Debunk the Myths

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7209774096941860927.post-37607695634484475472007-03-09T20:43:00.000-06:002007-03-09T20:53:01.821-06:00Debunk the Myths<a href="http://www.theleafchronicle.com/news/blogs/hotornot/uploaded_images/kidney-791081.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.theleafchronicle.com/news/blogs/hotornot/uploaded_images/kidney-788632.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> While surfing the Web, I often come across chain letters or mass junk mails that hit e-mail addresses, MySpace accounts, etc. and are meant to scare people/circulate the Internet as fast as possible. On MySpace, some first-time parents posted a chain about not allowing children to play in the ball pits at places like McDonald's. The reason? The e-mail asserts that nasty things like animals, drug paraphernalia, and body secretions lie under the balls. The e-mail said that a child in Midland, Tennessee was killed by a heroine overdose in October of 1999 after playing in a ball pit after a birthday party. Supposedly, the child had sat on a needle under the balls, it broke off into the child’s skin and it died. Another story in the mass mail asserted that a little boy had been playing in a ball pit at a Burger King and was killed by a nest of poisonous snakes living under the balls. Being the dorky reporter and English-type that I am, I investigated (especially since the e-mail said the story of the needle boy could be found in the Midland Chronicle). As I suspected, the story is totally false. There is no Midland Chronicle and the state Midland is in changes depending upon what state is circulating the e-mail. I did, however, stumble across a very cool Web site — http://urbanlegends.about.com — that everyone should check out that confirmed this information. My point: it’s hot to be informed and keep your friends from freaking out over an e-mail that’s as real as Michael Jackson’s nose and painted cats. <hr> Here is the site’s top 25 most popular topics of the past week: 1. Demi Moore and the Amorous Dolphin 2. New $1 Coins Omit 'In God We Trust' 3. The Urban Legends Slide Show 4. 'Do Not Call' List for Cell Phones 5. Things You Never Knew Your Cell Phone Could Do 6. Breast Infestation (Photo/Video) 7. Ericsson 'Free Laptop' Chain Letter 8. World Record Grizzly Bear 9. World's Tallest Woman 10. 'Work Moose' in Harness (Photo) 11. Ciara's Secret Sex-Change Operation 12. Black and White Twins (Photos) 13. Painted Cats (Photos) 14. Hercules the Liger (Photos) 15. 90# Telephone Scam 16. 'Eye of God' in Outer Space 17. Half-Human, Half-Animal Hybrid (Photo) 18. Unlock Your Car Door with a Cell Phone 19. Ashley Flores Is Missing 20. Mr. Rogers Was a Marine Sniper / Navy Seal 21. Shark Attacks Helicopter (Photo) 22. Pit Bull vs. Porcupine (Photos) 23. Jokerkid613 / Ja$on MoNey State Police Warning 24. Don't Drink the Sea Water 25. Is There Lead in Your Lipstick? <hr> Of these, I’ve only heard about number 6, 13 and 20 — all of which I know are false. With number 6, the photos circulating look real and threaten women to wash their new undergarments for fear that their bodies will be take over by larvae that will live in their skin. <a href="http://www.theleafchronicle.com/news/blogs/hotornot/uploaded_images/cat-798362.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.theleafchronicle.com/news/blogs/hotornot/uploaded_images/cat-796070.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> It’s disgusting, but all it really turned out to be was good Photoshop work of a part of a woman’s body with a lotus seedpod placed over it. As for number 13, there are no painted cats. DO you really think one would allow that? The rumor also is that Mr. Rogers was a Marine Sniper and had full-sleeved tattoos on his arms — that’s why he wore all the sweaters. People also claim that his therapist told him to do the show and work with children as a way to cure him of horrible war memories. First, that makes no sense. Why would the Marines/shrinks <a href="http://www.theleafchronicle.com/news/blogs/hotornot/uploaded_images/mrrogers-742749.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.theleafchronicle.com/news/blogs/hotornot/uploaded_images/mrrogers-740455.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> send a war-trained, off-balance guy to work with children? At any rate, Fred Rogers was too dead to defend himself of the rumors, so it circulated like wildfire (as most rumors do because people have nothing better to do in their sad, sad lives). <hr> Here’s an example of what an article debunking urban legends on the site looks like: Attack of the Camel Spiders Netlore Archive: Emailed photo taken by U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq show a pair of huge, scary-looking arachnids known as camel spiders Description: Emailed image with text Circulating since: April 2004 (image) Status: Text is inaccurate Analysis: See below Email example contributed by Kim N., 7 April 2004: Subject: FW: Camel Spider found in Iraq--This is a huge spider!!!! <a href="http://www.theleafchronicle.com/news/blogs/hotornot/uploaded_images/camel_spider_sm-789840.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.theleafchronicle.com/news/blogs/hotornot/uploaded_images/camel_spider_sm-788617.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> Photo caption: Yuck. I sure am glad we don't have these here. Although we probably will after this war. This picture is a perfect example of why you don't want to go to the desert. These are 2 of the biggest I've ever seen. With a vertical leap that would make a pro basketball player weep with envy (they have to be able to jump up on to a camels stomach after all), these bastards latch on and inject you with a local anesthesia so you can't feel it feeding on you. They eat flesh, not just suck out your juices like a normal spider. Comments: The photo appears to be authentic. Fortunately for all of us -- especially the guys in the picture -- the same cannot be said of the caption, which merely repeats false rumors circulating since the start of the Iraq war. This scary-looking creature (actually, it's a pair of scary-looking creatures dangling end-to-end) is indeed commonly called a camel spider, but in fact it is neither a spider, strictly speaking (entomologists call it a solifugid), nor is it found only in the Middle East. Camel spiders reside in arid locales all over the world, including the southwestern United States. A typical specimen can grow to about the size of a child's hand, but, though they are known for being vicious predators, camel spiders are neither venomous nor a threat to human beings. For the record, they don't eat camels, either. <hr> The Web site is really cool.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7209774096941860927-3760769563448447547?l=www.theleafchronicle.com%2Fnews%2Fblogs%2Fhotornot%2Findex.html'/></div>Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11557877202630067873noreply@blogger.com1