Snopes to the rescue! (sort of)

[Lute Skywatcher]

At first I thought this wasn't exactly a rant, but then I reconsidered that this is a rant, albeit a mild one.

Just received the following forwarded email, originally from NBC no less:

Yesterday, 2 Arabic people went into the Costco in Wayne, NJ and bought five thousand $ worth of candy. So Costco called the cops and told them. The FBI caught one of the Arabics and the other one got away with the candy. The Arabic that got caught was illegally in the country and the FBI thinks the candy is a way to spread the Anthrax virus. Send this to 15 people to help protect the country and our kids who will be trick or treating on October 31. Please forward this to people so they can be aware. Thank you.

Talk about your responsible journalism!

Naturally, I did a "reply all" with the pertianant Snopes link. What do I get for my trouble? Two complaint letters! Here's one:

i wish you will stop complaining about everybody message that sent out you don't known wether it is true or not. if you don't like the message that comes out just erase it from your computer and stop telling everybody what to beleive just because you domn't like what is said that find it you disagree

Here's how I wanted to respond, but because we're talking cow-orker here, I couldn't. "Huh? What? Did you even read what Snopes said? I'm not saying if it's true or not, they are!" I was in the middle of composing a toned-down version of this when I received the second complaint. This prompted another "reply all" of the original message:

The problem here is that nearly every single one of these messages that make the rounds is not true. Until recently I'll just think, "Oh, please!" and delete them. Things have changed in the past few weeks. Terrorists are now attempting to incite all Americans into a panic and these infammatory messages concerning more possible attacks serve no purpose other than helping them achive their goal. Yes, we do need to be cautious during this time of crisis but we should also try to maintain an air of "bussiness as usual." Anything less would be like the terrorists have already won. Above all, don't be wary to the point of suspecting anyone appearing to be of Arabic in appearance or who are Muslim. There have been incidents in the US of men being killed just because they were wearing a turban.

At least the person who forwarded this piece of crap to me in the first place thanked me for the link.

[Spritle]

An ex-girlfreind sends things like this all the time. I reply as you did and she is usually grateful.

That's all I had to say about your OP. Now on to your sig.

I always thought a Reality Check was how you paid your shrink.

[Legomancer]

i wish you will stop complaining about everybody message that sent out you don't known wether it is true or not. if you don't like the message that comes out just erase it from your computer and stop telling everybody what to beleive just because you domn't like what is said that find it you disagree

I'm so glad this person is employed.

[Lute Skywatcher]

Originally posted by Legomancer

I'm so glad this person is employed.

Not only is she employed, her job is the next level higher than mine! At least she's not in any chain of command (yet).

[Mangetout]

i wish you will stop complaining about everybody message that sent out you don't known wether it is true or not. if you don't like the message that comes out just erase it from your computer and stop telling everybody what to beleive just because you domn't like what is said that find it you disagree

Hehe, Engrish.

[5-HT]

I'm kinda curious how the 2 arabic men got there hands on the Anthrax virus.

[BoBettie]

I've replied in the same manner as your second letter- this is not the time to be spreading around rumors, innuendo, and panic. It irritates the shit out of me. Prior to Sept 11, this shit was annoying. Now it's dangerous.

Zette

[capacitor]

I had a relative that sent me various e-mail, including UL's. I got tired of it and used Snopes to debunk one of the forwarded e-mails. After a tiff back and forth, I told her finally: OK, keep on sending me such e-mail and I'll keep on debunking them. I haven't received such e-mail since from her..

[Esprix]

Thankfully when I bought my mother a computer and got her hooked into the internet when I moved across the country she already understood that anything that said, "forward to all your friends" was a complete waste of time (she had a friend who started forwarding her everything under the sun at work and it drove my mother crazy). I did tell her it was ok to send me a joke if it made her laugh out loud since we sometimes have a similar sense of humor. Otherwise I make it clear to people not to add me to their distribution lists, humorous or otherwise.

Sadly, the times that I've done this, I have actually gotten responses that read, "Well, how does this Snopes guy know it's not true?" I've even managed to annoy my good friends, but now they all know about snopes!

Esprix

[Ennui]

[quote]Originally posted by Mangetout

Hehe, Engrish.

LMGDAO, Thank you Mangetout.

[rushtopher]

I've had this kind of thing happen too. You tell people the Gordon Sinclair thing is an old radio broadcast, and they get pissed at you.

