Oh Florida...

[88m3]

ALEXANDER ABAD-SANTOS 88,935 ViewsAPR 2, 2013
Florida country radio morning-show hosts Val St. John and Scott Fish are currently serving indefinite suspensions and possibly worse over a successful April Fools' Day prank. They told their listeners that "dihydrogen monoxide" was coming out of the taps throughout the Fort Myers area. Dihydrogen monoxide is water.

The popular deejays are mainly in all this trouble (potentially of a felony level) because their listeners panicked so much — about the molecular makeup of their drinking water, however unwittingly — that Lee County utility officials had to issue a county-wide statement calming the fears of chemistry challenged Floridians.

Audio evidence of exactly how St. John and Fish executed this bad joke remains scarce, as they were pulled off the air around 8:30 a.m. — about three and half hours into their Val and Scott in the Morning show on WWGR/Gator Country 101.9 FM, which airs across a big region of Southwest Florida. That was enough time for listeners to begin calling the water company. Here's the official statement from Lee County utility issued Monday after fielding many calls about the "dihydrogen monoxide" scare:



"They were joking that 'dihydrogen monoxide' was coming out of Lee County residents' taps," reports Florida's WPTV, though it also remains unclear just how much the two hosts stoked the joke, and whether they actually told people to stop drinking the "dihydrogen monoxide" coming out of their taps. The WWGR station's manager did have to issue a retraction — or at least a constant on-air admission that the gag was, in fact, a joke — even though St. John and Fish were technically correct that dihydrogen monoxide was, indeed, coming out of their taps.

"Every break we have we're telling listeners it was a goof, a bad joke," Tony Renda, general manager at WWGR radio told WTSP-TV. And apparently, the station, the water works, and perhaps the authorities are still trying to figure out if the two hosts could face felony charges for, again, reporting that the scientific name of water was coming out of the pipes. "My understanding is it is a felony to call in a false water quality issue," Diane Holm, a public information officer for Lee County, told WTSP, while Renda stood firm about his deejays: "They will have to deal with the circumstances."

St. John and Fish are currently off the air, and maybe someone should tell their Senator, Marco Rubio — he of the unending water joke — or conservative lawmakers across the land: Our CPAC correspondent Elspeth Reeve tells us that the whole water-is-a-chemical-called-"dihydrogen oxide" bit was a really hit at the annual conference's panel entitled "How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love Plastic Water Bottles, Fracking, Genetically Modified Food, & Big Gulp Sodas."

Update 4:36 p.m. Eastern: We noticed that the station seems to be enjoying this controversy, despite the very real concerns expressed to the Lee County utility. There's a poll on the Gator Country website asking when the two DJs should return to air, with (at the time we viewed the results) 78 percent of those voting "never."

Florida DJs May Face Felony for April Fools' Water Joke Worse Than Rubio's - Alexander Abad-Santos - The Atlantic Wire


@VictorVonDoom

 

[Liquid]

 

[Serious]

h2o

 

[CouldntBeMeTho]

A student at Eagle Rock Junior High won first prize at the Greater Idaho Falls Science Fair, April 26. He was attempting to show how conditioned we have become to alarmists practicing junk science and spreading fear of everything in our environment. In his project he urged people to sign a petition demanding strict control or total elimination of the chemical "dihydrogen monoxide."
And for plenty of good reasons, since:
it can cause excessive sweating and vomiting
it is a major component in acid rain
it can cause severe burns in its gaseous state
accidental inhalation can kill you
it contributes to erosion
it decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes
it has been found in tumors of terminal cancer patients
He asked 50 people if they supported a ban of the chemical.
Forty-three (43) said yes,
six (6) were undecided,
and only one (1) knew that the chemical was water.
The title of his prize winning project was, "How Gullible Are We?"
He feels the conclusion is obvious.

Water is dangerous

never underestimate the public school system

 

[daze23]

LLE

 

[Brown_Pride]

you know what fuk it florida just beat out arizona on this....
congrats

 

[88m3]

A student at Eagle Rock Junior High won first prize at the Greater Idaho Falls Science Fair, April 26. He was attempting to show how conditioned we have become to alarmists practicing junk science and spreading fear of everything in our environment. In his project he urged people to sign a petition demanding strict control or total elimination of the chemical "dihydrogen monoxide."
And for plenty of good reasons, since:
it can cause excessive sweating and vomiting
it is a major component in acid rain
it can cause severe burns in its gaseous state
accidental inhalation can kill you
it contributes to erosion
it decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes
it has been found in tumors of terminal cancer patients
He asked 50 people if they supported a ban of the chemical.
Forty-three (43) said yes,
six (6) were undecided,
and only one (1) knew that the chemical was water.
The title of his prize winning project was, "How Gullible Are We?"
He feels the conclusion is obvious.

Water is dangerous

never underestimate the public school system

I'm sure the "junk science" bit got him the votes...

Oh Middle America how I hate you so

 

[Dafunkdoc_Unlimited]

 

[88m3]

you know what fuk it florida just beat out arizona on this....
congrats

Arizona did come mind as read this, I can't lie.


You guys in the south are really fighting the good fight, I gotta say.


the boy @Sensitive Blake Griffin 's great state of kansas is somewhere in the mix too.

 

[newworldafro]

..... ........... amazing....

 

[Orbital-Fetus]

https://twitter.com/_FloridaMan

 

[Fervid]

Arizona did come mind as read this, I can't lie.


You guys in the south are really fighting the good fight, I gotta say.


the boy @Sensitive Blake Griffin 's great state of kansas is somewhere in the mix too.

Well actually SBG's state is Kentucky but...

 

[Brown_Pride]

https://twitter.com/_FloridaMan

oh shyt my state is full of god damn great people if those links are real lol ...

LOL @ Florida man shoots and dismembers family dog while trying to retrieve son's severed finger.

jebus. Florida had this game on lock the whole time.

 

[88m3]

Well actually SBG's state is Kentucky but...

At the end of the day is there a difference?

 

[Orbital-Fetus]

oh shyt my state is full of god damn great people if those links are real lol ...

LOL @ Florida man shoots and dismembers family dog while trying to retrieve son's severed finger.

jebus. Florida had this game on lock the whole time.

that joint has too many classic headlines.
it's a treasure trove of Florida man comedy...might even need it's own thread.