When truths that are lies become lies that are truths

My iGoogle homepage consists of various news sources: CNET News, USA Today, InfoWorld, Slashdot, The Onion, New York Times and others.

When I log in, I quickly scan the headlines to get a general sense of the news. iGoogle news widgets all look alike. There are no logos indicating the news source, just text of the publication name followed by headlines. Location can help if you were a whiz at Concentration. For example, the upper right corner of my iGoogle is devoted to The Onion. I forget this a lot.

Including The Onion in my daily headline browsing mix is disruptive. I can be gullible. Actually, I’m really gullible. I hate this about myself. So once I’ve been had by The Onion, I tend to over correct. For example, on Mondays, I read every headline as truth, get burned by The Onion, so Tuesday I skeptically read every headline as a lie.

This bi-polar method of headline scanning is iffy. Truths that are lies become lies that are truths.

Here is a list of Today's mixed bag:

McCain has spot of skin removed as precaution
New Linens-N-Shit Opens
Billionaires Donate To Anti-Smoking Drive
MySpace could be flooded by Elvis impersonators
Bush hails Pakistan as strong ally
Textbook Publishers Continue To Freak Out Over File Sharing