud loud out loud loud out loud loud out out out out loud out loud out loud out loud.” For shame, Lindy, if you intend to show over the top endless laughter simply write, “Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.”

My good friend, former Z Talker, and thorn in my side, Kale Kelly likes to share questionable things on Facebook and I like pointing out how those items are probably not true.

One such story Kale shared was of a badly deformed baby borne of a younger couple who were in an accidental incestuous relationship. They were twins whose mother was in prison when she gave them birth after which they were separated and adopted out. Through unusual but innocent circumstances the siblings met later in life, not realizing they were brother and sister, fell in love and made a baby. That baby was so hideously deformed that an investigation was made and it was discovered the younger couple were siblings.

So gross and sickening, ain’t it? Well, it’s probably total BS. There were several red flags. First the story came from an obscure website, not a legit news site. And there were no source citations. And all links on the page were to advertisements (this is why I’m not linking to the page, I don’t want to fill your computer with malware). And there is no “Wisconsin State Woman’s (sic – that’s how it was spelled in the article) Correctional Facility” at which the article claims the mother of the twins is imprisoned. And the kind of birth defects we see in the picture aren’t likely to happen in one generation of inbreeding. And the mutant baby picture appears to had been created or enhanced in Photoshop, especially the squid eye. And, finally, the picture alleged to by the incestuous couple is a stock photo of a young couple that has shown up on several other websites unrelated to the accidental incest story.