My Snopes Dynasty

[sachmo71]

I have a big family, and there are a lot of emails flying around. Last month, I noticed a lot of the old hoaxes seemed to be popping up again, and I've decided to nip it in the bud. I am now responding to these emails with the Snopes link to the 99% of these emails that turn out to be false. I want to see if this will really convince my family and friends to check out mass emails before forwarding them on and alarming/scaring/angering others with these old stories. I can't say that I think this will end them, but it might be fun to find out.

The family members will not be indentified to protect the innocent, or the gullible. Whatever


The first one was an oldie but a goodie. This one is from one of the main sources of family email hoaxes, with this particular email being sent to 21 people.

People are getting stuck by HIV-loaded syringes affixed to gas pump handles.

My name is Captain Abraham Sands of the Jacksonville, Florida Police Department. I have been asked by state and local authorities to write this email in order to get the word out to car drivers of a very dangerous prank that is occurring in numerous states.
Some person or persons have been affixing hypodermic needles to the underside of gas pump handles. These needles appear to be infected with HIV positive blood. In the Jacksonville area alone there have been 17 cases of people being stuck by these needles over the past five months. We have verified reports of at least 12 others in various states around the country.

It is believed that these may be copycat incidents due to someone reading about the crimes or seeing them reported on the television. At this point no one has been arrested and catching the perpetrator(s) has become our top priority.

Shockingly, of the 17 people who where stuck, eight have tested HIV positive and because of the nature of the disease, the others could test positive in a couple years.

Evidently the consumers go to fill their car with gas, and when picking up the pump handle get stuck with the infected needle. IT IS IMPERATIVE TO CAREFULLY CHECK THE HANDLE of the gas pump each time you use one. LOOK AT EVERY SURFACE YOUR HAND MAY TOUCH, INCLUDING UNDER THE HANDLE.

If you do find a needle affixed to one, immediately contact your local police department so they can collect the evidence.

PLEASE HELP US BY MAINTAINING A VIGILANCE AND BY FORWARDING THIS EMAIL TO ANYONE YOU KNOW WHO DRIVES. THE MORE PEOPLE WHO KNOW OF THIS THE BETTER PROTECTED WE CAN ALL BE.

Nothing like the random AIDS stick to put more fear into people's lives. I didn't really have to check Snopes for this one, as I had seen it so many times before.

[sachmo71]

From the same source, I got this one today...

Atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair is trying to get religious broadcasting banned from American airwaves.

[Collected on the Internet, 2003]

Dr. James Dobson Pleads For Our Action

An organization has been granted a Federal Hearing on the same subject by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in Washington, DC. Their petition, Number 2493, would ultimately pave the way to stop the reading of the gospel of our Lord and Savior, on the airwaves of America. They got 287,000 signatures to back their stand!

If this attempt is successful, all Sunday Worship services being broadcast on the radio or by television will be stopped. This group is also campaigning to remove all Christmas programs and Christmas carols from public schools!!

You as a Christian can help! We are praying for at least 1 million signatures. This would defeat their effort and show that there are many Christians alive, well and concerned about our country. As Christians we must unite on this. Please don't take this lightly. We ignored this once and lost prayer in our school and in offices across the nation. Please stand up for your religious freedom and let your voice be heard, while creating an opportunity for the lost to know the Lord.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Collected on the Internet, 1996]

Madalyn Murry O'Hair, an atheist, whose effort successfully eliminated the use of the Bible Reading and Prayer from public schools fifteen years ago has now been granted a Federal hearing in Washington, D.C. on the same subject by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Her petition, P.M. 2493, would ultimately pave the way to stop the reading of the Gospel on the air waves of America. She took her petition with 287,000 signatures to back her stand. If her attempt is successful, all Sunday worship services being broadcast, either by radio, or television will stop. Many elderly people and shut-ins as well as those recuperating from hospitalization or illness, depend on radio and television to fulfill their worship needs every week.

Madalyn is also campaigning to REMOVE ALL CHRISTMAS PROGRAMS, CHRISTMAS SONGS, AND CHRISTMAS CAROLS from public schools. You can help this time! We need 1,000,000 (one million) signed letters. This should defeat Ms. O'Hair and show that there are many CHRISTIANS ALIVE AND WELL AND CONCERNED in our country. This petition is NUMBER 2493. Sign, cut off and mail the form below. PLEASE DO NOT SIGN JOINTLY AS Mr. and Mrs. Let each adult SIGN ONE separately and mail it in a separate envelope. BE SURE TO PUT PETITION NUMBER 2493 ON THE ENVELOPE when mailing your letter.

Please send this letter out to anyone that can help in the cause.


Federal Communications Commission
RE: PETITION NO. 2493
1919 "H" Street
DATE:________
Washington, D.C. 20054
Gentlemen:

I am an American and proud of my heritage. I am also very much aware of the place religious faith has played in the freedom we as Americans now enjoy. Therefore, I protest any human effort to remove from radio and television any programs designed to show faith in GOD or a SUPREME BEING or to remove CHRISTMAS SONGS, CHRISTMAS PROGRAMS, AND CHRISTMAS CAROLS from Public Air Waves, Schools, or Office Buildings.

Sincerely,

NAME:______________________________

ADDRESS:__________________________

Wasn't Touched by an Angel canceled years ago? Anyway, this one was one that I hadn't seen before, and I found it interesting. The little bells went off when I read this:

"Their petition, Number 2493, would ultimately pave the way to stop the reading of the gospel our Lord and Savior, on the airwaves of America."

If it says ultimately, then it's probably a conclusion and not a fact. However, a basic Google search for petiton 2493 took me to a number of hoax sites, confirming my suspicions. Since this is such a hot-button issue, I shouldn't have been amazed that this thing has been running around since 1975!

[tucker342]

LOL

Isn't Snopes great?

[QuikSand]

Speaking of rumors, didn't Madalyn Murray O'Hair "go missing" a while back?

[sachmo71]

Quick,

I thought I saw something about that on America's Most Wanted or something. I didn't put it together at the time, but it kinda makes it hard for her to fight for legislation that way, doesn't it?

[Lokugh]

Actually, I believe they found the body a year or so ago. Apparently they were done in by some con artist or something. So, she is no longer missing. Of course, that does bring up a nice mental image...what did she say to St. Peter?< g >

[sachmo71]

"Crap...you aren't supposed to exist!"

[sachmo71]

It's been quiet...too quiet.

[sachmo71]

WOW!! And the next day, it came...

From my sister:

Another Safety Point: Crying Baby

Someone just told me that her friend heard a crying baby on her porch the night before last, and she called the police because it was late and she thought it was weird. The police told her

"Whatever you do, DO NOT open the door."

The lady then said that it sounded like the baby had crawled
near
a window, and she was worried that it would crawl to the street and get run over.

The policeman said, "We already have a unit on the way, " whatever you do, DO NOT open the door." He told her that they think a serial killer has a baby's cry recorded and uses it to coax women out of their homes thinking that someone dropped off a baby. He said they have not verified it, but have had several calls by women saying that they hear baby's cries outside their doors when they're home alone at night.

Please pass this on! And DO NOT open the door for a crying baby.
This e-mail should probably be taken seriously because the Crying
Baby
theory was mentioned on America's Most Wanted this past Saturday when they profiled the serial killer in Louisiana.

I'd like you to forward this to all the women you know. It may save a life. A candle is not dimmed by lighting another candle. I was going to send this to the ladies only, but guys, if you love your mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, etc., you may want to pass it on to them, as well.

