Another visit to Snopes.com

It's a lot of fun to visit Snopes and read the incredibly outrageous crapola that people actually believe is true and in many cases, spend an inordinate amount of effort and time trying to convince others it's true. If you've ever been "victimized" by a chain email promoting some dire warning or desperate plea based on complete malarkey and you've dared to hit "Reply All" or post on a forum the truth and nothing but the truth, you know you risk becoming Public Enemy Number One. People are in love with their legends, after all. Only a meanyhead would insist on telling the truth.

So with pure meanyheadedness in mind, here's another smattering of "stuff" that Snopes either confirms or denies. You'll have to visit the webpage for that particular claim to see its full answer.

CLAIM: "Newspaper reporter falls for the old 'Heywood Jablome' funny name gag." ANSWER

CLAIM: "Geraldo Rivera was born Jerry Rivers but changed his name to appeal to Latino viewers." ANSWER

CLAIM: "An Oregon girl's message-in-a-bottle was found by a boy in Hawaii." ANSWER

CLAIM: "Girl impales herself on gearshift lever after being slipped some Spanish Fly by her boyfriend." ANSWER

CLAIM: "A speeder caught by photo radar mails the police a picture of money to pay his fine." ANSWER

CLAIM: "Quick-thinking cop has a bit of fun with a drunk stuck in the snow by pretending to run alongside his car." ANSWER

CLAIM: "As a teenager, Colin Powell learned to speak Yiddish while working in a Jewish-owned baby equipment store in New York." ANSWER

CLAIM: "A foreign family unknowingly consumes the ashes of a relative shipped to them for burial." ANSWER

CLAIM: "A swelling on a girl's cheek breaks open and disgorges hundreds of baby spiders." ANSWER

CLAIM: "A vengeful co-worker made it his practice to urinate into the office coffee pot." ANSWER

CLAIM: "Service station customers are getting stuck by HIV-loaded syringes affixed to gas pump handles." ANSWER

CLAIM: "Venomous snakes lurk in the ball pits of fast food restaurants." ANSWER

CLAIM: "Man high on drugs slices off pieces of his face and feeds them to his dogs." ANSWER

CLAIM: "Infants have died or suffered debilitating respiration problems after aspirating baby oil." ANSWER

CLAIM: "The charred remains of a scuba diver were discovered in a tree after a forest fire." ANSWER

Today's Front Page News From Canada

I just happened across this online news source for Canada and I thought their collection of front page stories was interesting and in some cases, even a bit strange. Here are links to some of those stories:

Tiger mauls zookeeper to death
An animal keeper was mauled to death Wednesday by a rare white tiger at a wildlife park in New Zealand while visitors watched in horror, police said.
Full Story

Dog that saved owner from fire is euthanized
A terminally ill bulldog whose barking awakened her owner in time for both to escape from a burning house in Michigan has been euthanized.
Full Story
Terminally ill dog saves owner from blaze

Woman's body in freezer 20 years
London police have discovered a woman's corpse in a home freezer 20 years after her death, Britain's Press Association reported Wednesday.
Full Story

Drunk driver left pal dying on roadside
A Drayton Valley drunk driver has admitted taking a pal out for drinks on his birthday and then leaving him dying on the side of the road after rolling his pickup truck.
Full Story

Teen faces 22 charges
Students at Burnaby Mountain Secondary were in shock yesterday after a brazen shooting metres away from school grounds Monday.
Full Story

Footlong Fugitive loyal to Subway
Police are looking for the Footlong Fugitive who's been repeatedly knocking off the same Subway restaurant in the south end.
Full Story

Hopefuls strut their stuff to be Miss Hooters
This city is going to sizzle tonight. And we're not talking about the weather. Twenty young women from across Canada are in Winnipeg to compete in the 10th annual Miss Hooters of Canada pageant.
Full Story

Slain girl battled disease
Given a new lease on life, Angela Holm was settling into a normal routine after beating a life-threatening immune disorder -- one that claimed her older brother -- she battled since infancy.
Full Story

Ex-schools trustee gets probation in ketchup theft
A former school board trustee from southern California has been sentenced to two years of informal probation for stealing a bottle of ketchup from a college dining area.
Full Story

Teens pranking school caught red-handed
Police in San Diego say a dozen high school students were caught in the act of moving hundreds of desks and chairs out of classrooms as part of a senior prank.
Full Story

Cigarette bandit wore beer carton as disguise
Police in Nebraska are looking a man who stole cigarettes while disguising himself as a beer carton.
Full Story

Toy helicopter used to smuggle phones into jail

Toddler is a cue-ball wizard at pool table

'Worst' inmate wants bail
A high-risk convict called the "most difficult" inmate in the Edmonton Remand Centre wants out on bail on charges of starting a fire in his cell and assaulting two guards.
Full Story

Bus driver called 'creepy'
Lawyer says man who fondled disabled woman not criminal

Bus beheader's fate unknown

Boy, 13, is not baby's dad: Court documents