"Leave me alone, I want to believe lies!"

I don't get it.

[Lsura]

I started doing that to the worst of my cow-orkers, and he now sends them to me for approval before he'll send them to anyone else.

Of course...I wish he'd learn to look them up for himself, but at least he's gotten better.

[Eliahna]

Well, you know what they say.... ignorance is bliss.

Your cow-orker is happy living in a state of extended bliss.

[Winnowill]

A couple of years ago, a local radio station was talking about the alleged Paul Harvey "the rest of the story" regarding Mel Gibson and how the movie The Man Without a Face was based on his own life. Which is and was absurd. Someone called to debunk the story, and somebody else called, saying the debunker had no proof that it WASN'T true.

So, who has the proof that it WAS?

[Scarlett67]

Originally posted by Esprix
Sadly, the times that I've done this, I have actually gotten responses that read, "Well, how does this Snopes guy know it's not true?"

Esprix, have you been talking to my mother??? That is a verbatim (and oft-repeated) quote from her.

[The Wrong Girl]

Ugh...this kind of shit has been happening to me more and more. Fortunately, I don't have anyone in my life who sends me this stuff, but my roomate will sometimes inform me about stuff that her mom sent her.

The other day, she told me about the girl whose Afghan boyfriend told her not to go to malls on Halloween, and we actually got into a fight about it. I went to Snopes, and read to her about how terrorists wouldn't tell people their future plans, etc. Her response: "Who are they to presume to know what terrorists are thinking?" Um, I don't know...the CIA and FBI, maybe? (Which was where these quotes were from.)

Then, she asked me what harm these emails do. Argh! God damn it...I just CAN'T understand why people don't see the harm in forwarding this reactionary crap. So we finally agreed to disagree (because I was getting too mad over something that really wasn't worth it, in the long run.) She got in the last word by saying "Well, I'm still not going to any malls on Halloween." Whatever.

[Guinastasia]

I wouldn't go to the mall on Halloween, but only because I imagine they'll be crowded with trick or treaters. (A lot of stores around here do this now).

[CRorex]

Man at least I wasn't the only one who caught the Anthrax Virus bit in the opening post.

People too stupid for words.

Bile rising


_______
Maybe dead you'd be smarter. -- J.K. (When drunk and attempting to figure out what vinyl tasted like)

[World Eater]

How the hell does one purchase $15,000 of candy in the first place? How many shopping carts and semis does it take to haul home?

[Scarlett67]

Originally posted by CRorex
Man at least I wasn't the only one who caught the Anthrax Virus bit in the opening post.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CRorex has caught the ANTHRAX VIRUS!!!!! In THIS THREAD!!!! OMG We're ALL INFECTED!!! Run! RUN!!!!!!

::Scarlett runs to the kitchen to boil herself::

[Cyberhwk]

Originally posted by Esprix
Sadly, the times that I've done this, I have actually gotten responses that read, "Well, how does this Snopes guy know it's not true?"

Jesus Christ I hate this too. "Ummmmm...yeah sure. Lets ignore a reputable website and trust some damn chain mail you got from some guy you don't even know."

[Typo Negative]

I actually had to admonish my mother several times for repeatedly forwarding me drivel like this.

Mom, THIS IS NOT THE WAY WE GET NEWS!!!!

[Earthworm Jim]

[hijack]
OK, this cow-orker business is starting to get to me. The correct hyphenation is, of course, co-worker. Scott Adams (the Dilbert Guy) had a funny bit in which he began referring to them as cow-workers, because it was similar to his experiences on the dairy farm of his youth. But I don't understand this cow-orker business. Is this some kind of inside joke that I'm not getting? What's the deal here???

I CAN'T TAKE IT ANY MORE!!!

Thank you.
[/hijack]

[flodnak]

"Cow-orker" was common on certain Usenet newsgroups long before Scott Adams tried to claim credit for it. The first mi-shyphenation was a typo, but it caught on, because 1. jokes involving cows are funny and b. jokes involving cows and funny words ("Ork! Ork! Ork!") are very funny.

[Lute Skywatcher]

Originally posted by Beelzebubba
[hijack]
OK, this cow-orker business is starting to get to me. The correct hyphenation is, of course, co-worker. Scott Adams (the Dilbert Guy) had a funny bit in which he began referring to them as cow-workers, because it was similar to his experiences on the dairy farm of his youth. But I don't understand this cow-orker business. Is this some kind of inside joke that I'm not getting? What's the deal here???