Send this to any woman you know that may need to be reminded that the world we live in has a lot of crazies in it and it's better safe than sorry.

Here is the link to Snopes...
http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/crybaby.htm


Silly story, eh?

[RPI-Fan]

So have you had any reactions from your family yet?

[sachmo71]

Actually, yes. The above legend was linked with another email that I'm sure most people have seen before. Here is the whole email:

Subject: SAFETY TIPS FOR WOMEN


Please take the time to read this. I know you are smart enough to know these pointers but there will be some, where you will go "hmm I must remember that".

After reading this, forward it to someone you care about. It never hurts to be careful in this crazy world we live in.

1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do:

The elbow is the strongest point on your xbody.

If you are close enough to use it, do!

2. Learned this from a tourist guide to New Orleans:

If a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse,

DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM.

Toss it away from you.... chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or purse than you and he will go for the wallet/purse. RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!

3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car:

Kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy.
The driver won't see you but everybody else will. This has saved lives.

4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating, working, etc., and just sit (doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc.)

DON'T DO THIS! The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go.
AS SOON AS YOU GET INTO YOUR CAR, LOCK THE DOORS AND LEAVE.

5. A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot, or parking garage:

A.) Be aware: look around you, look into your car, at the passenger side floor, and in the back seat.

B.) If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door. Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.

C.) Look at the car parked on the driver's side of your vehicle, and the passenger side. If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out.

IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than dead.)

6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs.(Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot).

7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, ALWAYS RUN!

The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times; And even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ.


RUN!

8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic:

STOP IT! It may get you raped, or killed.

Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked "for help" into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.

Another Safety Point: Crying Baby

Someone just told me that her friend heard a crying baby on her porch the night before last, and she called the police because it was late and she thought it was weird. The police told her

"Whatever you do, DO NOT open the door."

The lady then said that it sounded like the baby had crawled near a window, and she was worried that it would crawl to the street and get run over.

The policeman said, "We already have a unit on the way, " whatever you do, DO NOT open the door." He told her that they think a serial killer has a baby's cry recorded and uses it to coax women out of their homes thinking that someone dropped off a baby. He said they have not verified it, but have had several calls by women saying that they hear baby's cries outside their doors when they're home alone at night.

Please pass this on! And DO NOT open the door for a crying baby.
This e-mail should probably be taken seriously because the Crying
Baby
theory was mentioned on America's Most Wanted this past Saturday when they profiled the serial killer in Louisiana.

I'd like you to forward this to all the women you know. It may save a life. A candle is not dimmed by lighting another candle. I was going to send this to the ladies only, but guys, if you love your mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, etc., you may want to pass it on to them, as well.

Send this to any woman you know that may need to be reminded that the world we live in has a lot of crazies in it and it's better safe than sorry.

So the originator combined two chain emails into one. After I emailed everyone with the Snopes link, she sent out an email saying that the safety tips were good to keep in mind, though. Snopes did have a story online similar to the safety tips in this email, and went point by point debunking them as incorrect, and possibly dangerous. They didn't have these tips listed, though, so I didn't contradict her. In all honesty, I'm not sure if the tips in my sister's email are good or not, but they seem logical.

Anyway, the experiment continues. At least now I know they are listening.

[sachmo71]

I got an email from my sister, with this picture in it:




Turns out that the email, while not QUITE factual, does show a real, live, disgusting spider that lives in the desert. Thankfully, they are not posionous, and they don't eat people...although they probably could if they tried!

Origins: It's hard enough for those serving in our country's armed forces to be sent halfway around the world, away from home and family. It's even worse to be stationed in some bleak desert outpost. But nobody should have to deal with creepy-crawlies the size of small cats in the bargain! We don't yet know the origin of this photo or what it's supposed to depict, other than to note that the picture is generally circulated with text proclaiming it to be an image of some U.S. soldiers with camel spiders.

Camel spiders, also known as wind spiders, wind scorpions, and sun scorpions, are a type of arthropod found (among other places) in the deserts of the Middle East. They're technically not spiders but solifugae (although, like spiders, they belong to the class Arachnida). Camel spiders are the subject of a variety of legendary claims, many of them familiar to Americans because they were spread by U.S. servicemen who served in the Persian Gulf War in 1991, and re-spread at the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003:
Camel spiders can grow to be as large as dinner plates.

Camel spiders can traverse desert sand at speeds up to 25 MPH, making screaming noises as they run.

Camel spiders can jump several feet in the air.

Camel spiders eat the stomachs of camels, hence the name "camel spider." (Legend includes the detail that camel spiders eat camel stomachs from either the outside in or the inside out. In the former case they supposedly jump up from the ground and grab onto camels' bellies from underneath; in the latter case exactly how spiders allegedly as large as dinner plates get into camels' stomachs intact remains unexplained.)

Camel spiders are venomous, and their venom contains a powerful anesthetic that numbs their victims (thus allowing them to gnaw away at living, immobilized animals without being noticed). U.S. soldiers were said to have been attacked by camel spiders at night but remained completely unaware of their plight until they awakened in the morning to find chunks of their flesh missing.
According to most spider experts, these claims are all false. Camel spiders (so named because, like camels, they can be found in sandy desert regions) grow to be moderately large (about a 5" leg span), but nowhere near as large as dinner plates; they can move very quickly in comparison to other arthropods (a top speed of maybe 10 MPH), but nothing close 25 MPH; they make no noise; and they capture prey without the use of either venom or anesthetic. Camel spiders rely on speed, stealth, and the (non-venomous) bite of powerful jaws to feed on small prey such as other arthropods (e.g., scorpions, crickets, pillbugs), lizards, and possibly mice or birds. They use only three pairs of legs in running; the frontmost pair (called pedipalpa) is held aloft and used in a similar manner to the antennae of insects. Camel spiders shun the sun and generally hide during the day, coming out at night to do their hunting.

Although whatever is depicted in the photograph above appears to be far too large for camel spiders, the creatures might just look unusually large because they were held close to the camera, creating an illusion of exaggerated size. However, since we don't know the source of the picture, we can't yet rule out the possibility that some other misdirection was involved (e.g., digital manipulation, a misdescription of what the photograph depicts, some soldiers goofing around with plastic figures or something else spider-shaped, etc.).

Man am I glad I'm a civilian!

http://www.snopes.com/photos/bugs/camelspider.asp#photo

[sachmo71]

Coworker sent me an email with pictures of "the tallest woman in the world". It made my pants go a little crazy, but it wasn't true.


http://www.snopes.com/photos/tallwoman.asp

Origins: "Biggest woman in the world"? Not quite. This is yet another case of an e-mail forward that includes real photographs but an inaccurate description of what they depict.

Heather Greene, the woman shown in the photographs above, is indeed a real person, but she's not from Holland, nor is she the tallest woman in the world. Heather lives in Las Vegas, and although she is quite tall and passes the 7-foot mark in heels, she is "only" 6'-5½" in her stocking feet, well short of the record for the world's tallest woman.

The photographs sent around with the message quoted above are actually sample pictures taken from her web site, heatherhaven.com. The pictures are "real" in the sense that they have not been digitally manipulated, but they convey a false impression of Heather's true height because she is paired with people who are shorter than average (the man is 5'7" and the woman 5'1"), and she is posing in some of them while wearing shoes with several-inch heels.

Since 1976, the tallest living woman in the world (as recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records) has been 47-year-old Sandy Allen of Shelbyville, Indiana, who reached a height of 7 feet 7-1/4 inches as a teenager before undergoing pituitary surgery to control her growth.

