More plagarism from Ann Coulter – Rude Pundit is on it, from chapter one of her new book:
Here’s Coulter from Chapter 1 of Godless: The massive Dickey-Lincoln Dam, a $227 million hydroelectric project proposed on upper St. John River in Maine, was halted by the discovery of the Furbish lousewort, a plant previously believed to be extinct.
Here’s the Portland Press Herald, from the year 2000, in its list of the “Maine Stories of the Century”: The massive Dickey-Lincoln Dam, a $227 million hydroelectric project proposed on upper St. John River, is halted by the discovery of the Furbish lousewort, a plant believed to be extinct.
Strangely similar, no? By the way, that’s a story from 1976. Coulter doesn’t tell you that little tidbit, making you think it happened last week. The next one’s from 1977:
I posted on this a while back, after the previous examples of her doing a cut and paste job were discovered. So she’s a fraud, yet ends up on TV all the time…I still can’t get what Bill Maher sees in her. My guess is he’s seen her without inhibitions or clothes on a few occasions. Maybe she performed a triple lindy on him or something.
Sorry to burst your bubble but this isn’t plagarism anymore than me writing a friend and telling them Zarqawi is dead.
She isn’t stealing ideas but distributing the historical record. This is a historical fact, not someones creative works, no one can own the story of the Dam.
This is a great book by the way, I have a tough time putting it down.
Yeah, but doesn’t she need to re-word it or summarize it in her own words? it’s verbatim without a citation (I presume).
Maher is dating Coulter? If so, strange pair.
How many times can you reword the same history. I can’t say the phrase President John F. Kennedy then because I’d be plagarising the newpaper that first announced his win back in 1961, or whenever. I’d have to say J. Fitzgerald Kenney, elected to the office above the Vice President to avoid plagarism. Kinda ridiculous, huh.
And who do you cite with historical facts? George Washington crosses the Delewar, who do you cite? With the Dam story I guess she would have to cite the Dam as the source of the historical fact.
Bill Maher??? Liberal hack Bill Maher??? I’m sure this is story is as accurate as the Rove indictment and Valerie Plame’s “undercover” status.
BTW, that RudePundit is all about being rude and nothing about fact or relevance. For other examples go see dailykos.
Right, there is a well known procedure employed by every writer I know of but Coulter, where you either provide a quote w/ source in the back of the book OR a footnote.
Hunter S. Thompson correctly credited other people’s work…and he was stoned and shitfaced during most of what he covered.
What’s her excuse?
After Jason Blair & the numerous others who have been put in their place for the theft of other writers’ work, it’s astonishing to find a prominent author today that can’t find the time to source their work.
Taking an event from the past and misrepresenting it is bad enough, but this is America, 1st ammendment and all…
If it’s what a person believes, it’s their right to have it published, BUT – stealing is another matter altogether. Condoning it in any form it may take within our society only helps to bring our culture down a peg.
Right, do you honestly think that she couldn’t be bothered to source her work? Or is the guarantee of millions of book sales all that matters here?
Not for nothing, but if John Irving was caught doing this, I’d no longer buy his books. Why? He’s my favorite living author besides Vonnegut – but it wouldn’t matter to me. BECAUSE, he’s good enough to write a novel without stealing from others…
If John Irving were to do that – to me – it would appear as if he was just in it for the money, and I was being played for a sucker.
I’m very sensitive to this – – – – as the theft of intellectual property is just as bad as theft of someone else’s car! It’s wrong in any form. There’s a commandment devoted to it even!
And I don’t get what you mean by referring to Washington crossing the Potomic…David McCullough wrote ‘1776’ within the past two years, I read it…for that portion of the book he cites countless references…diaries of those who were there, press clippings, Washington’s letters, Brittish papers – it’s all archived in libraries across the country.
You act as if the entire process of researching for a piece of original writing is some sort of a mystery to the world.
‘Team of Rivals’ – the one I’m reading now…in the back there are about a hundred pages of references…it’s how things are done in legitimate publishing – these books that pundits are cranking out are about little more than their own bank accounts.
Shit, I’d read Bill Frist’s memoir from ’89 before I’d ever read a book by Bill O’Rieley or Ann Coulter. That goes for Al Franken as well, btw.
Why? Because Frist writes about his own life, his own experiences…these people write about the same shit book after book, all of them attempting to pen the perfect piece of political blah that might just speak directly to a reader, who will then devote their wallet to whatever comes next, regardless of whether it’s legit or not.
