It must be true -- I read it on the internet!

I try to be a fairly well-informed person.  When I hear something sensational that should be new and I haven't heard it, my BS antennae go up.

Here is an example:

http://www.youtube.com/user/fiercefreeleancer 

This sounds credible and has 2 million views.  The gist is that the FDIC sold the assets of Indymac bank in a sweetheart deal that turns any losses into a profit for the purchasing bank.  This sounds like something that I'd have heard about.  It should be pretty big news, but I hadn't so there go my BS antennae.

With just five minutes of searching, I found this post that disputes the claims:

http://realestateinvestordaily.com/market-information-news/fdics-sale-of-indymac-to-one-west-bank-sweetheart-deal-or-not/

The BS factor was so high that FDIC felt it had to send out a press release disputing the video:

http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/press/2010/onewest_lossshare.html

It amazes me that people continually forward this stuff around.  I get things like this from my older friends who lived in a time when most of the things that you read were true.  I constantly tell them to do a little checking before they send me something.  www.snopes.com is an excellent resource.  If a BS email has been out there for more that a month, it is likely that they have a copy and have done the research.

I'd ask that everyone stops forwarding "facts" around unless you have done a little homework first.  I know this is a huge thing to ask, but if this blog reaches one person who believes and forwards everything out, perhaps there will be a little less BS for all of us to wade through.

Tips on things to look out for:

Forward to all your friends -- if the email is asking to be forwarded, it is most likely BS

Virus warnings  -- if there is a super dangerous virus out there, flip on the news it will be there

Political -- if it mentions Obama, Hillary or Healthcare, it is probably a lie

Health -- if doing something that every one does every day is killing us, we'd be dead and stop forwarding these stupid emails around

Lost Child -- the child was probably returned to his parents, graduated from high school and has her own children already

Religious -- Muslims are not all out to kill us and very few people are trying to force you to stop believing in God

Safety -- the crime safety tip is to protect you from the one thing, that happened one time 2000 miles from your home (Crooks are lazy.  They will rob you if you let them. They will probably not buy a cray computer to haul around and crack the code on your key fob or garage door opener.)

The next time that you receive an email and the first three letters in the subject are FWD...   STOP!  Then think!  If your BS antennae go up, do a little research before you hit the forward button.