I almost let this one slide, but then I had to smack my buddy down with the Snopes truth. He'll take it, because he's a Texas Rangers fan. They take anything you give them.

[sachmo71]

From a co-worker. He actually asked me to check it out because he couldn't remember the website name...

Subject: FW: Dangerous Game-PLEASE READ!!

> I don't know if it's true, but hey! Why not . . .
>
>
>
>
> This comes from Allstate Insurance Company:
>
> WINDOWS:
>
> Please keep all windows rolled up when stopped at traffic lights, as
> only cars with windows down are being targeted. Groups of teenagers
have
> been caught, in alarming numbers, playing a new and dangerous game
> called SPUNKBALL. Spunkball consists of a group of teens in a car
> pulling up to a stoplight and looking around for a car stopped near by
> with an open window. When one is spotted, the teens shout,
"SPUNKBALL",
> and throw a gasoline soaked rag that has been wrapped in aluminum foil
> through the open window.
>
>
>
> On the outside of the foil is attached a small firecracker, with the
> fuse lit. When the firecracker explodes, it shreds the foil, and the
rag
> is ignited, causing a large flame that may catch the interior of the
car
> on fire. Spunkball playing has already claimed two lives, caused
> uncountable injuries due to burns, and caused thousands of dollars in
> damage to automobiles. The best defense, say authorities, is to keep
all
> windows rolled up when stopped at traffic lights, as only cars with
> windows down are being targeted.
>
>
>
> If you are at a red light and hear a shout of "SPUNKBALL", and notice
> something come flying in your window, the best thing to do is to have
> all passengers immediately exit the vehicle. DO NOT try to retrieve
the
> object, as it will ignite once the firecracker explodes.
>
>
>
> PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU CARE ABOUT and KEEP YOUR CAR
WINDOWS
> SHUT (especially at a stop sign or traffic lights).
>
>
>
> Allstate Insurance Co

And the Snopes writeup...

Claim: Teens across the U.S.A. are amusing themselves by throwing lit gasoline-soaked rags into cars halted at stop lights.

Status: False.

Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2000]


I just wanted to warn all of my friends about something that has been occuring more and more lately, all through out the country.

Groups of teenagers have been caught, in alarming numbers, playing a new and dangerous game called Spunkball. Spunkball consists of a group of teens in a car pulling up to a stop light, and looking around for a car stopped near by with an open window. When one is spotted, the teens shout, "Spunkball", and throw a gasoline soaked rag that has been wrapped in aluminum foil threw the open window.

On the outside of the foil is attatched a small fire cracker, with the fuse lit. When the fire cracker explodes, it shreds the foil, and the rag is ignited, causing a large flame that may catch the interior of the car on fire.

Spunkball playing has already claimed two lives, caused uncountable injuries due to burns, and caused thousands of dollars in damage to automobiles. The best defense, say authorities, is to keep all windows rolled up when stopped at traffic lights, as only cars with windows down are being targeted.

If you are at a redlight and hear a shout "Spunkball", and notice something come flying in your window, the best thing to do is to have all passengers immediatly exit the vehichle. DO NOT try to retreive the object, as it will ignite once the fire cracker explodes.

PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU CARE ABOUT.


Variations: Versions circulating in 2004 added a header indicating that the warning was an " Important Message from Allstate Insurance Company — For Your Information."

Origins: Obviously
we don't think our world frightening enough because someone out there keeps inventing a stream of wild tales about non-existent lurking dangers. This time around it's heartless gangs of fun-loving teenagers who are out to get us (which is a refreshing change from what's come to be scarelore's usual spectre of evil, street gangs).

Horribly spelled warnings about homicidal teens playing "spunkball" began turning up on the Internet in February 2000 (and, since no good hoax is allowed to go to waste when there are new netizens yet to be japed, the phony Spunkball warning was dusted off and recirculated in March 2002). There's nothing to the alert, however — no stories have appeared in the press to support the claim that even one such incident has occurred, let alone that there's a nationwide epidemic underway. Likewise, there are no reports of any spunkball-related deaths. Consider yourself safe from such a menace and feel free to leave your car windows down at red lights.

In February 2002, new life was breathed into the then two-year-old baseless scare when its text appeared over the signature line of "Bea Maggio, FCLS, Allstate Insurance Co." This small improvement added the layer of credibility needed to make this warning far more plausible in the eyes of many. Now it appeared the warning had been vetted by a powerful insurance agency, which was now disseminating the information in an effort to alert motorists who were at risk.

Bea Maggio hadn't been acting in an official capacity on behalf of Allstate — she's merely done what so many are prone to do, which was unthinkingly forward to others an e-mail she'd received. Hers was not an official heads up from Allstate, but a note from an individual who, by pure coincidence, happened to work for an insurance company.

Okay, so spunkball is not real — does this mean bored teens in search of amusing pastimes are incapable of that level of mindless violence and lack of concern for human life? Not at all, as a news story out of Darmstadt, Germany, so vividly illustrates. Three American teenage boys were arrested for hurling large stones (some of them weighing 20 lbs.) from a pedestrian bridge at cars travelling on the four-lane highway underneath on 27 February 2000. Their actions caused the deaths of two people (one a 20-year-old woman driving her grandmother home and the other a 41-year-old mother of two small children) and sent a further five victims to the hospital (including the grandmother of the murdered woman).

The teens (age 14, 17, and 18) will be tried in German courts on charges of murder and attempted murder. A fourth (15) was arrested but later released once it became clear he'd left the bridge before the rock hurling began. If convicted under Germany's juvenile justice laws, the teens could be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in a German youth facility.

With real stories like that, who needs fake ones?

Barbara "rock group" Mikkelson

I could see how people would believe this one, and I'm a bit surprised some kid hasn't made this rumor into reality. I couldn't really figure out the physics of it, because I would think it would be hard to keep the gasoline in the tinfoil, and keep the fuse lit while the ball of gas and firecracker was hurling through space, or even keep from blowing yourself up when you lit the fuse. However, I do know that a rock through the windshield will kill you dead, and I have found myself scanning overpasses at times. Good times.

[corbes]

Spunkball is something else entirely.

[sachmo71]

PROGRESS!!!!!

Here is an email I recieved today...

There has been a huge purchase, $32,000 worth of United Parcel Service
> (UPS) uniforms on eBay over the last 30 days. This could represent a
> serious threat as bogus drivers (terrorists) can drop off anything to
> anyone with deadly consequences. If you have ANY questions when a UPS

> driver appears at you door, they should be able to furnish VALID ID.
>
> Additionally, if someone in a UPS uniform comes to make a drop off or
> pick up, make absolutely sure they are driving a UPS truck. UPS
> doesn't make deliveries or pickups in anything, except a company
> vehicle. If you have a problem, IMMEDIATELY call your local law
> enforcement agency right away!
>
> TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY! Tell everyone in your office, your family, your
> friends, etc. Make people aware so that we can prepare and/or avoid
> terrorist attacks on our people! Thank you for your time in reviewing

> this and PLEASE send to EVERYONE on your list, even if they are friend

> or foe. We should all be aware!
>
> Kimberly Bush-Carr
> Management Program Specialist
> U.S. Department of Homeland Security
> Bureau Customs and Border Protection
> Washington, DC 20229
> Pat Fournier
> Ext 4514

And now Snopes...

Claim: A large number of UPS uniforms are "missing" and presumed to have been acquired by terrorists.
Status: False.

