Wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire

In today's SMH:

Water poured on bonfire of anatomies

"One of the most famous bonfires in British art history, the destruction in 1858 of sheaves of erotic paintings by the artist J.M.W. Turner, by the horrified British critic John Ruskin, never happened."

"It looks as if the notoriously prudish Ruskin, who worshipped Turner to the point of idolatry, could not bring himself to destroy his work."

The censorious prude, who couldn't. His respect for the principles of artistic endeavour, outweighed his puritanical streak, I guess.

And...

"For well over a century nobody has questioned the story: it became as well-known and oft-cited as the ashes of Byron's journals or of Richard "Arabian Nights" Burton's letters and diaries, burned by his wife, Isabel."

It looks as though an incompetent MSM has been around for over a hundred years. Burn 'em! We don't need an MSM anyway, according to many, Blogs, Blogs are more reliable, accurate and have far greater integrity. [cough]