#occupywallstreet lies, deception and photoshop.

For the past 10 days protesters have been camping in lower Manhattan in a protest called Occupy Wall Street. Twitter, Facebook and Blogs all over the internet have been alive with talk of the protest.

This is the image that has been doing the rounds of Facebook. See the streets jam packed with protesters. A protest that big certainly is impressive, but are there really that many protesters?

#occupywallstreet promotional image.

No, the photo is a fake, it was made by Jason Wettstein in a dishonest attempt to make the protest seem bigger and more significant than it really is. The forgery came to light when Travis Roy of the Granite State Skeptics posted it to the Skeptalk mailing list questioning it's authenticity. Within 41 minutes fellow skeptic Tim Parkinson exposed the photo as a fake.

Forgery exposed by skeptic Tim Parkinson.

By forging this image Jason Wettstein has undermined his own cause. His image proclaims "DON'T TRUST THE MEDIA THEY LIE" so it is with great irony that I can now say. Don't trust Jason Wettstein he lies.

I hate hypocrites; especially dishonest hypocrites. Checkout Tim Parkinsons blog about this. (especially the comments section.)

Update on Monday, October 10, 2011 at 6:08PM by Dan Buzzard

I encountered a wackjob conspiracy nut, after reporting on Tims photoshop debunk.

I don't know what harassment this individual is talking about, since I have never contacted anyone except other skeptics regarding this photo. As for his claims that I'm a god fearing Christian, that's one I'll let other people judge; clearly evidence of my Christianity is everywhere on this site.

Tim Parkinson has also been accused of working for the banks.

This type of conspiracy mongering does nothing to help any legitimate message that the protestors may (or may not) have. The tin-foil hatters provide not value to anybody when they try to feed their own paranoid delusions. How deluded must a person be to visit my site and conclude that I must be a Christian? Or that anyone running ads on their website is in the employ of whoever's ad appears.