Examples: [Collected on the Internet, 2003]


A large number of UPS uniforms have gone missing.
Please inform all properties to check ID's and be alert to "replacement" delivery personnel.

Please forward accordingly



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SECURITY ALERT: $32,000 worth of UPS uniforms have been purchased over the last 30 days by person(s) unknown. Law enforcement is working on the case however no suspect(s) have been indentified. Subjects may try to gain access by wearing one of these uniforms. If anyone has suspicions about a UPS delivery (i.e., no truck but driver, no UPS identification, etc., contact UPS to verify employment).

If you see or have seen a UPS delivery from an unknown driver please ask for proper ID and be alert to any suspicious packages or deliveries. Please notify building security or appropriate law enforcement.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There has been a huge purchase, $32,000.00 worth, of United Parcel Service (UPS) uniforms on eBay over the last (30) thirty days. This could represent a serious threat as bogus drivers can drop off anything to anyone with deadly consequences.

If you have any questions when a UPS driver appears at your door, they should be able to furnish valid I.D. Additionally, if someone in a UPS uniform comes to make a drop off or pick up, make absolutely sure they are driving a UPS truck. UPS does not make deliveries or pick ups in anything except company vehicles. If you have a problem, immediately call local law enforcement.

On 3/31/03 an alert was issued to UPS drivers. Drivers were asked to keep track of their uniforms and to dispose of same according to UPS guidelines.

Some of you may have already heard the above information, but I will keep sending out new alerts as I get them.




Origins: The
potential for further terrorist attacks in the USA looms great in the minds of many, with the perception of impending danger at times working to color how we see and react to less sinister occurrences.

In February 2003 a number of security alerts regarding UPS uniforms were distributed by both private and law enforcement sources. They seemed to come from every direction, with many of them stating their information originated with a warning issued by United Parcel Service (UPS) regarding missing delivery personnel uniforms. Those who encountered these warnings immediately linked them to the threat of terrorism, at once grasping the potential for harm if al Qaeda members took to impersonating office couriers. The warning about missing uniforms echoes another terrorist-related rumor, one that asserted in the days immediately following the September 11 attacks thirty Ryder, Verizon, and U-Haul trucks had gone missing, presumably swiped by terrorists intent upon using them as camouflage for further assaults.

The rumor that a large number of uniforms were "missing" (implying they had been stolen or hijacked and were now in the hands of persons unknown for use in nefarious schemes, presumably terrorism-related activity) seems to have sprung from speculation at the beginning of 2003 about the intentions of a small cadre of buyers who bid what seemed like outrageously high sums for UPS uniforms on the on-line auction site eBay. (Despite eBay's later claims to the contrary, UPS uniforms were being offered and sold on their site as late as January 2003.) Because our new terrorist-aware mode of thinking affects how we perceive events, many people skipped over other potentially less terrifying explanations (e.g., uniform collectors adding to their stock, former UPS employees acquiring old uniforms out of nostalgia, run-of-the-mill thieves needing cover for their endeavors, uniform fetishists looking to spice up their sex lives with some 'home delivery') and went straight to the assumption that UPS uniforms were being snapped up by terrorists. That several different people (or at least someone with several different eBay IDs) were simultaneously bidding high prices for UPS uniforms did work against the more mundane explanations, but terrorists' spending thousands of dollars on a public auction site to buy up easily-duplicated brown uniforms wasn't much more plausible. (Generally only someone with a strong emotional attachment to an inherently non-valuable common object will insist upon owning an original and be willing pay an exorbitant fee to acquire it; others are content with buying or making replicas.)

Many explanations for this rumor have been bruited about since its inception. Some of the people who sold UPS uniforms (often acquired by purchasing them through thrift shops) on eBay before the auction site clamped down on the practice early in 2003 said they were contacted by "cyber crime" units who only wanted to verify that the uniforms were not stolen and who told them that UPS was buying up their uniforms to keep them off the street. Other people claim that a private firm hired by UPS has been buying up the uniforms on their behalf, or even that due to national security concerns, the FBI has arranged to be the top bidder for any UPS uniforms sold on-line. If there's anything to these stories, nobody connected with them has been forthcoming about it yet. The reponse we finally received from UPS via e-mail disclaimed any notion of "missing" uniforms but reinforced the notion that UPS and law enforcement agencies are concerned about recent sales of used UPS uniforms:


A number of security alerts regarding UPS uniforms recently have been distributed by both private and law enforcement sources. There are two primary versions of these alerts:

1) Misleading reports of a missing shipment of UPS uniforms.
2) Alerts regarding a large number of uniforms being purchased by an individual.

Reports that a shipment of UPS uniforms is missing are simply not true. There is no missing shipment of uniforms.

As for alerts regarding uniforms being purchased by an individual, this matter has been investigated by law enforcement with UPS' involvement and cooperation and resolved to the satisfaction of all parties.

UPS does not condone the sale or unauthorized use of its uniforms. UPS investigates reports of such unauthorized use but due to security concerns, we are not at the liberty to discuss such matters in any further detail.
As the Washington Post reported, law enforcement agencies, eBay, and UPS were all eager to deny any claims of missing or stolen uniforms:
The FBI has debunked several similar UPS stories since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

UPS spokeswoman Susan Rosenberg in Atlanta says the e-mail has been "thoroughly investigated" by the FBI and local law enforcement. "It is the urban legend of missing uniforms," she says.

EBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove also says the UPS story "comes up empty."
Our best guess is that after they were alerted to online sales of their discarded uniforms, UPS realized the potential public relations disaster that would follow any unfortunate incident involving the use of a UPS uniform (terrorist-related or not) and decided to work behind the scenes to convince on-line auction sites to drop such listings, perhaps even quietly spending money themselves to buy up some of the available uniforms. After all, you can't remain one of the world's top package delivery services if people are afraid to open the door for your deliverymen.
A version of the alert (first circulated in June 2003 on the Internet) picked up the signature block of someone from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security :


Kimberly Bush-Carr
Management Program Specialist
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Bureau Customs and Border Protection
Washington, DC 20229

The progress is...two minutes after this email was sent, one of my sisters sent out an email:

This is a false rumor according to Snoops.com.

Now, she may not have gotten the name of the site right, but she did what she was supposed to do, and did her part to stop internet panic! Even better, this sister is quite the rumor monger, and so to have her respond in this way is a breakthrough of tremendous proportions!!! HUZZAH!!!

EDIT: Yet another sister picked up on the hoax! It's working...it really is! Also, the first sister asked me if I was proud of her for checking it out, and thanked for the link to the site! WHOOT!

[JAG]

That's pretty cool sachmo.

[JeeberD]

I remember that rumor from about two years ago...

[SplitPersonality1]

Excellent news satch. Would you like to have a little chat with my two sisters. They have gotten better, but still occasionally send me internet rumors. Teddy Bear virus anyone?

edit: Excellent is not spelled Excellenet. doh!

[sachmo71]

I love Teddy Bear virus. Just blindly delete files from your computer. Swell idea.

And thanks for the encouragement. There are still many, many to convert, but it's progress.

[sachmo71]

Wow...yet another measure of progress. My sister sent me an email with the title asking if this was "yet another scam she should forward"!

The email...
[quote]
Be aware of a new car-jacking scheme:

Imagine you walk across the parking lot, unlock your car and get inside. Then you lock all your doors, start the engine and shift into REVERSE, and you look into the rear-view mirror to back out of your parking space and you notice a piece of paper stuck to the middle of the rear window. So, you shift into PARK, unlock your doors and jump out of your car to remove that paper (or whatever it is) that is obstructing your view. When you reach the back of your car, that is when the car-jackers appear out of nowhere, jump into your car and take off!! Your engine was running, (ladies would have their purse in the car) and they practically mow you down as they speed off in your car. Just drive away and remove the paper that is stuck to your window later. Better yet check your rear window before getting in.

