Ammonia refrigeration units AND Rhode Island

Wait, what?



"I worked on tractors, cars, trucks, combines, ammonia refrigeration units the size of Rhode Island (Rhode Island is the size of Rhode Island), various farm implements like manure spreaders (not affiliated with any political party), Boeing 747s, and lawn mowers."

Ok, this is very suspicious. First the fellow claims that these ammonia refrigeration units are the size of Rhode Island, and then offers this tidbit - "Rhode Island is the size of Rhode Island." Did he know I was waiting here with the clamrake of accuracy swinging in the air to bash him? Why offer up that little treat? O life is terrible strange and wondrous.

Link to The Albert Lea Tribune, Minnesota

Fort Benning, Georgia

Wrong.



"The population of trained soldiers at Fort Benning — which is about the size of Rhode Island — will increase from 111,052 in 2008 to 144,770 in 2011."

According to wikipedia, Fort Benning is "covers 182,000 acres (737 km²), while Rhode island is 4,002 km², so, um, no.

Link to The News Enterprise, serving Harding County, Kentucky, who I don't expect to know better, sadly.

Alex Rodriguez's elbow pad

Wrong.

"The Steroid Twins: First impression of Alex Rodriguez's ballyhooed return Friday came not with him hammering the first pitch he saw over the fence for a three-run homer, but in the seconds right before as he stepped into the Camden Yards batter's box.

He was wearing, as always, an elbow pad the size of Rhode Island."


While I understand that sportswriters, being the sad magpies of the journalistic community, are always looking for a colorful phrase, may I suggest that using "THE SIZE OF RHODE ISLAND" wins no points for originality or style.
If bloody Alex Rodriguez was such a freaking giant, he'd be off destroying Manhattan like that beastie from Cloverfield, rather than loping about Fenway. For God's sake, people.

Link to CBS Sports, whose writing is bleak, to say the least.

The area of timberlands purchased by Weyerhauser in 1900

It might be the size of Rhode Island.
"Bruce Amundson, a spokesman for Weyerhaeuser, said the cut was the lowest ever for the company, which got its start in 1900 when German immigrant Frederick Weyerhaeuser bought timberlands in Washington state the size of Rhode Island. The company now has 6.4 million acres of U.S. timberlands."

Well, I believe it for one, but without epic (and heart-rending) research, I'm not going to go into the nitty-gritty to verify this one. All I can say is that on a Washington state driving trip, we drove longer through Weyerhaeuser land than I've ever driven through Rhode Island, tip to tip and getting lost all day as I do. It was like, leave the Sea-Tac area, enter Weyerhaeuser land, and stay on their land until Oregon. Crazy.

Link to Bloomberg, who generally know their news.

This guy's father's oil stain

Wrong

"Eventually, my father got tired of pressure-washing an oil stain the size of Rhode Island off the driveway every month and exclaimed to me one day, “Son, it’s time for you to get a newer car.” "

Well, call me a cynic, but I bet this is wrong. I am sick of this nonsense, sick, I tell you.

Link to the Boston Herald, who (like most of Massachusetts- or, as the residents are often known, Massholes) has it out for us Rhodys.

The battle space involved in some part of the Iraq war

What?

"“The way the Osprey collapsed the battle space in al Anbar — in fact, indeed throughout all of Iraq — is really something that amazed those who saw it perform,” he said. “The aircraft has tremendous range, and [impressive] speed with which it moves around the operational area.”
For example, Trautman said one of his commanders told him that when the Osprey arrived in Iraq, it turned his battle space from the size of Texas into the size of Rhode Island"

This doesn't even make sense to me, so I have no freaking idea if it is true or not.

Link to Elite TV - and who the hell are they?

The Copper River Watershed Area, Alaska

Wildly wrong.


"Each of the communities in our watershed, from Mentasta Lake down to Cordova, are connected by the glaciers, tributaries, rivers and salmon of the Copper River watershed, an area roughly the size of Rhode Island, with a population of only 4,782, according to information on the state’s Division of Community Affairs Web site."

This is wrong as wrong gets, pretty much. On the Copper River Watershed Projects home page, they say "26,500 square miles". Rhode Island is 1,545 square miles.

