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I received an email, forwarded by a respected colleague, that echoes my sentiments regarding the many email forwards my family and I have been receiving. Whoever decided to create this note and forward it on should receive some type of humanitarian award. It says it all!
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Big companies don't do business via chain letters and there are no computer programs that track how many times an e-mail is forwarded, let alone by whom.
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Bill Gates is not giving you $1000, and Disney is not giving you a free vacation. There is no baby food company issuing class action checks.
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Proctor and Gamble is not part of a satanic cult or scheme, and its logo is not satanic.
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MTV will not give you backstage passes if you forward something to the most people.
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The Gap is not giving away free clothes. You can relax; there is no need to pass it on "just in case it's true."
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There is no kidney theft ring in New Orleans. No one is waking up in a bathtub full of ice, even if a friend of a friend swears it happened to their cousin. If you are hell bent on believing the kidney theft stories, see:
And I quote: "The National Kidney Foundation has repeatedly issued requests for actual victims of organ thieves to come forward and tell their "stories." None have. That's "none" as in "zero." Not even your friend's cousin.
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Neiman Marcus doesn't really sell a $200 cookie recipe. And even if they do, we all have it. And even if you don't, you can get a copy at:
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If the latest NASA rocket disaster DID contain plutonium that went to particulate over the eastern seaboard, do you REALLY think this information would reach the public via an AOL chain letter?
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There is no "Good Times" virus. In fact, you should never, ever, ever forward any email containing any virus warning unless you first confirm it at an actual site of an actual company that actually deals with viruses. Try:
http://www.norton.com/
http://www.datafellows.com/
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There is no gang initiation plot to murder any motorist who flashes headlights at another car driving at night without lights. This never happened, stop forwarding messages about it.
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If you still absolutely MUST forward that 10th-generation message from a friend, at least have the decency to trim off of it the eighty lines of headers showing everyone else who's received it over the last 6 weeks.
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No one - let me REPEAT this - NO ONE is ever going to pay any attention to "petitions" sent around over e-mail. Nearly all of these are simply hoaxes. And even the ones which aren't can't do any good. A person in government or business who received an e-mail petition (and most never even make it there) would just throw it away. They have no way to verify anyone who is "listed" as being either a real person or as being truly concerned. All the petitions that you see on e-mail end up doing nothing. Period. See:
terms=petitions&SUName=urbanlegends
If you want to do some good you're going to have to do it the old fashioned way: write a letter or make a phone call to a government official or corporate executive who has some responsibility for what your concern is. Adding your name to an e-mail petition list may make you "feel a little better" but it isn't going to do a single bit of good for whoever or whichever cause it is you want to "help."
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Craig Shergold (or Sherwood, or Sherman, etc.) in England is not dying of cancer, or anything else, at this time and he would like everyone to stop sending him their business cards. He apparently is no longer a "little boy" either.
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The "Make a Wish" foundation is a real organization doing fine work, but they have had to establish a special toll free hot line in response to the large number of Internet hoaxes using their good name and reputation. It is distracting them from the important work they do.
Also, the American Cancer Society does not give 3 cents for each person you forward e-mail to. They need people to donate money, they don't give it, as if they could know how many e-mails you sent out...sheesh.
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Women really are suffering in Afghanistan, but forwarding an e-mail won't help their cause in the least. If you want to help, contact your local legislative representative, or get in touch with Amnesty International or the Red Cross.
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There is no bill pending before Congress that will allow long distance companies to charge you for using the Internet.
terms=long+distance+tax&SUName=urbanlegends
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Have you heard the one about the bill in congress permitting the US Postal Service to charge a tax for every email? See:
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If you are one of those insufferable people who forwards anything that "promises" that something bad will happen if you "don't", just think of how manipulated the next person will feel toward you when they receive it.
Bottom Line... composing e-mail or posting something on the Net is as easy as writing on the walls of a public rest room. Don't automatically believe it until it's proven true... ASSUME it's false, unless there is proof that it's true. Or, try:
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