Ladies, your purse contains all identification, and you certainly do NOT want someone getting your home address. They already have your keys!!


[quote]

And Snopes response...

Claim: Parking lot carjackers are placing flyers on the rear windshields of automobiles, then taking the cars when drivers step out of their vehicles to remove the flyers.

Status: Undetermined.

Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2004]


Imagine: You walk across the parking lot, unlock your car and get inside. Then you lock all your doors, start the engine and shift into REVERSE. Habit! You look into the rear-view window to back out of your parking space and you notice a piece of paper, some sort of advertisement stuck to your rear window. So, you shift into PARK, unlock your doors and jump out of your vehicle to remove that paper (or whatever it is) that is obstructing your view . . . when you reach the back of your car, that is when the car-jackers jump out of nowhere . . . jump into your car and take off — your engine was running, your purse is in the car, and they practically mow you down as they speed off in your car.

BE AWARE OF THIS NEW SCHEME

Just drive away and remove the paper that is stuck to your window later . . . and be thankful that you read this email and that you forwarded it to your friends.


Origins: We
generally try to apply five points in evaluating warnings about possible criminal schemes or activities:

1) Is the phenomenon outlined in the warning technically possible as described?

2) Is the phenomenon outlined in the warning plausible? (That is, some criminal schemes are technically possible, but they're too difficult, cumbersome, or expensive to plausibly enact on anything more than a very limited basis.)

3) Are there any verifiable instances of people having been victimized in the manner described by the warning?

4) Is there evidence that the criminal activity described in the warning is widespread?

5) Is the criminal activity described in the warning something the average person might fall victim to?

Tackling these points in order, we find:

1) This is a decidedly "low-tech" scheme for stealing cars, so it's certainly possible this method could be used to steal cars (although, as we discuss below, it may be a rather implausible scheme in execution).

2) Our law enforcement contacts noted that although the process described above could be used by carjackers, they were unfamiliar with any cases of cars being stolen in this manner, and the scheme outlined ran contrary to their experience of how carjackers operate. Specifically, they said that carjackings are generally crimes of opportunity, committed by persons in need of quick cash or youngsters either out for a thrill or participating in some rite of passage (such as a gang initiation). Carjackers tend to hang around places where motorists have to stop or exit their vehicles (e.g., intersections, gas stations, car washes, ATMs, freeway on- and off-ramps) and then force the drivers out of their automobiles (or simply take off with the temporarily unoccupied cars). Running around parking lots sticking flyers on windshields and then hanging around to wait for drivers to return to their vehicles involves planning and exposure atypical of most carjackers; they're more likely to approach occupied vehicles (particularly luxury cars with high resale value) and force the drivers out (by threatening them with weapons and/or physically pulling them out of their seats).

They acknowledged, however, that as improvements in car alarms, locking devices, and other anti-theft systems have made it harder to steal unoccupied vehicles, car thieves (i.e., those who boost vehicles on a regular basis, mostly without the use of violence or weaponry) may be resorting to alternative methods such as the one described above. (Many cars lack rear windshield wipers under which flyers could be placed, but the flyers might be affixed with some type of adhesive instead.)

But one aspect of this scheme sounds somewhat implausible: Drivers usually have to back up to leave a parking space in situations where they've parked head-in, and people who have parked head-in are generally approaching their cars from the rear when they return. So, a flyer posted on a rear window is quite likely to be discovered and removed by the returning driver before he enters his car.

3) We haven't yet found any news reports of cars being jacked in the manner reported above, nor any law enforcement officials who had heard of it. It's possible, though, that if this were truly a new scheme, the detail about a flyer on the windshield might not have been reported because the victim (and police) didn't realize it was an element of the carjacking.

4) Since we haven't yet documented any occurrences of the activity described in this warning, we can't confirm that it is a widespread activity.

5) If this scheme were actually employed by carjackers (or car thieves), it's certainly something the average person might fall victim to.

Undetermined. Hmmmm. I told her to read the article, and use her best judgement. I think that this will probably wind up being another false...it seems like a lot of trouble to go through when the old style carjack would achieve the same result, but it's not official.

I am now a bit scared of all of the cautiousness of my sisters/family...this is very unlike them.

[The_herd]

Originally Posted by sachmo71

. However, I do know that a rock through the windshield will kill you dead, and I have found myself scanning overpasses at times. Good times.

That incident actually happened right after I was stationed in Germany. I was in Wiesbaden, about 30 minutes from where it happened. It was a major incident and was all over the German papers, news, and the Stars and Stripes. The rock was fairly large and did some pretty extensive damage to the car. Unfortunately, I can't give you an update on what happened to the kids, although I'm pretty certain all were convicted.

[sachmo71]

Originally Posted by The_herd

That incident actually happened right after I was stationed in Germany. I was in Wiesbaden, about 30 minutes from where it happened. It was a major incident and was all over the German papers, news, and the Stars and Stripes. The rock was fairly large and did some pretty extensive damage to the car. Unfortunately, I can't give you an update on what happened to the kids, although I'm pretty certain all were convicted.

You have to wonder what they were thinking? Even a fist-sized rock can kill at highway speeds

[JeeberD]

When I was eight years old and living in Frankfurt my best friend (Lamar) was the kid who lived across the hall, and he was a real trouble maker. He dragged me along with him one afternoon to the autobahn that was close to our housing complex without telling me what we were doing. As we're standing next to it, watching the cars zoom by he suddenly pulled out a charcoal briquete (however you spell that word) and chunked it at a car that was passing by. The car slammed on it's brakes and and my friend and I took off running as fast as we could. We got back to our apartment without getting caught, but Lamar wanted to know what happened with the car. He wanted to know if the Polizei got called or anything, and he was trying to convince me to go back there and take a look. Luckily, I was at least a little bit smarter than that and wouldn't let him badger me into it.

I've always assumed that nothing serious happened to the car or the driver, but I'm just glad that it was a piece of charcoal that Lamar brought with him, not a real rock. Oh, and the funny part of the story is that Lamar wound up becoming a Georgia State Trooper. I bet anything he's a dirty cop...

[sachmo71]

Got this one from one of my sisters this morning. I was hoping she would have looked this one up and added the bit about knowing that the story was false but it being good advice and all of that. Alas, she just blindly forwarded it.

Still, the advice isn't bad, but it does it's little bit to add fear to everyone's lives...

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/parental/shannon.htm

[Lokugh]

Yep. Unfortunately, things like that happen all the time, so while that story is not true, it is a good cautionary tale.

I know I've met several friends online whom I have later met in real life (I even ended up getting a great job via one of those friends). Most have been great people. Well, actually, to me, all of them have been great people, but I'm a 30-something man. One of them later ended up doing time for kiddie porn though, so he might not have been so great had I been a 14 year old boy or girl...and since I met him (and most of the others) via online gaming, that was a real possibility.

[sachmo71]

I love this one

http://www.snopes.com/autos/law/copcar.asp

Here is the version I received:

True Story. Jacksonville, FL Police Dept.

