Hoax Busters

No big company is going to give you a GIFT CERTIFICATE (giveaway hoaxes), spamming your friends and family will not provide medical care or financial relief for an ILL OR INJURED CHILD (sympathy hoaxes), that PERFUME IS NOT ETHER (urban legends), and there is no such thing as E-MAIL TRACKING!

If you receive an e-mail urging you to forward a message that contains a reference to any of these, or similar items, please DO NOT, as you will only be helping to perpetrate and perpetuate the hoax.

You can read about the FIVE TELLTALE SIGNS to learn how to identify a hoax message.

For a list of the top ten Internet hoaxes as compiled by Sophos Anti-Virus, click HERE.

Click HERE for a list of the top ten hoax questions received by Hoax Busters.

It's worth noting that just because these are listed as hoaxes doesn't mean that a determined virus writer couldn't use the same name as one of these hoaxes on their infected file and send it out as an e-mail attachment (see Wobbler hoax below). The best way to reduce the risk of getting a real computer virus is to practice SAFE COMPUTING.

Click HERE for more information about real computer viruses.

VISIT HOAX BUSTERS' WEBSITE

George Bush got memos from Rumsfeld that used Scripture to push Iraq war

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld sent President George Bush top secret wartime memos with cover sheets that mixed Scripture and battle photos to cast the Iraq invasion as a holy Christian crusade.

Rumsfeld, not a man who wore religion on his sleeve, appeared to be trying to manipulate - or curry favor with - the Bible-quoting Bush, according to an explosive story in GQ.

Some Pentagon analysts worried that if the memo covers leaked, they would inflame the Islamic world, undercut Washington's Arab allies and bolster those who claimed America was out to Christianize the Muslim world.

MORE...

A rather disgusting and scary perversion of a religion, don't you think? If you put a kaffiyeh on Rummy's head, you might think you were dealing with sha'aria-mad Al Qaeda.

Well, we now know that Bush had plans for an Iraq invasion before the 2000 election. We know the whole torture mess was not about preventing imminent terrorist attacks against Americans but was, instead, all about forcing prisoners to utter the magic words that there was a connection between Osama and Saddam. We know the ironclad proof of Saddam's WMD factories as represented by the "top-secret CIA photos" held up at the U.N. by Colin Powell were mere purchased images from a commercial satellite company that provides "taken from space" photos to anyone who wants to buy them. We know the White House and Cheney targetted Valerie Plame and Joseph Wilson for exposing a crack in their strategy. We know the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo was orchestrated from the White House - from conception to planning to execution of the torture program.

So, this little tidbit about Rummy's abuse of religion is just another piece of the horror puzzle this country and other countries have been made to endure for the sake of one President's insanity.

Ick.

SNOPES.COM [Place of Honor - Our First Post]

Our first post about weirdness on the web really does belong to Snopes.com which is famous for debunking a lot of the very weird stuff that people believe (much of it flashed around the world wide web via emails or websites).

Snopes is all very neatly categorized for your perusing pleasure. Some of our favorite categories at Snopes include: Disney, Politics, Cokelore, Critters and Food. They have many more categories besides those mentioned here and all are worth a peek.

We will be revisiting Snopes to have some fun with even more categories and specific weirdnesses debunked. Meanwhile, have some fun with these nuggets:

No one is ever declared dead while on Disney property. TRUE OR FALSE?

Walt Disney's face appears on one of the singing busts in the Haunted Mansions graveyard. TRUE OR FALSE?

Letters spelling the word S-E-X are formed by a cloud of dust in "The Lion King." TRUE OR FALSE?

Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is one of the owners of the company that produces Tamiflu. TRUE OR FALSE?

U.S. active duty military deaths were higher during the administration of President Clinton than during the administration of George W. Bush. TRUE OR FALSE?

Photograph captures former President George W. Bush holding a book upside-down in a classroom. TRUE OR FALSE?

Email lists quotes garnered from Barack Obama's books. TRUE OR FALSE?

E-mail describes the kidnapping, assault, and torture of Megan Williams by six white suspects. TRUE OR FALSE?

Photograph captions describe a black man "looting" and a white couple "finding supplies" in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. TRUE OR FALSE?

Coca-Cola became carbondated by accident. TRUE OR FALSE?

Coca-Cola used to contain cocaine. TRUE OR FALSE?

Coca-Cola is an effective contraceptive. TRUE OR FALSE?

Combining Coca-Cola and aspirin will get you high. TRUE OR FALSE?

Elephant kills zookeeper by defecating on him. TRUE OR FALSE?

Photo opportunity involving a bear and a honey-smeared child goes horribly wrong. TRUE OR FALSE?

Guests have stomachs pumped after hostess's cat turns up dead. TRUE OR FALSE?

Tourist in foreign country brings home a STRAY dog only to learn it is a rat. TRUE OR FALSE?

Alligators live in the sewers beneath New York City. TRUE OR FALSE?

The Chinese are raising St. Bernard dogs for food. TRUE OR FALSE?

Raisins and grapes can be harmful to dogs, TRUE OR FALSE?

Deadly canine flu sweeps through the U.S. TRUE OR FALSE?

Bargain-hunting shopper is fatally bitten by snake lurking in winter coat. TRUE OR FALSE?

Cats will suck the breath out of babies. TRUE OR FALSE?

The Oregon Dept. of Transportation blew up a dead whale. TRUE OR FALSE?

Customer at fast food chicken outlet is served a batter-fried rat. TRUE OR FALSE?

Green potatoes are poisonous. TRUE OR FALSE?

Mountain Dew will shrink testicles and lower sperm count. TRUE OR FALSE?

...and stay tuned for more!