Link to The Cordova Times, Alaska

Basque Country, Spain

Wrong.


"Wine expert Jancis Robinson writes that since the 1990s Txakolina has improved “noticeably.” For the first-time, Txakolina, once a little wine made in homes, exploded internationally. Basque country is only about the size of Rhode Island. A little more than 400 acres produce wine."

Well, Basque country is 7,234 km², and li'l Rhody is a mere 4,002 km², so the little wine region that could is almost twice the size of Rhode Island.

Link to Sonoma Sun, California paper

North Cascades National Park Washington

Wrong, but not horribly wrong!




This is almost true. North Cascades National Park is 1069 sq mi, and lovely Rhody is 1,545 sq mi. Rhody is ridiculously small.

" North Cascades, a vast wilderness area about the size of Rhode Island with jagged high peaks and more than 300 glaciers, is the only U.S. national park where stocking nonnative fish still occurs for recreation purposes, Park Superintendent Chip Jenkins said."

Link to Associate Press, who should really learn to fact check.

Aiken County, South Carolina

Close but no chowdah!

"Aiken County is the size of Rhode Island and has 22 volunteer fire departments protecting the lives and property of its residents."

And more points to them. When I think about living in a state where one county is nearly the size of Rhode Island, it makes me twitch. I am the kind of Rhode Islander (South County style) who gets to Providence maybe a couple of times a year.

They are also, somewhat surprisingly, almost right about this size thing, although why people in South Carolina would bother measuring things in Rhode Islands is beyond me.

Anyhoo, Aiken county is 1,073 sq mi, while Rhode Island is 1,545 sq mi. Interestingly, Aiken County seems to have a real issue with l'il Rhody- on the official Aiken County website, they claim that "Aiken is the fourth largest South Carolina county by land area, and its size of 1,073 square miles is 28 square miles larger than the state of Rhode Island." They are wrong, but it is still so much closer to right than most usages, and they are Southern, so I'll cut them some slack. They might have measured Aiken County wrong for all I know.

Link to Aiken Standard, South Carolina

Nancy Pelosi's heart (or airplane)

Wrong.

"Nancy "it's all for the little people" Pelosi has a heart the size of Rhode Island; or is Rhode Island the size of the new plane that she's demanding?"

I know, I know! Neither! Rhode Island is not the size of Nancy Pelosi's new plane, and unless some horrible mutation has struck her (which I'm sure would make the news), her heart is NOT the size of Rhode Island.

Link to The Daily Journal, covering Vineland, Millville, and Greater Cumberland County N.J.

Alonzo Mourning's Basketball Jersey

Wrong.

"On Monday night, a jersey the size of Rhode Island donning the No. 33 was raised to the rafters in American Airlines Arena to honor not only a great basketball player, but a pillar of the Dade County community and a positive influence on people of all ages."

Link to OpenSports, who I'm sure meant no disrespect.

The scoreboard at Yankee Stadium

Wrong.

"He was particularly impressed by the scoreboard — after all, it’s only the size of Rhode Island — and was awed by the space in the airy visiting clubhouse."

This is an exagerration. The scoreboard is actually "is nearly 101 feet wide and 59 feet tall", not nearly the size of Rhode Island.

Link to NYT blogger, who should know better.

The ice chunk coming off Antarctica

It might be the size of Rhode Island.

"An Antarctic ice shelf is at risk of losing a chunk the size of Rhode Island after a retaining ice bridge began to break up....As much as 3,700 square kilometers of ice shelf may break off as a result, said Angelika Humbert, a glaciologist at Muenster University in Germany. "

Well, if the 3,700 km² figure is accurate, that's pretty close to RI's 4,002 km² - the problem here is varying reports about the size of the ice chunk that has now, actually, broken off. Most other reports suggest that the ice chunk is " is roughly the size of Jamaica," (Jamaica being 11,100 km²) "is about the size of Connecticut" (14,356 km²), or, more exotically (and even harder for most people to picture) "almost half the size of Wales" (10,365 km²) depending on who you read.

It's all too depressing anyway.

Link to Dallas News - why would they be measuring in Rhode Islands, anyway?

