Every so often I get an email with a FORWARD from someone else. The material varies from interesting, sweet and touching to troubling, and disturbing in tone. I always take a minute to analyze what is being said, then check it out on Snopes.com to see if it is an URBAN LEGEND or really true. I've recieved all kinds of strange notices...send this on and you'll receive $50 from_________ or the world is ending Dec 14th, get your food storage in place or a new computer virus is coming, etc. Well, you get the idea.
What is SNOPES? I read an article in Reader's Digest April 2009, p. 98 about the RUMOR DETECTIVES. It's a couple David and Barbara Mikkelson who run the site dedicated to tracing down all stories and half-truths that pop up so easily on the Internet as a handy form of expressing fears or concerns or ways of looking at life. Most of them are HOAXES, URBAN LEGENDS, or FOLKLORE. If it sounds to good to be true, it's probably not true. They search the Internet, newspapers and police reports to find out if there is a basis for the idea and then post on their site if it's true or false or if they are still researching it. They even give you the date it was created so you can see how long it's been around and document their sources. Originally created in 1995, it's a very popular site. Check it out before you send that forward on to your friends that may or may not be true.