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?