Dubai

True!

"Dubai, the tiny emirate the size of Rhode Island, is packed with more of the world’s biggest attractions than one could imagine. World’s tallest building is one of the attractions."

True! Yay for this one- at least this over-used phrase is accurate.

Link to Khaleej Times

The dissapeared wetlands at the mouth of the Colorado River

It might be true.

"The mouth of the Colorado River was once the continent's biggest coastal wetlands, an area the size of Rhode Island. Today the Colorado is dry at its mouth and the wetlands are Mexican desert."

Hm. I guess this might be true?

Link to Santa Monica Mirror

The area of Chevron's "worst oil catastrophe on the planet"

It might be the size of Rhode Island. "That report found the oil giant could be liable for up to $27 billion in damages for creating what experts believe is the worst oil-related catastrophe on the planet, covering an area the size of Rhode Island. "

I think I'll believe that Chevron destroyed an area of Amazon the size of Rhode Island- everyone's doing it.

Link to MarketWatch

Destroyed Rain Forest

It might be the size of Rhode Island.
"He met a young lawyer planning to take oil giant Chevron to court, and he heard countless stories about how pollution had destroyed an area of rain forest the size of Rhode Island, causing high rates of cancer, leukemia and birth defects among the people living there."

Pretty vague- no way to fact-check.

Link to Columbia Daily Tribune

Pregnant with sextuplets lady

Wrong.


""Today I could very well lose my mind," Kate says during the show’s intro that displays a pre-labor photo of Mommy with a stomach roughly the size of Rhode Island."

While it is all too awful to think about, I still don't believe that she had a stomach anywhere near the size of Rhode Island.

Link to Boston Herald (for shame, Boston, for shame.)

Paktia Province, Afghanistan

Wrong.

"The nine-person civil affairs section serves as the face of the Paktia Provincial Reconstruction Team for the provincial government and local people. Cullison's team divides the 14 districts that cover an area about the size of Rhode Island and then reach out to assess the areas and determine what projects will both boost the economy and help legitimize the Afghan government. "

At 2,483 sq mi Paktia Province is much larger than Rhode Island (1,545 sq mi).

Link to American Forces Press Service story

The amount of land paved over in the Pearl River Delta between 1988 and 1996

It might be the size of Rhode Island.
" Their study, published last year in the Journal of Climate, found that between 1988 and 1996, urban land cover in the Pearl River Delta increased 300 percent -- the equivalent of paving an area the size of Rhode Island in less than a decade. Meanwhile, during the dry winter months (the subtropical region's summer is influenced by the Asian monsoon cycle), rainfall declined. The team created a statistical model linking urban growth with winter rainfall; they found that each percentage point in growth correlated with a decrease of 2.44 milli-meters in rainfall."

I'm not obsessed enough to try to fact check this.

Link to Yale School of Forestry and Environment Magazine

This guy's duffel bag

Wrong.
" Last weekend, I toted around a duffel bag the size of Rhode Island (small for a state, large for a duffel bag). Inside were three bottles: Aleve, Ibuprofen and potassium. It also contained an assortment of ointments, athletic tapes and braces. It looked like Larry King’s overnight bag, minus the brill cream."

Without measurements, it is impossible to be sure, but I strongly suspect that this guy's duffel bag is NOT the size of Rhode Island.

Link to Wauneta, Nebraska Breeze

Yuma County, AZ

Wrong.

Economy misery article

" "In Yuma County we have more square miles to cover in order to transport students to school as opposed to say Phoenix, where a lot of students can walk to school. We have more miles to cover and a lot more students to transport. Our district is 2,455 square miles. That's the size of Rhode Island."

Sadly, this is NOT the size of Rhode Island (1,545 sq mi),

Yuma Sun Story

Dubai

True.

Article about economic crisis.

"Dubai, the tiny emirate the size of Rhode Island, is stuffed with more of the world's "biggest" attractions than one could imagine. Some call it the land of excess. "

Dubai's area is 1,588.4 sq mi ( 4,114 km2 ) to Rhody's 1,545 sq mi(4,002 km²), I'll call that accurate.

ABC News story