I CAN'T TAKE IT ANY MORE!!!

Thank you.
[/hijack]

The denziens of the SDMB have a habit of picking up on a misspelling and use the same misspelling until it becomes passé (e.g.: manny, inslut). "Cow-orker" may be a combination of this, the usage in Dilbert, and a disparaging remark with regard to the worker in question.

[Lute Skywatcher]

Originally posted by jadailey
A couple of years ago, a local radio station was talking about the alleged Paul Harvey "the rest of the story" regarding Mel Gibson and how the movie The Man Without a Face was based on his own life. Which is and was absurd. Someone called to debunk the story, and somebody else called, saying the debunker had no proof that it WASN'T true.

So, who has the proof that it WAS?

Paul Harvey's son is the writer for his Rest of the Story and was probably responsible for that piece. There should be a disclaimer at the beginning of those reports.

[Legomancer]

Originally posted by Jeff Olsen

Not only is she employed, her job is the next level higher than mine! At least she's not in any chain of command (yet).

Hesus Kristi this thought scares me more than ANY Anthrax news.

[Dangerosa]

About a year ago someone sent out the "cancer fundraiser" e-mail to a listserv I'm on. I'm afraid I came down on it rather hard in my reply to all (attaching the snopes link, like a good Doper). Someone wrote back the whole "delete it, it doesn't do any harm." And I came back hard on them to....(to paraphrase):

"No harm? I'm a sysadmin. Last weekend I spent six hours rebuilding a mail server in part because someone had seen fit to send this sort of thing to every person in the company. That's six hours that I could have been home with my kids. Its lost time and productivity for the company I work for when no one can get their e-mail. E-mail may look free to you, but that doesn't mean there aren't costs associated with it.

But that's small potatoes, if you would have followed the link, you'd see that this particular chain letter has caused resource issues at the ACS. They do good work - most of it with minimal resources. They've had to move resources from raising money to fight cancer, to answering questions about this untrue e-mail. Meaning that you are actually hurting the cause of finding a cure for cancer, not helping it when you forward this thing."

I got back - "I'm sorry, I guess I didn't really understand the implications of forwarding this sort of thing. I'll check before I forward from now on."

[Kiki]

Originally posted by The Wrong Girl
The other day, she told me about the girl whose Afghan boyfriend told her not to go to malls on Halloween, and we actually got into a fight about it. I went to Snopes, and read to her about how terrorists wouldn't tell people their future plans, etc. Her response: "Who are they to presume to know what terrorists are thinking?" Um, I don't know...the CIA and FBI, maybe? (Which was where these quotes were from.)

My mom got the same e-mail. She asked me if I was going to take the kids trick or treating at the mall and I, of course, told her "no." (Why the hell would I go to a mall for Halloween anyway?!?) Then she told me about the e-mail she got saying the terrorists are going to attack the US malls on Halloween. I just laughed and asked her why she would believe such a thing.

She said, "I got the e-mail from Blah Blah, he's really high up in our Amway organization."

"Oh," I said. "You're going to believe that's true just because someone high up in Amway sent you the e-mail?"

"Yeah. He's really high up in the Amway organization. And, you never know. It could be true." She said. (Yeah, Amyway makes it more credible. )

I told her she should look these things up on Snopes before she forwards them on and she said the same thing most people have been saying... "How do you know the information on Snopes is true?"

Why is it so hard to get ignorant people to see the light?

Anyway, I went to Snopes and found the appropriate links and decided to forward them, along with a link to the FBI press release saying the UL was false. I sent it to my mom and everyone she forwarded that stupid e-mail to. No one has even bothered to respond back to me to say "Thank you" or "Fuck you." Oh well. I tried to do my part to fight ignorance.

[Scarlett67]

Dangerosa, with your permission I'm going to copy your post to a text file and use it as a model for the next time I have to debunk some piece of inane drivel.

Otay?

[hajario]

Just last week I sent a gushing letter to them telling them that I thought that they were heros. I received a very nice and humble reply from Barbara Mikkelson.

I send Snopes link replies all the time. A few people have stopped sending me their crap which is fine by me. Better yet, several people have learned to check Snopes first before they send out stupid bullshit.

