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1. How Can You Be Sure? economicsandlawexplained.wordpress.com

2. Whatdidyousay? isobe.typepad.com

3. Butitwas in thenews…onthe internet…mymomtold me…Mrs. Carpentersaiditwas true… hopeknowslife.blogspot.com

4. Stars and Stripes News May 22, 2004 Patient given appointment...in 192 years A hospital patient has been told he'll have to wait 192 years for a minor operation. Robert Smith has been sent a letter by Dewsbury District Hospital saying the waiting time is 9,999 weeks. The Mirror says bosses at the Mid-Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust have apologized for the gaffe, blaming an admin error. A Trust spokesman said: "We are happy to confirm no one has ever had to wait 9,999 weeks." Mr. Smith, 48, has now been told the waiting time for the operation to have a spot removed from beside his eye is actually 17 weeks.

5. Switch: EBay allows auction of Virgin Mary grilled cheese MIAMI (AP) — The Internet auction house eBay Inc. reversed itself Tuesday and is allowing bids for half of a 10-year-old grilled cheese sandwich that its owner says bears the image of the Virgin Mary. Diana Duyser, of Hollywood, put the sandwich up for sale last week, drawing bids as high as $22,000 before eBay pulled the item Sunday night. The page was viewed almost 100,000 times before being taken down. An e-mail Duyser received from eBay said the sandwich broke its policy, which "does not allow listings that are intended as jokes." But Duyser, a work-from-home jewelry designer who has bought and sold items on eBay for two years, said the grilled cheese wasn't a joke. The auction was back on Tuesday afternoon with a top bid of $5,100. The winning bidder also has to pay $9.95 for shipping. Duyser thought eBay would be the best place to show off the sandwich, made on plain white bread and American cheese and cooked with no oil or butter. She said she took a bite after making it 10 years ago and saw a face staring back at her from the bread. Duyser, 52, put the sandwich in a clear plastic box with cotton balls and kept it on her night stand. At first, she was scared by the image, "but now that I realize how unique it is, I wanted to share it with the world," Duyser told The Miami Herald. She said the sandwich has never sprouted a spore of mold. USA Today Newspaper – November 18, 2004 Isthisthewholestory? Accurate?

6. YourChallenge Pick a currentnewsstory. Use a credible online newspaperornewssite. (CBS, MSN, ABC, a majorcitynewspaper) 2. Findthesamestorywritten and publishedbythreedifferentnewssources. (so three of theabove) 3. Complete the chart comparingthestories. Write a reflectionontheactivitywhereyoudraw a conclusionfromwhatyoufound, makeaninference, and offeryouropinion.

7. News Article Comparison Worksheet • Name ____________________________________________________ Section __________ • Original News Story Title/Topic/Event: __________________________________________________________________ • Presents the story in the exact same way • Story very similar • Left out important details • Changed the story entirely • Added extra details • Added extra unrelated details • Well-written and tells the true story in your opinion Mrs. Carpenter Switch: EBay allows auction of Virgin Mary grilled cheese USA Today Newspaper – November 18, 2004 Compare three versions to the original story you found. Article 1 Article 2 Article 3 x x x x x x x x http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4034787.stm Article 1 Source: (URL)____________________________________________________ Specifics from above: An internet casino , part of pop culture“, $28,000 dollars, 1.7 million hits on the auction site, Goldenpalace.com says it will take the sandwich on world tour before selling it and donating the money to charity, "We believe that everyone should be able to see it and learn of its mystical power for themselves." MrsDuyser told reporters the sandwich had brought her luck - including winnings of $70,000 at a casino near her Florida home. "I hollered for him," she said, gesturing to her husband, Greg. "It scared me at first." She says she has done nothing to preserve the sandwich except keeping it in a plastic box, but "it doesn't fall apart or crumble or anything". The item has inspired sellers to place dozens of spin-off items on the online auction site, including attempts at replica burnt toast, T-shirts, ornamental plates, and domain names. One seller is even offering a "Virgin Mary" sandwich toaster - though the item description includes the caveat that the item "may or may not reproduce the Virgin Mary image".

8. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/6511148/ns/us_news-weird_news/t/virgin-mary-grilled-cheese-sells/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/6511148/ns/us_news-weird_news/t/virgin-mary-grilled-cheese-sells/ Article 2 Source: (URL)________________________________________________ Specifics from above: the item sold for $28,000 on eBay. GoldenPalace.com, an online casino, confirmed that it placed the winning bid, and company executives said they were willing to spend “as much as it took” to own the 10-year-old half-sandwich with a bite out of it. “It’s a part of pop culture, he planned to use the sandwich to raise money for charity. “I would like all people to know that I do believe that this is the Virgin Mary Mother of God,” Duyser, a work-from-home jewelry designer, said in the casino’s statement. The online auction site initially pulled the sale, saying it didn’t post joke items. The page was restored after the company was convinced that Duyser would deliver on the bid, said eBay spokesman Hani Durzy. She put the sandwich in a clear plastic box with cotton balls and kept it on her night stand. She said the sandwich has never sprouted a spore of mold. Article 3 Source: (URL)____________________________________________________ Hungry for Miracles? Try Jesus on a Fish Stick Nov. 30, 2004 By BUCK WOLF When a partially eaten, 10-year-old grilled cheese sandwich said to bear the image of the Virgin Mary sold for $28,000, you knew it had to be a sign of something, although not necessarily divine. Already eBay is teeming with other icons rendered on toasted sandwiches. A grilled SpongeBob is going for 99 cents, and for a little more you can also have Al Roker, Hello Kitty and Ron Artest etched on toast. new owner of the famed sandwich, online casino GoldenPalace.com, is putting it on display at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, also in Hollywood, Fla. It promises to take the partially eaten religious icon on tour. Duyser, who has been recently sporting a T-shirt with the slogan "Passion of the Toast," says she took a bite of the sandwich 10 years ago, saw the image of Mary, and immediately decided that this blessed snack was not to be eaten. "It scared me, really," she told reporters. Don't expect the Vatican to weigh in on this matter. The Roman Catholic Church has specific guidelines for recognizing miracles and sacred apparitions. Over the past 2000 years, the church has only sanctioned three apparitions of the Virgin Mary: the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico (1531), and the visions at Lourdes in France (1858) and Fatima in Portugal (1917). in their $28,000 purchase. "It represented something that we believed to be a piece of Americana pop culture," says Steve Baker, chief executive officer of Cyber World Group, GoldenPalace's Canada-based parent. http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/WolfFiles/story?id=307227