The Top 6 Urban Legends that have come through my emails

#1) dialing #77 on your cell phone will connect you to the state police in any state: False. (My email had a story about a rapist disguising himself as a cop and the quick thinking woman dialed #77, all of which was supposed to be the lesson on how effective dialing #77 is...)

http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/fakecop.asp



#2) Target is does not contribute to veterans and only provides grants to gay and lesbian causes: Both False - These were two separate emails, which ware really very entertaining and if they were true, would definitely be a reason to keep spreading the emails.



#3)There is a "Do Not Call" list for cell phones: False - Here's a link from the Federal Trade Commission, but the bottom line is... it's just not going to happen: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2005/04/dnc.shtm



#4) Your purse may be carrying disease into your home or E Coli on your purse: TRUE Yup, sad to say, but leading experts actually say to use handi-wipes on the bottom of your purse once a day... or at minimum try to keep it off the table. Here's the link: http://www.snopes.com/medical/disease/purse.asp



#5) Gas - I have received 2 emails periodically:

a) "Don't buy gas from these folks" Shell, Chevron, Texaco, Exxon and Mobile and you will be cutting off the funding for terrorists: FALSE http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/saudigas.asp

b) "Don't buy gas on may 15" - in the hopes of "sticking" it to the big gas companies. False: http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/nogas.asp

My ALL TIME FAVORITE:

#6) THE AVERAGE PERSON SWALLOWS 8 SPIDERS A YEAR WHILE SLEEPING: Well, not only is this my favorite, but I actually like to tell people it's 8 spiders a week. Unfortunately, it does not appear to be true, although the picture of someone snoring next to you, with 3 little furry spider legs clinging onto the corner of their lips as the arachnid samples the delicacies on the inner cheek is enough to make me sleep with the covers securely covering my mouth. Is that why Micheal Jackson wears that white surgical mask? To keep the spiders out...... or...... to keep them in? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm Anyway, here's the low down of my all time favorite: http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/spiders.asp

And of course, the whole reason I put together this list, is because I FINALLY got the Obama email. You know the one quoting (or misquoting) from a book he wrote. Usually I don't receive the good urban legend emails until they have been circulating for several years... since I received this one is such a timely fashion, it must be spreading like Wild Fire!

Anyway, I'm not sure who I'm supporting this year in the presidential election... But I do know, that if anything I received in an email with a FW: in the subject line... is probably not true. So I usually check it out on Snopes and Google. The amazing thing is that these emails keep getting passed around! I don't even watch the news... (I rely heavily on The Daily Show on comedy central for my news snippets) I don't listen to the radio... although I have been known to dip into Yahoo News (which by the way has informed me that one of the So you think you can dance Judges went "off")

In checking out the Barrack Obama email I found another one in Snopes that was HYSTERICAL! Apparently there is an email circulating with pictures of his family. And although the pictures are accurate... there is a subtitle to the picture, listing the names and in parenthesis a little (where are they now- comment) some are crack addicts, some are felons, some are Muslim extremists... it's really very very funny. Even funnier that people would actually believe it without even checking anywhere to see if it's true. Poor Poor Barrack.

So, me and Marvin Dimple were talking about this the other day. He was telling me how is gets emails all the time from really smart people, people who's opinion he respects, and they forward some of these urban legend emails with comments like, "Take a look at this, I think we all know what we need to do" or " This is really scary, makes you think" or something like that... and we both agreed that in the time it takes to actually add the comment... and add your group of friends to the "to" address field and click send... you could "google" or "snopes" the email subject line and 9 out of 10 times find out that the email is NOT TRUE.

M. Colkins, sends me emails asking if they are true... probably because she is sick and tired of me responding to her emails with the ... "actually, this email isn't really true..." ha ha ha ha ha


That's right. I'm the defender of the innocent email underdog!

I think I once tried to start an email campaign of misinformation, but it didn't work. Probably because I didn't use the old FW: ploy and I actually told my friends I was starting the Urban Legend... Probably, I should send it out with the title: I usually don't forward these, but this one is scary... right... then everyone would read it. Now, if I could just figure out how to embed a "donate" button to that email so that I can make some money! HA HA HA HA HA HA

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Have a great day
P.S. If you receive an email from the www.helpaffordcollege.org Please click on the Donate Button, and give generously!