The other problem is that people seldom see/read corrections to news stories so many blindly believe what they read the first time and move along through life with misinformation.

This whole python ordeal and the lies told by television and news outlets has taken my cynicism to a whole new level. Whenever I watch a supposedly educational show on some topic with which I'm not familiar (NatGeo or Discovery Channel, etc.) I find myself wondering how much they are crap they are selling me on those topics, too.