I can’t turn in a college paper full of verbatim from unnamed sources…I’ll get flunked on the assignment and most likely put on probation.
I mean, that’s only the standard we hold our kids to when they go to school…so since we’re adults now, all those rules can just go out the window, right?
Don’t blame Coulter, she is simply a product of our education system, right?
I think Maher and Coulter are a perfect couple. They are both obnoxious paid entertainers.
I mean, that’s only the standard we hold our kids to when they go to school…so since we’re adults now, all those rules can just go out the window, right?
You’ve completely missed the point. There is nothing to source, it’s history. Who has the copyright on history??? Did someone copyright the story of the Dickey-Lincoln Dam? Do I owe the cpyright owner royalties for writing this post? Who should I cite for writing about this issue?
She didn’t copy anyones opnions, ideas, observations, experiences or intellectual property. She stated facts from the public domain of a public utility project using taxpayer dollars. Should she have cited the Water Utility or whatever governemnt entity was responsible for the Dam?
This is such a non-issue and a sad attempt by rudepundit to halt the landslide of popularity this book has. It is a great read.
She stated facts in the exact manner in which she was made aware of them. I’m sorry, but if I posted an article from a news source and didn’t change a word, then put it up as if it was my own writing…I’d have to shut down deadissue and call it a day, because at that point I’m merely attempting to appear as something that I’m not.
There are several examples of her boosting other peoples’ work, using the exact sentences, perhaps losing a word here or there…
I’m sure it’s a great read Right, but if Al Franken did the same thing, what would you be saying?
IF YOU USE ANOTHER’S WORDS VERBATIM, IT REQUIRES CREDIT!!!!
A piece of history can be described 100 different ways…it wouldn’t have been that much work for her to rephrase what she had used for a reference…or maybe it would be, maybe she’s not smart enough to perform that function.
Maher is great when he’s moderating a panel, but his interviews and monologue are dreadfull.
When he’s got three people on the panel, ‘real time’, that show is outstanding. I don’t care what anyone thinks of Mahar’s politics, for that format, I don’t know of anyone better.
I’m sorry, but if I posted an article from a news source and didn’t change a word
It’s not a news source, it is a historical fact in the public domain so it is free reign.
I’m sure it’s a great read Right, but if Al Franken did the same thing, what would you be saying?
I wouldn’t care, I don’t care. If he wants to say that Hoover Dam was build during the Great Depression, I’m fine with that because that is what happened, it’s a fact, not an opinion.
Look at the DaVinci Code lawsuit. You can’t copyright history, I can’t say this enough, there is no intellectual property assigned to history and public domain.
RT, could a newspaper sue you if you published one of their articles word for word?
I agree Maher is entertaining, but I think he is entertaining because he is such a sensationalist. Just like Coulter.
RT, could a newspaper sue you if you published one of their articles word for word?
Sure, they own the article. Are you saying some newpaper owns a DAM because they passed on public information? Do they own the Furbish Lousewort plant genome? Do they own the public record? Of course not, it’s public domain.
Well, if Coulter used that article verbatim then she crossed the ethical line (maybe even broke a law since she is profiting from others work without their consent). History is not copyrightable, but the exact sequence of words which in combination form a piece of journalistic work are copyrightable. I don’t understand how you don’t see what Chris is saying here.
In today’s world we call that cut and paste. Even undergrad students should know enough not to use the exact text from a published work and try to pass it off as their own.
BTW, have you read my new book. I call it “1776” and it’s about a historical period in time referred to as the Revolutionary War. Good thing history isn’t copyrightable, how else could I possibly make money off of someone else’s work.
I actually read of couple of paragraphs of chapter 1. Boy does she hate Americans.
I can see why “conservatives” (as in talk radio) would love her to death. Heck, there’s more evidence of Noah’s ark than there is of Darwin’s theories. Great bathroom reader, will really make me want to get off the toilet fast.
If I posted an article in full here (as I do sometimes), and didn’t include a link AND the real author’s name, they’d be right to send a couple of cyber-goons to my email.
I’d expect that.
There’s no worse feeling than the one you get when someone else is capitalizing off of something they stole from you. Older, wiser people would say to me, “imitation is the greatest form of flattery”…
If I then told them that my work was taken verbatim and sold by someone else, they’d inform me that doing such a thing was against the law, that I could sue them in civil court…that’s basically the whole deal with the coach played by the Fonz in The Waterboy. In that story, the Fonz got his revenge in the end…but real life isn’t exactally like that. And it’s also most likely that whoever stole it can now afford several lawyers, and they’ll make a good case that you were attracted to children, a junky, rapist, satin worshiper, bad tipper, mean drunk, dangerous driver.
