One of the little aggravations of email and Facebook, is the mostly false rumors which are circulated time, and time again. Some have been recirculating for years, while others are more recent. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if folks vetted these type of emails before they hit the “forward” button and perpetuated the myth?
Here are just a few I’ve seen just this past week. I’ve put them through www.snopes.com or other sites which authenticate the urban legends populating the internet.
(1) Did Chipotle employees refuse to serve 8 NYPD officers, and put their hands in the air and say, “Don’t Shoot?” This information has been deemed “Mostly False” by Snopes. Here’s the link to that information: http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/chipotlenypd.asp
(2) A video currently being circulated purports to capture killed teenager, Michael Brown beating and older man over the theft of a backpack. Snopes has found this video is not of Michael Brown, and has deemed the posting as “FALSE.” The link to it can be accessed via: http://www.snopes.com/politics/crime/shawnspall.asp
(3) An email which has been circulated via email and Facebook, has claimed that the Australian Prime Minister told Muslim immigrants they must learn the English language, and adapt to Australian culture, or leave. This email and postings to Facebook have proved “False.” Here’s what an “Urban Legends” site has to say: http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/government/a/Australian-Prime-Minister-Muslim-Immigrants.htm
However, among the urban legends circulating out there on the internet matrix, there are some postings that can be verified as truthful. For example we have the following.
(1) A quote by Ronald Regan: “We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.” This quote is actually TRUE, and can be verified at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/r/ronaldreag147706.html
For those of you interested in vetting emails or Facebook postings before deciding to “share” or “forward” to others, there is help out there. You can check via the following websites:
(1) www.snopes.com – Great site for vetting validity of information circulating via the internet.
(2) http://www.brainyquote.com – Should you be provided quoted words, you can input a few words of the quote, and the purported author’s name, and usually find it on brainyquote. You can also do the same in a plain ole “Google” search.
(3) http://urbanlegendsonline.com –The “official” urban legend website has been around from almost the beginning of this type of information being disseminated. It can be an interesting place for those interested in urban legends for their entertainment purposes.
I hope this helps! One thing for certain, there are far more agendas out there, but far less truth!
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