Times, Well, Spent

McSleuth has found a minor instance of plagiarism. Apparently a single paragraph in a Times London article was lifted from a Fortune article that had been printed about 6 months prior. The paragraph contains some details about a surgery Steve Jobs underwent.

OK guys, calm down! I know, it's a crisis, but we need to stay focused. I, too, was terribly hurt to see that a writer pilfered a negligible amount of uninspired prose that contain readily available factual information. Fret not! Megan knows how to treat the broken heart; with humor:

It's possible that this is not plagiarism--that David Rose is actually Philip Elmer-DeWitt's alter ego and thus owns the copyright to that passage,

Oh man, that cracks me up! Where does she come up with those knee-slappers? Ahhh, I feel a bit better already. Still, though my wounds have been salved, I need to know that someone will seek justice in this horrible imbroglio!

I've emailed the Times for comment, and will report as I get any information.

PHEW! Megan's on the case. I can rest easy now. I'm sure, what with her tenacity and dedication, McGruff will ensure that justice prevails.

I just hope she doesn't get too distracted from her vital work of telling us useless crap and make "gee-whiz" comments about the economy. Oh good, looks like we're safe there, too.

PS Don't visit her main site. The idiot has a really annoying video for a Foreman Grill rip-off up that plays automatically when you go to her blog. I think, since she's realized that abject incompetence won't do it alone, she is now intentionally trying to annoy her readers away. After all, the fewer people that visit her blog, the fewer the emails she gets informing her of her failures and thus the less work she has to do. Everyone wins!

UPDATE:Case closed! No one escapes McArdle's crack detective work.