As much as this isn't the answer anyone wants to hear, blogs are no less a business than any other company out there. They're trying to pull in their profit. If they ignore a piece of news, they are taking the risk of losing page hits. The more people see "news" on one site but not one the one that they are currently frequenting, they'll start to rely more on the site that is reporting it. And then if a blog passes on a rumor that turns out to actually be true, the site is going to lose credibility as a newsworthy site. The blogs need to report on these rumors for the sake of their business. But that is why the blogs never specifically state that the news is officially confirmed unless it truly is. That's the way the blog business works. And that won't be changing.
You really shouldn't be mocking your sister and her job just because she uses a Tracfone. I tried giving her a Virgin Mobile phone but she said that nothing about her is vi.... ugh. Ok. I'm walking away now...
My sister is a 66 year old grandmother - everyone knows she's not a virgin.
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And before I get any heat, I'm just joking around in good fun to add some energy here. Not being mean.