The thief has an advantage in this world as it stands today – just the way it is. I’m ranting because the Red Sox just loaded the bases after taking a 2-1 lead in the top of the 12th…
I meant to say, the gravy-armed Red Sox bullpen past the top two at any given time…Julian Tavarez, a shell of a shell of his former self, maybe throw in another shell…
Johan Santana and Curt Shilling throw gems, 8 innings a piece, Santana with about 39 strikeouts by the 5th inning, a pair of solo homeruns from Varitek (Sox catcher, modern day Nostradamus – having struck out looking foolish on two prior at bats dominated by Santana’s ridiculous off-speed pitch, Varitek thinks ‘he’s going to lead with that’ – and he did, Tek deposited it in left center about ten rows back on a rope) and Cuddyer for the Twins. 9th inning and its Nathan-Papelbohn, next Rincon-Timlin, finally by the 12th inning both teams are forced to yank one of the five interchangeable piss-poor relief pitchers they have left.
Their’s gave up one run in an inning with loaded bases and a web gem from the Twins’ shortstop on a ball up the middle. Tavarez for the Red Sox gave up a walk off grand slam.
Some extreme ‘Casey at the Bat’ voodoo for a Tuesday night – smack dab in the ‘foreplay portion’ of this year’s summer.
Jim Beam tonight – for a specific reason. ‘S.R.’ aka sonicrusk arrived today, and festive vibe outlasted him I’m afraid – jetlag and such, but I’ve remained on course. How could I not? Santana and Schilling in an old-timey chess match…
Only to have it end up like that. I can only pray for all the little hearts out there, now broken, because their mommies and daddies let them stay up until the game was over…
That’s where goth kids come from…Stanford University should begin a study on that. I’m afraid that last idea came off a bit racist. Max is howling, the rest of all this is still and silent, a tree outside is dying for me to change the channel to Deadwood, whether it’s on or not, that’s the only show he likes.
This is a link to a lot of anti-Coulter chatter from conservatives:
Link-Digby’s Blog
having fallen out last night from jet lag and extreme lack of sleep, I am behind in commenting here.
RT: I know exactly what you are talking about. How can you cite “The sky is blue”? How can you reword it: “The sky is a mixture of yellow and green.” Blah blah. I think where Coulter went wrong was adding in the unique words of “extinct” and “halted.’ Yes, common words, but unique to the original writer. If she would’ve stated “This plant ceased production in 1976,” that’s common knowledge.
As for the Red Sox-Twins, incredible pitcing before I fell out. It was a great game to watch for the true baseball fan. Pitcher’s duels are what baseball is about. Julian Tavarez is a tool.
Being no Ann Coulter fan myself, I feel holding off commenting or even taking a stance on this issue until John Barrie provides specific, in context examples of this alleged plagarism. So far, in the article cited, is Barrie’s accusation and nothing more. Before I agree or disagree with Barrie’s assertions, I want to see the passages, in context, from Coulter’s book he claims were plagarized along with the passages, again in context, from the source material from which he accuses Coulter of plagarizing. I also want source materials properly and thoroughly cited. It is then and only then can I properly create an informed opinion on the matter. Otherwise, I feel that logically Barrie’s assertions can only be taken with a grain of salt. If there is an online source or sources that will satisfy my criteria, please let me know.
First, I suppose it would be right to acquaint us with her accuser (Dr. Barrie) and his work. The first link is to the site of the tool he created, and the second is a slide show presentation he made in 2004.
http://www.ithenticate.com
http://digital.casalini.it/retreat/2004_docs/Barrie.pdf
As for the specific passages, they are detailed in the NY Post article, on The Rude Pundit…that’s what I’ve read so far. Time constraints prevent me from searching the above links, but some smart searching will most likely get to what you’re looking for. I thought I remembered that he had a long detailed report, and that the press simply chose a couple to highlight.
Also, this isn’t the first time plagiarism has come up in her career.
If the Left would only face up to her accusations and maybe do a little soul searching they would be better off. Instead, they engage in a desperate attempt to find every misspelled word, every gramatical error and every historical event to try to discredit her. The liberal hate machine is at full throttle but it won’t make any difference.
The LHM is about to claim Joe Leiberman as it’t next victim. He is the last moderate Democrat left, all that’s left in the party’s platform is kill babies, surrender to our enemies and enslave the African Americans.