A man goes to a party and has too much to drink. His friends plead with him to let them take him home. He says no -- he only lives a mile away.
About five blocks from party, the police pull him over for weaving and ask him to get out of the car and walk the line. Just as he starts, the police radio blares out a notice of a robbery taking place in a house just a block away. The police tell the party animal to stay put, they will be right back and they hop a fence and run down the street to the robbery.
The guy waits and waits and finally decides to drive home. When he gets there, he tells his wife he is going to bed, and to tell anyone who might come looking for him that he has the flu and has been in bed all day. A few hours later the police knock on the door. They ask if Mr. Joe is there and his wife says yes. They ask to see him and she replies that he is in bed with the flu and has been so all day.

The police have his driver's license. They ask to see his car and she asks why. They insist on seeing his car, so she takes them to the garage. She opens the door. There sitting in the garage is the police car, with all its lights still flashing.



True story, told by the driver at his first AA meeting.

I like the "first AA meeting" detail. Instant credibility. Probably bullshit, but it's amusing that someone's crazy story is such a popular urban legend.

[lcjjdnh]

If I recall correctly that last story was used in Good Will Hunting as to what happened to one of their alcoholic uncle one time or something

[Radii]

Originally Posted by lcjjdnh

If I recall correctly that last story was used in Good Will Hunting as to what happened to one of their alcoholic uncle one time or something

I knew that sounded familier for some reason, I believe that is correct.

[JeeberD]

I think I've read that joke in several magazines, as well...

[sachmo71]

My sister sent me this. I like it, so I'll post it.

Thanks to all my friends who sent me such important emails!
>
> Thank God you included me in your quest to inform! Thanks to all of
> you:-
>
> * I stopped drinking Coca-Cola after I found out that it's good for
> removing toilet stains.
>
> * I stopped going to the movies for fear of sitting on a needle
> infected with AIDS.
>
> * I smell like hell, but thank God I stopped using deodorants because
> they cause cancer.
>
> * I don't leave my car in any parking lot even though I sometimes have
> to walk about seven blocks, for fear that someone might drug me with a
> perfume sample and then try to rob me.
>
> * I also stopped answering the phone for fear that they will ask me to
> dial a stupid number and then I get a phone bill from Hell with calls
> to Uganda, Singapore and Tokyo.
>
> * I also stopped eating chicken and hamburgers because they are
> nothing more than horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers that
> are bred in a lab so that places like McDonalds can sell their Big
> Macs.
>
> * I stopped drinking anything out of a can for fear that I will get
> sick from the rat feces and urine.
>
> * When I go to parties, I don't look at any guy/gals, no matter how
> hot he/she is, for fear that they will take my kidneys and leave me
> taking a nap in a bathtub full of ice.
>
> * I donated all my savings to the Amy Bruce account. That poor sick
> girl that was about to die in the hospital. Funny thing, she never
> seems to get any older ...
>
> * I went bankrupt from bounced cheques that I made, expecting the
> $15,000 that Microsoft and AOL were supposed to send me when I
> participated in their special e-mail program.
>
> It's weird, though, that my new free cell phone never arrived, and
> neither did the passes for my paid vacation to Disneyland.
>
> And I'm still waiting for the little things to pop up on my screen
> from all those e-mails that I fo! rwarded on to all the right amount
> of people. Does anyone know how long it takes?
>
> But I am positive that all this is because of the chain I broke or
> forgot to follow and I got a curse from Hell.
>
> IMPORTANT NOTE: If you don't send this e-mail to at least 1,200 people
> in the next ten seconds, a bird will poop on you today at 7:00 pm.

[sachmo71]

Got this one today from a coworker:

http://www.snopes.com/photos/sunset.asp

Claim: Photograph taken from the Space Shuttle Columbia shows sunset over Europe and Africa.

Status: False.

Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2003]


This was taken by the crew on board the Columbia during its last mission.

This photo was taken via satellite, on a cloudless day.

The picture is of Europe and Africa when the sun is setting. Half of the picture is in night. The bright dots you see are the cities lights. The top part of Africa is the Sahara Desert. Note how the lights are already on in Holland, Paris, and Barcelona, and how it's still daylight in London, Lisbon, and Madrid.

The sun is still shining on the Straight of Gibraltar, and the Mediterranean Sea is already in darkness. In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean you can see the Azores Islands; below them to the right are the Madeira Islands; a bit below are the Canary Islands; and further south, close to the farthest western point of Africa, the Cape Verde Islands. Note how the Sahara is huge and can be seen clearly both during daytime and nighttime. To the left, on top, is Greenland, totally frozen. Fantastic!





Origins: The contradictory explanations of this photograph's origins given in the accompanying text are the first clue that something's amiss here -- this image can't have been both "taken by the crew on board the Columbia" and "taken via satellite."

Actually, the notation about this image's having been "taken by the crew on board the Columbia during its last mission" was added only after the fatal break-up of the Space Shuttle Columbia upon its re-entry on 1 February 2003. Well before then, this picture had been circulating as a photograph "taken via satellite, on a cloudless day."

Although this image does accurately depict the landforms described and the positioning of lighted cities to the right of the day-night terminator line, it doesn't represent an actual Earth view one might see from space. This photograph is a digital composite formed by merging multiple images from different sources (primarily satellites), the same technique used to create the stunning iceberg photograph.

Last updated: 28 February 2003

Click the link to see the photo attached. It was incredible.
The only reason that I even found out that this one was an urban legend was because I wanted to see if I could find a larger sized image to put on my desktop. Not that it really matters much that it's a fake, as the photo is still really neat, but it's interesting that people added the Columbia reference to give the spam more credibility.

[sachmo71]

A new one (for me!) and quite innocent, but also educational.

Originally Posted by From the email sent by one of my sisters

History of the Middle Finger

Well, now......here's something I never knew before, and now that
I know it, I feel compelled to send it on to my more intelligent friends
in
the hope that they, too, will feel edified. Isn't history more fun when
you know something about it?

/' )
,/_ /
/ /
/'_'/' '/'__'/','/'
/'/ / / / /_\
( ( ' ' _ > \
\ |
\ /
\ /
Giving the Finger

Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory
over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured
English soldiers. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to
draw the renowned English longbow and therefore they would be
incapable of fighting in the future.

This famous weapon [longbow] was made of the native English Yew tree, and
the
act of drawing the longbow was known as "plucking the yew" (or "pluck
yew").

Much to the bewilderment of the French, the English won a major
upset and began mocking the French by waving their middle fingers at the
defeated French, saying, "See, we can still pluck yew! "PLUCK YEW!"
Since
'pluck yew' is rather difficult to say, the difficult consonant cluster at
the
beginning has gradually changed to a labiodental fricative 'F', and thus
the
words often used in conjunction with the one-finger-salute!

It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows used with
the longbow that the symbolic gesture is known as "giving the bird." And
yew thought yew knew everything.

Some things are just too important.

And now the snopes entry:

http://www.snopes.com/language/apocryph/pluckyew.htm

Originally Posted by Snopes

Claim: The 'middle finger salute' is derived from the defiant gestures of English archers whose fingers had been severed by the French at the Battle of Agincourt.
Status: False.

Example: [Collected on the Internet, 1999]


The 'Car Talk' show (on NPR) with Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers have a feature called the 'Puzzler', and their most recent 'Puzzler' was about the Battle of Agincourt. The French, who were overwhelmingly favored to win the battle, threatened to cut a certain body part off of all captured English soldiers so that they could never fight again. The English won in a major upset and waved the body part in question at the French in defiance. The puzzler was: What was this body part? This is the answer submitted by a listener:
Dear Click and Clack, Thank you for the Agincourt 'Puzzler', which clears up some profound questions of etymology, folklore and emotional symbolism. The body part which the French proposed to cut off of the English after defeating them was, of course, the middle finger, without which it is impossible to draw the renowned English longbow.

