The Great Muffin Scandal of 2011 seems to have been, uh, half-baked. You'll remember the Village media outcry when the story of the $16 muffins served by a hotel at a Justice Department skull-spin was uncovered. Zounds!! Another case of Gummint waste! Every reason to cut spending!!
Well, it turns out that the mainstream media's Great Muffin Scandal was a case of the media taking some numbers and, in their inimitable fashion, misunderstanding them. While we understand that journalism isn't the preferred major of mathematicians or scientists, at least they could do some simple checking with the hotel before running with a "story." As it turns out, the "$16 muffins" included the price of a full continental breakfast plus tax, and actually came to a slightly more modest $14 and change. But the "$16 muffin" is a much sexier story than "$14 continental breakfast," so our heroes in the media ran with it.
(photo: "Get me re-write! And a muffin!")
