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GOP wants to round off Pi?

At first glance the story seemed so wrong, and it was, on at least 3.141592 levels.

“Now that our pi bill is getting traction,” Roby tweeted, “look for a bill to lose pesky 3d side to the triangle.”
“Now that our pi bill is getting traction,” Roby tweeted, “look for a bill to lose pesky 3d side to the triangle.”Read more

At first glance the story seemed so wrong, and it was, on at least 3.141592 levels.

An Alabama congresswoman was reported to have irrationally introduced legislation to round down pi - the mathematical constant defined as the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter - to exactly 3.

According to the Huffington Post, Martha Roby, the 34-year-old Republican elected in 2010 to represent Alabama's second congressional district, sponsored HR 205, The Geometric Simplification Act to improve the test scores of American students.

"It's no panacea, but this legislation will point us in the right direction. Looking at hard data, we know our children are struggling with a heck of a lot of the math, including geometry incorporating pi," the Post quoted Roby. "I guarantee you American scores will go up once pi is 3. It will be so much easier."

The tale spread like southern kudzu on several liberal blogs. After all, it had the ring of truth. In 1897, a bill introduced in Indiana general assembly declared pi equal to precisely 3.2. (An alert mathematician put the kibosh on that proposal.)

Since the story was posted on Tuesday, comments on the blogs multiplied, sounding the alarm.

"I can't believe that this bill could pass in the house. The Republicans are dumber than anyone can believe," cried one on the Huffington Post.

"Some people make you want to change species," sneered another on the Daily Kos.

"Legislate math? Really? Really? " wrote another.

Said other readers:

"Delusional and deeply disturbing that this is an example of U.S. Tax Dollars at work."

"I propose that they also lower the boiling point of water, so that we don't hurt ourselves when we spill hot coffee"

"So let me get this straight, because math is too hard for Americans and apparently those living in Alabama. The solution to it is to make math easier by dumbing it down . . .?"

"But what will they do with i, the Imaginary unit (square root of -1)?"

"I hope this is some joke," remarked Camp on the Daily Kos.

Um, well, Camp, you can rest assured.

Though the story snaked its way across Facebook and Twitter, few of its readers noticed it was tucked into the HuffPo's comedy section. And to give those readers a break, the story, written by Ian Squires, wasn't plainly labeled "satire."

Roby, who hasn't yet been awarded the sobriquet "Miss American Pi," isn't taking the piece personally, said her spokeswoman, Becke Popelka.

"She's taking a lighthearted approach," Popelka said. "It's all fiction. People need to be less gullible."

Squires was thunderstruck at the response the article had stirred.

"I can't believe it," Squires said from D.C.

"I thought people would think it was funny but I wasn't expecting 60,000 people to like it on Facebook," he said. "Now if I could only turn all that into a job."

Squires, a freelancer who has written several satirical pieces for HuffPo, said he dashed off the piece last week and posted it to the Daily Kos.

Roby's spokeswoman said the hoax would have had a bigger bang if it had been published last Monday, 3/14, International Pi Day.

Squires said he missed that connection.

It's not the first time the Yellowhammer State has been pilloried with the same joke. According to the mythbusting website Snopes.com, in 1998, an April Fools parody on the same theme, targeting Alabama legislators, was picked up as truth and emailed around the world. (http://www.snopes.com/religion/pi.asp )

"It's not really fair for our state to get the rap for this a second time around," Popelka said.

Roby, who Popelka said had more important matters to attend to, commented on the hoax on Twitter this morning.

"Now that our pi bill is getting traction," Roby tweeted, "look for a bill to lose pesky 3d side to the triangle."

Contact staff writer Sam Wood at 215-854-2796 or samwood@phillynews.com.

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