#mythopedia

Review: Mythopedia: An Encyclopedia Of Mythical Beasts and Magical Tales.

From the West African fable of Anansi the Spider, to Tanuki, the sweet but troublesome racoon-dog of Japanese folklore, this encyclopedia of mythical creatures covers legends, tales and myths from around the world.

Mythopedia: OH MY GODS!

A Look-It-Up Guide to the Gods of Mythology

Megan E Bryant

Scholastic

↪  𝑸𝑼𝑬𝑺𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑴𝑰𝑵𝑫𝑺

  Coyote laughed maniacally, with amusement and utter terror. ‘What it takes to feel at least a little alive. Giving the hornet’s nest a kiss (with tongue).’ is what they thought of it. “Ah, I can’t help myself sometimes. It’s astronomically stupid, I know. Poking the bear? Always. Especially where the Shovelheads are involved. Poor termites.”

  Visibly roughed up, a deep scratch across their narrow chest, tearing through the leather of their jacket and evidence of blunt force trauma crackled into their left cheekbone. They raked their hair away from their face, allowing it to fall back over their shoulders which released the heavy scent of decay. 

  Their gun was still warm, precariously sticking out of the front of their jeans. Patting it like a trustworthy horse, they smiled. “That lot won’t be trouble for me anymore anyhow, if the remaining two have learned their lesson at least.” That was stupid of them nonetheless. They got off with what was essentially a couple of love taps but going one to three could’ve ended poorly. 

Have you checked out Mythopedia, the new online tool that you can use to take down the conservative lies that plague our media today? 

Try it out here: http://mythopedia.mediamatters.org/

Media Matters for America is releasing a sort of Wikipedia for conservative misinformation.

The site, Mythopedia, which was shared with TPM ahead of its release, is meant to be an online compendium of truths and lies peddled by conservatives. The website's unveiling comes a day before the Conservative Political Action Conference.

"The week of CPAC seemed like the most appropriate time to launch a fact-checking tool, like Mythopedia, as I’m sure we’re going to be confronted with both old and new right-wing lies during the conference," Media Matters president Bradley Beychok said in a statement.

Here's how the site works. The front page is bar where users type in a claim. Searching that claim then pulls up "lies" or "truths" with research backing up whether it's a truth or a lie. For instance a search of the Obama administration on Benghazi directs to a page with the the lie "The Obama administration covered up the Benghazi attack by pointing to an anti-Islam video" and the truth "A bipartisan Senate report connects the Benghazi attack to an anti-Islam video" as well as evidence backing up the truth.

The site is starting with 400 entries and will be updated regularly. The updated fact checks will be done in real time by Media Matters staff. Media Matters will start soliciting tips and feedback from audiences and could possibly start moving highly involved users of the site into a more involved role.

H/T: Daniel Strauss at TPM LiveWire