This famous weapon was made of the native English yew tree, and so the act of drawing the longbow was known as "plucking yew".

Thus, when the victorious English waved their middle fingers at the defeated French, they said, "See, we can still pluck yew! PLUCK YEW!"

Over the years some 'folk etymologies' have grown up around this symbolic gesture. Since 'pluck yew' is rather difficult to say (like "pleasant mother pheasant plucker", which is who you had to go to for the feathers used on the arrows), the difficult consonant cluster at the beginning has gradually changed to a labiodental fricative 'f', and thus the words often used in conjunction with the one-finger-salute are mistakenly thought to have something to do with an intimate encounter. It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows that the symbolic gesture is known as "giving the bird".

And yew all thought yew knew everything!




Origins: The piece
quoted above is silly, and so obviously a joke that shouldn't need any debunking. Nonetheless, so many have forwarded it to us accompanied by an "Is this true?" query that we feel duty-bound to provide a bit of historical and linguistic information to demonstrate why this story couldn't possibly be true.

First of all, despite the lack of motion pictures and television way back in the 15th century, the details of medieval battles such as the one at Agincourt in 1415 did not go unrecorded. Battles were observed and chronicled by heralds who were present at the scene and recorded what they saw, judged who won, and fixed names for the battles. These heralds were not part of the participating armies, but were, as military expert John Keegan describes, members of an "international corporation of experts who regulated civilized warfare." Several heralds — both French and English — were present at the battle of Agincourt, and not one of them (or any later chroniclers of Agincourt) mentioned anything about the French having cut off the fingers of captured English bowman.

Secondly, for a variety of reasons, it made no military sense whatsoever for the French to capture English archers, then mutilate them by cutting off their fingers. Medieval warriors did not take prisoners because they were observing a moral code that dictated that opponents who laid down their arms and ceased fighting must be treated humanely; they took prisoners because high-ranking captives were valuable property that could be ransomed for money. The ransoming of prisoners was the only way for medieval soldiers to make a quick fortune, and so they seized every available opportunity to capture opponents who could be exchanged for a handsome price.

Bowman were not valuable prisoners, though; they stood outside the chivalric system and were considered the social inferiors of men-at-arms. There was no monetary reward to be obtained by capturing them, nor was there any glory to be won by defeating them in battle. As Keegan wrote, "To meet a similarly equipped opponent was the occasion for which the armoured soldier trained perhaps every day of his life from the onset of manhood. To meet and beat him was a triumph, the highest form which self-expression could take in the medieval nobleman's way of life." Archers were not the "similarly equipped" opponents that armored soldiers triumphed in defeating; if the two clashed in combat, the armored soldier would either kill an archer outright or leave him to bleed to death rather than go to the wasteful effort of taking him prisoner.

Moreover, if archers could be ransomed, then cutting off their middle fingers would be a senseless move. Your opponent is not going to pay you (or pay you much) for the return of mutilated soldiers, so now what do you do with them? Take on the burden and expense of caring for them? Kill them outright and violate the medieval moral code of civilized warfare? (Henry V was heavily criticized for supposedly having ordered the execution of French prisoners at Agincourt.)

Even if killing prisoners of war did not violate the moral code of the times, what would be the purpose of cutting off fingers and then executing these same people? Why not simply kill them outright in the first place? Do you return these prisoners to your opponents in exchange for nothing, thereby providing them with trained soldiers who can fight against you another day? (Even if archers whose middle fingers had been amputated could no longer effectively use their bows, they were still capable of wielding mallets, battleaxes, swords, lances, daggers, maces, and other weapons, as archers typically did — and as they indeed did at Agincourt — when the opponents closed ranks with them and the fighting became hand-to-hand.)


So much for history. There's not much that makes linguistic sense here, either. The claim that the "difficult consonant cluster at the beginning" of the phase 'pluck yew' has "gradually changed to a labiodental fricative 'f'" is specious. A labiodental fricative was no less "difficult" for Middle English speakers to pronounce than the aspirated bilabial stop/voiceless lateral combination of 'pl' that the fricative supposedly changed into, nor are there any other examples of such a shift occurring in English. As well, the etymology of the word 'fuck' indicates that the word originated in a completely different time, place, and manner than the absurd version presented here. And on top of all that, the insulting gesture of extending one's middle finger (digitus impudicus in Latin) dates from Roman times (at least 2,000 years ago), so it obviously was not developed in conjunction with the creation of the English word 'fuck.'"

Last but certainly not least, wouldn't these insolent archers have been bragging about plucking the bow's string, and not the wood of the bow itself?

Barbara "bowfinger" Mikkelson

Last updated: 29 September 1999

Now I always thought the Agincourt part was true, but the explination in the email is just silly. Turns out I was wrong.

[Radii]

Claim: Parking lot carjackers are placing flyers on the rear windshields of automobiles, then taking the cars when drivers step out of their vehicles to remove the flyers.

We got an official notice from our apartment complex about this one earlier this week. They are usually specific when discussing their information, and indeed, a thorough reading of the warning from the apartment complex stated "we received this warning via e-mail" as opposed to "we have had reports of this happening in the complex" which is what we usually see when something legit is going on(usually cars getting broken into).

Oliegirl showed the notice to me when I got home the other day and I immediately remembered reading about it in this thread and started cracking up

[sachmo71]

Originally Posted by Radii

We got an official notice from our apartment complex about this one earlier this week. They are usually specific when discussing their information, and indeed, a thorough reading of the warning from the apartment complex stated "we received this warning via e-mail" as opposed to "we have had reports of this happening in the complex" which is what we usually see when something legit is going on(usually cars getting broken into).

Oliegirl showed the notice to me when I got home the other day and I immediately remembered reading about it in this thread and started cracking up

Nothing like adding a little fear to the world. I can see the apartment manager seeing this email come in, probably from their boss, and freaking out.

[sachmo71]

I'm sure you've seen this before, but it's funny.

At this time of year, I want to thank all of you who have taken the time
and trouble to send me your chain letters over the past 12 months.
Thank you for making me feel safe, secure, blessed, and wealthy.

Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can
remove toilet stains.

I no longer drink Pepsi or Dr Pepper since the people who make these
products are atheists who refuse to put "Under God" on their cans.

I no longer drink anything out of a can because I will get sick from the
rat feces and urine.

I no longer use Saran wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer.

I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be
pricked with a needle infected with AIDS.

I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water
buffalo on a hot day.

I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a
perfume sample and rob me.

I no longer receive packages from UPS or FedEx since they are actually
Al Qaeda in disguise.

I no longer shop at Target since they are French and don't support our
American troops or the Salvation Army.

I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a
number for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica, Uganda, Singapore, and Uzbekistan.

I no longer eat prepackaged foods because the estrogens they contain
will turn me gay.

I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant
freaks with no eyes or feathers.

I no longer date the opposite sex because they will take my kidneys and
leave me taking a nap in a bathtub full of ice.

I no longer have any sneakers -- but that will change once I receive my
free replacement pair from Nike.

I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neiman Marcus since I now have
their recipe.

I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking
out for me and St. Theresa's novena has granted my every wish.

Thanks to you, I have learned that God only answers my prayers if I
forward an email to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes. (I don't remember that in the Bible.)

I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl who is
about to die in the hospital (for the 1,387,258th time).

I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive the
$15,000 that Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their
special e-mail program.