Haj
Hater of Ignorance

[Venoma]

I'm sick and tired of receiving this crap. I used to admin a couple of servers as volunteer, and when I see someone send out a HOAX to an ENTIRE COMPANY (1000 people?) without taking the time to check if it's true (esp when it's a virus hoax, that info is readily available at ANY AV site) it riles me. I snapped once and sent a 'reply to all' to the whole company, stating that it was a hoax, providing the relevant link, and asking people please NOT to forward it on. The offender replied to me that he hadn't had time to check, I replied to him that it had taken me 2 minutes to find. My boss told me in the future I should only respond to the offender, but strangely enough the server admins were silent (imagining them cackling in the back room)

I have also may have lost a friend because she kept sending me this shit, and I told her straight out I would kick her ass repeatedly if she didn't bother to check it out first. (she sends to her entire address book.)

haven't heard from her since.

[Legomancer]

My only, only problem with SNopes, and I know I'll get flamed for this, are the annoying and silly little phrases that Barbara Mikkelson feels she must insert at the end of each entry. They're not funny, they're seldom clever, and in my opinion, they somewhat undermine the site. I never liked that stuff on usenet and I like it less on the site.

Apart from that, however, I totally dig snopes. Though to be honest, I have gotten out of the habit of informing people about urban legends. Call me a bad soldier in the fight against ignorance, but my experience is that telling people that something they have sent you is an urban legend is about the same as replying with, "Your mother was a drunken whore, your god is false, and your political party is a bunch of clowns. In addition, your significant other turns tricks for crack." The response you get is usually the same.

[abuse angel]

i had started a new thread, but i think it should really be part of this thread:

Don't go to the bathroom on October 28th. CIA intelligence reports that a major plot is planned for that day. Anyone who takes a poop on the 28th will be bitten on the ass by an alligator. Reports indicate that organized groups of alligators are planning to rise up into unsuspecting American's toilet bowls and bite them when they are doing their dirty business.

I usually don't send emails like this, but I got this information from a reliable source. It came from a friend of a friend whose cousin is dating this girl whose brother knows this guy whose wife knows this lady whose husband buys hotdogs from this guy who knows a shoeshine guy who shines the shoes of a mailroom worker who has a friend who's drug dealer sells drugs to another mailroom worker who works in the CIA building. He apparently overheard two guys talking in the bathroom about alligators and came to the conclusion that we are going to be attacked. So it must be true.

_{collected from snopes.com, rumors of war (the naked truth)}

mods, close my thread, please?

[abuse angel]

oh damn, messed up the code.

this is the page on snopes.

[Mtgman]

Originally posted by Scarlett67

Esprix, have you been talking to my mother??? That is a verbatim (and oft-repeated) quote from her.

See, I debunked some of my mom's forwards, virus hoaxes and such, and she sent me an email saying

what is the name of the web site where you checkout urban legends? Love
Mom

I love my Mom. Haven't gotten another forward from her since.

Steven

[Dangerosa]

Scarlett, go for it. Edit appropriately, we don't want that post becoming another UL.

[Eliahna]

You people think you've got it bad...

My father used to send every piece of drivel that came his way to everyone in his address book. I got sick of saying "Dad, that's not true", "Dad, that won't happen", "Dad, it's a fake" so in the end I sat him down one night and introduced him to Snopes. I hoped that he would use it, and was thrilled a couple of days later when I got a message from him on iCQ asking what the address was for "that Urban Legend page". He's using it!

What I failed to realise is that my father is an incurable stirrer, and that I'd overstated how much I hate getting the chain mail. Now he checks it out on Snopes, but forwards it to me anyway just to annoy the crap out of me. So I've stopped him sending the rest of the world into a panic over these ULs, but he's sitting there at his computer chuckling and forwarding them to me and me alone just to drive me nuts!

[jab1]

Originally posted by Spritle
I always thought a Reality Check was how you paid your shrink.

I remember when my reality check bounced...

[Winnowill]

Originally posted by Jeff Olsen

Paul Harvey's son is the writer for his Rest of the Story and was probably responsible for that piece. There should be a disclaimer at the beginning of those reports.

In the event that it had actually BEEN on Paul Harvey, then, yeah. But Paul Harvey has said repeatedly that he never did the piece. Which should have ended it right there, but didn't - people still called in and said "Well, maybe Harvey never said it, but that doesn't mean it's not true."

