Yesterday TMZ made big news by publishing a photo that supposedly depicted John F. Kennedy lounging on a yacht while four naked girls frolicked around, much like you see in your dreams, assuming your dreams are black and white and grainy. The story spread like wild fire and I was oh-so-close to posting something about the image, but it just didn’t feel right. Something was off. Now comes word that my hunch was correct, but the same sites that ran the story yesterday will almost assuredly post no correction today.

Hours after the popular celebrity news Web site published a photo that it said “appears to show John F. Kennedy on a boat filled with naked women,” one of its corporate siblings, The Smoking Gun, revealed that TMZ had been duped.

The photo that TMZ called exclusive was, it turned out, featured in a Playboy magazine photo spread in 1967, four years after Mr. Kennedy was assassinated. The Smoking Gun called it a “colossal screw-up” by TMZ.

TMZ is owned by Warner Brothers, and The Smoking Gun is owned by Turner. Both are units of Time Warner.

TMZ acknowledged in a subsequent article on Monday afternoon that the photo was “a fake.”

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It seems like every other week a new revelation about the infamous Shroud of Turin emerges that either validates its authenticity or destroys all of its credibility. This week we’re on the Destroys Credibility phase, as an actual burial cloth from the period has been located and it doesn’t correlate with the Shroud:

The Vatican-owned Shroud of Turin is a holy relic said to be the burial cloth of Jesus, and bears an image purported to be his face. It has been held in the Italian city of Turin since 1578.

Scholars have cast doubt on the Shroud of Turin’s authenticity, citing scientific evidence such as radiocarbon testing that date it to medieval times. The Jerusalem garment reinforces that scepticism by providing a genuine burial cloth from Jesus’ day to which it can be compared.

The Jerusalem garment was found nine years ago in a tomb in the Hinnom Valley opposite the walls of the Old City in the Israeli capital.

Tests on the cloth also showed the man who was buried in it suffered from leprosy. This is the first evidence, Dr Gibson said, that the disease was found in the Jerusalem area in the days of Jesus, who is said in the Bible to have miraculously cured lepers.

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Cattle mutilations are on the rise once again, this time hitting the state of Colorado. What causes these mutilations? No one is quite sure. Theories range from a simple prank to devil-loving cults to aliens from outer space.

Four calves, all killed overnight. Their innards gone. Tongues sliced out. Udders carefully removed. Facial skin sliced and gone. Eyes cored away. Not a single track surrounding the carcasses, which were found in pastures locked behind two gates and a mile from any road. Not a drop of blood on the ground or even on the remaining skin.

“A lion will drag its kill. Coyotes rip and tear flesh. These were perfect cuts — like with a laser or like a scalpel. And what would take the waste — all the guts — and leave the nice, tender meat?” Sanchez says, as he nudges his old Ford through rutted trails, rosary beads swinging from his rearview mirror. “No tracks. No blood. No nothing. I got nothing to go by. They don’t leave no trace.”

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Did AT&T willingly influence votes in favor of Kris Allen, the latest winner of American Idol? That’s the charge being leveled by the New York Times, which claims AT&T provided phones for free text-messaging at parties organized by fans of Mr. Allen. This is supposedly a big deal because the same wasn’t done for Kris Allen’s competitor, Adam Lambert.

From the New York Times:

Officials of Fox Broadcasting declined to discuss the situation. In a statement issued Tuesday, a spokesman for AT&T said, “In Arkansas, we were invited to attend the local watch parties organized by the community. A few local employees brought a small number of demo phones with them and provided texting tutorials to those who were interested.”

Representatives of AT&T helped fans of Mr. Allen at the two Arkansas events by providing instructions on how to send 10 or more text messages at the press of a single button, known as power texts. Power texts have an exponentially greater effect on voting than do single text messages or calls to the show’s toll-free phone lines. The efforts appear to run afoul of “American Idol” voting rules in two ways. The show broadcasts an on-screen statement at the end of each episode warning that blocks of votes cast using “technical enhancements” that unfairly influence the outcome of voting can be thrown out.

My comment? Who gives a flying fruck. How about we spend more time investigating rampant voter fraud in presidential elections and not worry so much about which lame-ass singer won a talent show of little worth?