Yes, I want to thank all of you s-o-o-o-o much for looking out for me that I will now return the favor!

If you don't send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70
minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 PM (CST) this afternoon and the fleas from 12 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor's ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's beautician!

Honest!

[sachmo71]

http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/foru...ad.php?t=42860

[Yellow5]

Missed this the first time around and just sat here laughing my ass off for the past 30 minutes. I made the mistake of giving my mom a gmail invite early on... you can imagine what kind of crap she sends me. To make things worse, she sent an invite to my aunt, and gave her my gmail address. Now I have both of them sending me stuff like this almost weekly.

I've finally resorted to sending them to snopes every time I get an email from them.

Thanks for the laugh!

[sachmo71]

With the coming of Katrina, we've seent the genesis of many new rumor emails. Two that I can remember seeing were these:

http://www.snopes.com/katrina/photos/crocodile.asp

and...

http://www.snopes.com/katrina/photos/snakerig.asp


It was pretty upsetting not to be able to email people back saying that these were false. I knew they were, deep in my soul, but i couldn't get the instant reward of the snopes smackdown. It was just sad.

[JeeberD]

I got the crocodile one from my fiancee' today asking me if it were real. She wasn't sure and wanted me to check it out on Snopes since I debunked two other e-mails she sent out last week...

[sachmo71]

And I was just sent this one from a DBE today at work:

http://www.snopes.com/photos/natural/storm.asp


Some pretty neat pictures, but not what they are attributed to.

[sachmo71]

Just got this particular piece of filth in an email

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Keith xxxx
> Sent: Monday, January 09, 2006 9:12 AM
> To: GAA (E-mail); Lee xxxx; Jeff xxxx (E-mail)
> Subject: TELL EM ALL TO STICK IT! LOL should b yr new yrs pledge
>
> I'm surprised CBS let him get away with this even though I think he is
> right. AMEN ANDY ROONEY !
>
>
>
> Right on, Andy Rooney!
>
> Andy Rooney said on "60 Minutes" a few weeks back:
>
> I don't think being a minority makes you a victim of anything except
> numbers. The only things I can think of that are truly discriminatory are
> things like the United Negro College Fund, Jet Magazine, Black
> Entertainment Television, and Miss Black America. Try to have things like
> the United Caucasian College Fund, Cloud Magazine, White Enter
> <> ainment Television, or Miss White America; and see what
> happens...Jesse Jackson will be knocking down your door.
>
> Guns do not make you a killer. I think killing makes you a killer. You can
> kill someone with a baseball bat or a car, but no one is trying to ban you
> from driving to the ball game.
>
> I believe they are called the Boy Scouts for a reason, that is why there
> are no girls allowed. Girls belong in the Girl Scouts! ARE YOU LISTENING
> MARTHA BURKE?
>
> I have the right "NOT" to be tolerant of others because they are
> different, weird, or tick me off.
>
> When 70% of the people who get arrested are black, in cities where 70% of
> the population is black, that is not racial profiling, it is the Law of
> Probability.
>
> I believe that if you are selling me a milkshake, a pack of cigarettes, a
> newspaper or a hotel room, you must do it in English! As a matter of fact,
> if you want to be an American citizen, you should have to speak English!
>
> My father and grandfather didn't die in vain so you can leave the
> countries you were born in to come over and disrespect ours.
> .
> I think the police should have every right to shoot your sorry ass if you
> threaten them after they tell you to stop. If you can't understand the
> word "freeze" or "stop" in English, see the above lines.
>
> I don't think just because you were not born in this country, you are
> qualified for any special loan programs, government sponsored bank loans
> or tax breaks, etc., so you can open a hotel, coffee shop, trinket store,
> or any other business.
>
> We did not go to the aid of certain foreign countries and risk our lives
> in wars to defend their freedoms, so that decades later they could come
> over here and tell us our constitution is a living document; and open to
> their interpretations.
>
> I don't hate the rich. I don't pity the poor.
>
> I know pro wrestling is fake, but so are movies and television. That
> doesn't stop you from watching them.
>
> I think Bill Gates has every right to keep every penny he made and
> continue to make more. If it ticks you off, go and invent the next
> operating system that's better, and put your name on the building.
>
> It doesn't take a whole village to raise a child right, but it does take a
> parent to stand up to the kid; and smack their little behinds when
> necessary, and say "NO!"
>
> I think tattoos and piercing are fine if you want them, but please don't
> pretend they are a political statement. And, please, stay home until that
> new lip ring heals. I don't want to look at your ugly infected mouth as
> you serve me French fries!
>
> I am sick of "Political Correctness." I know a lot of black people, and
> not a single one of them was born in Africa; so how can they be
> "African-Americans"? Besides, Africa is a continent. I don't go around
> saying I am a European-American because my great, great, great, great,
> great, great grandfather was from Europe. I am proud to be from America
> and nowhere else
>
> And if you don't like my point of view, tough... DON'T PASS IT ON,
>
> But I'm sure the majority of you will since you've been thinking most of
> these things anyway.
>
>
>

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/rooney4.asp

Nothing like seeing a close family member rooting for this particular pearl of wisdom. Damn it, when will people check this stuff? If you agree, fine, but in this culture, in 2006, you can't think that most people you know are going to agree with this drivel. It's depressing.

[Wolfpack]

If anyone really knew what Andy Rooney believed, they'd know this was false since Rooney is pretty liberal (I think people confuse his cantankerousness for conservatism).

[sachmo71]

Originally Posted by Wolfpack

If anyone really knew what Andy Rooney believed, they'd know this was false since Rooney is pretty liberal (I think people confuse his cantankerousness for conservatism).

I don't think the person who was "Yahoo!"ing about this was big into 60 Minutes or Andy Rooney.

[sachmo71]

Ahhh...a 4th of July snopes for everyone. I looked it up not because I thought it was all bullshit, but to seperate truth from fiction...

Fourth of July

AKA: Independence Day

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Have you ever wondered what happened to the

56 men that signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors,

and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army;

another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds

or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives,

their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.

Eleven were merchants,

Nine were farmers and large plantation owners;

all men of means, well-educated,

but they signed the

Declaration of Independence

knowing full well that the penalty

would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton

of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader,

saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy.

He sold his home and properties to pay his debts

and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam

was so hounded by they British that

he was forced to move his family almost constantly.

He served in the Congress without pay,

and his family was kept in hiding.

His possessions were taken from him

and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of

Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward,

Ruttledge and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown,

Thomas Nelson, Jr.

noted that the British General Cornwallis

had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters.

He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire.

The home was destroyed and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis

had his home and properties destroyed.

The enemy jailed his wife, and she died with a few months.

John Hart

was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying.

Their 13 children fled for their lives.

His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste.

For more than a year he lived in forests and caves,

returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.

So many of us take our liberties so much for granted,

BUT WE SHOULDN'T.

Please take a few minutes while enjoying your

4th of July Holiday

and prayerfully thank these patriots.

It's not too much to ask for the price they paid.

REMEMBER:

Freedom is Never Free!

I hope you will show your support

by sharing this with your family and friends.

It's time we get the word out that patriotism

is NOT a sin, and that the

Fourth of July

has more to it than beer, picnics and baseball games.



Have a Happy and Safe 4th!

And the article on Snopes...

http://www.snopes.com/history/american/pricepaid.asp


Again with the oversimplification.

[Lorena]

Great idea sachmo71, I'm will follow in your footsteps with the hope that these stinking hoaxes dwindle down to almost nothing.