Considering that the whole thing was about the Paul Harvey piece, I'd say that that was pretty conclusive evidence that it ISN'T true.

[Flymaster]

Originally posted by Beelzebubba
[hijack]
OK, this cow-orker business is starting to get to me. The correct hyphenation is, of course, co-worker. Scott Adams (the Dilbert Guy) had a funny bit in which he began referring to them as cow-workers, because it was similar to his experiences on the dairy farm of his youth. But I don't understand this cow-orker business. Is this some kind of inside joke that I'm not getting? What's the deal here???

I CAN'T TAKE IT ANY MORE!!!

Thank you.
[/hijack]

It is the Scott Adams thing. If you care to read the archives of the Dilbert Newsletter, you'll see that he never said Cow-worker. He's ALWAYS said Cow-Orker.

[PunditLisa]

How the hell does one purchase $15,000 of candy in the first place? How many shopping carts and semis does it take to haul home?

And how many hours would it take PunditLisa to consume it all?

[Lute Skywatcher]

Originally posted by jadailey

In the event that it had actually BEEN on Paul Harvey, then, yeah. But Paul Harvey has said repeatedly that he never did the piece. Which should have ended it right there, but didn't - people still called in and said "Well, maybe Harvey never said it, but that doesn't mean it's not true."

Considering that the whole thing was about the Paul Harvey piece, I'd say that that was pretty conclusive evidence that it ISN'T true.

We may never know. Could be Mr. Harvey's tendency to use ULs (some true, most not) in his reports resulted in this being attributed to him.

[Winnowill]

We may never know. Could be Mr. Harvey's tendency to use ULs (some true, most not) in his reports resulted in this being attributed to him.

We do know. Paul Harvey never gave this report, and the story in it is completely and utterly false. Mel Gibson never had plastic surgery to repair damage from a mugging. The whole thing is a buncha hooey.

[Caricci]

[/b]

My mom got the same e-mail. She asked me if I was going to take the kids trick or treating at the mall and I, of course, told her "no." (Why the hell would I go to a mall for Halloween anyway?!?) Then she told me about the e-mail she got saying the terrorists are going to attack the US malls on Halloween. I just laughed and asked her why she would believe such a thing.

She said, "I got the e-mail from Blah Blah, he's really high up in our Amway organization."

[/b][/quote]

This made me literally laugh out loud.


Oh, and I also LOVE Snopes. There are several very gullible people in my family and Snopes always takes the wind out of their sails.

[Lute Skywatcher]

Originally posted by jadailey

We do know. Paul Harvey never gave this report, and the story in it is completely and utterly false. Mel Gibson never had plastic surgery to repair damage from a mugging. The whole thing is a buncha hooey.

I agree that the story is fake but even Snopes appears to be undecided as to its origin. IMHO, until someone comes forward with proof, we won't know for sure. And I'm not taking Mr. Harvey's word for it.

[5-HT]

I agree, snopes is the shit. After 9/11 we got quite a few of these ridiculous things sent around to the whole company. Luckily for me, several other people responded that the had heard they were hoaxes and All I did was send the snopes link. So at least I wasn't the only "bad guy."

[August West]

I thought the "cow-orker" thing was from a typo Zette made in one of her thread titles. At least I think it was Zette. It was a while ago.

[Rilchiam]

Originally posted by World Eater
How the hell does one purchase $15,000 of candy in the first place? How many shopping carts and semis does it take to haul home?

The first round of e-mails conveniently neglected to mention that the purchase was made at Costco, which sells bulk items to members. This was a routine purchase by a candy-store proprietor, slightly larger than normal because it was October. Whoever started the e-mailing made it sound like he cleared all the shelves at Sav-On, then trundled the bags up to the cashier and stood chuckling while they were rung up. In fact, he had a Costco membership going back several years, although he was a bit late on his dues, and had probably been in the store before.

As for transporting it, he probably loaded it on a dolly and took it back to the store in a truck or van. Like most Costco customers do, except when it's a white guy no one bats an eyelash.

[CRorex]

Maybe they were buying the candy for the military. Drop a 15,000 lb bag o candy on the enemy that way you combine dropping a cluster type munition with a food drop.

Two birds with one stone. And at the same time YOU ARE BUYING AMERICAN!!!!

*procedes to collapse on the ground gibbering from sugar withdrawl*