{"id":5097,"date":"2004-10-29T12:06:44","date_gmt":"2004-10-29T16:06:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2004\/10\/29\/hoax-o-weenies\/"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:58:18","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:58:18","slug":"hoax-o-weenies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2004\/10\/29\/hoax-o-weenies\/","title":{"rendered":"hoax-o-weenies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a name='a2610'><\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n<P><SPAN><SPAN><FONT><STRONG><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\" size=\"2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/ethicalesq\/vampireC.gif\" alt=\"vampC\" \/>&nbsp; <\/FONT><A href=\"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2004\/06\/27#a1700\"><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\" color=\"black\" size=\"2\"><EM>one-breath&nbsp;pundit<\/EM><\/FONT><\/A><EM><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\" size=\"2\">&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/FONT><\/EM><\/STRONG><\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/P><br \/>\n<DIV><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\" size=\"2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/ethicalesq\/tinycheck.gif\" alt=\"tiny check\" \/>&nbsp; Whether they think they&#8217;re sending me a trick or a treat, I grow increasingly <\/FONT><\/DIV><br \/>\n<DIV><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\"><FONT size=\"2\">weary <\/FONT><FONT size=\"2\">with folk (many of them beloved friends and relatives) who hit the Forward icon to<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV><br \/>\n<DIV><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\"><FONT size=\"2\">send me email that spreads (1) fantastic rumors about the supposed <\/FONT><FONT size=\"2\">sins of others &#8212; <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV><br \/>\n<DIV><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\"><FONT size=\"2\">usually with a political <\/FONT><FONT size=\"2\">motivation, (2) health <FONT color=\"black\">scares, (3) <\/FONT><A href=\"http:\/\/urbanlegends.about.com\/library\/bl_no_gas_may_19th.htm\"><FONT color=\"black\">boycott<\/FONT><\/A><FONT color=\"black\"> schemes, or (4) sappy pop-<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV><br \/>\n<DIV><FONT color=\"black\"><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\"><FONT size=\"2\">psychology <\/FONT><FONT size=\"2\">and feel-good pap (often <\/FONT><FONT size=\"2\">allegedly written by <A href=\"http:\/\/www.georgecarlin.com\/georgecarlin\/home\/dontblame.html \"><FONT color=\"black\">terror victims or celebrities<\/FONT><\/A><FONT color=\"black\">).<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV><br \/>\n<UL><br \/>\n<LI><FONT size=\"2\"><br \/>\n<DIV><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\" size=\"2\">yesterday, it was&nbsp;misleading accusations about Starbucks maltreatment of American soldiers<\/FONT><\/DIV><br \/>\n<DIV><FONT size=\"2\"><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\">in Iraq &#8212; read the&nbsp;details at <\/FONT><A href=\"http:\/\/www.snopes.com\/politics\/military\/starbucks.asp\"><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\" color=\"black\">snopes<\/FONT><\/A><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\">.com. [for more on this story see <A href=\"http:\/\/lifeisgood.typepad.com\/lifeisgood\/2004\/09\/starbucks_and_t.html\"><FONT color=\"black\">Caliban<\/FONT><\/A> and <A href=\"http:\/\/taxprof.typepad.com\/taxprof_blog\/2004\/10\/starbucks.html\"><FONT color=\"black\">TaxLaw Prof<\/FONT><\/A>]<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT><br \/>\n<LI><FONT size=\"2\"><br \/>\n<DIV><br \/>\n<DIV><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\" size=\"2\">recently it was silly &#8220;facts&#8221; about Theresa Heinz Kerry&#8217;s ownership of foreign<\/FONT><\/DIV><br \/>\n<DIV><FONT size=\"2\"><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\">factories and outsourcing (<\/FONT><A href=\"http:\/\/www.snopes.com\/politics\/kerry\/heinz.asp\"><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\" color=\"black\">actually <\/FONT><\/A><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\">the family trust owns but 4% of the Heinz Company)<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV><\/DIV><\/FONT><\/LI><\/UL><br \/>\n<DIV><FONT size=\"2\"><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\">Click <\/FONT><A href=\"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2004\/05\/18\"><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\" color=\"black\">here<\/FONT><\/A><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\"> to read my plea last May to stop sending me such cyber b.s.&nbsp;(basically, anything that<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV><br \/>\n<DIV><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\"><FONT size=\"2\">says &#8220;send this to all your friends&#8221;). &nbsp;Today, I want to repeat <\/FONT><FONT size=\"2\">that it is simply too easy to check <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV><br \/>\n<DIV><FONT size=\"2\"><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\">out such rumors &#8212; I go first to <\/FONT><A href=\"http:\/\/www.purportal.com\/\"><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\">purporal.com<\/FONT><\/A><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\"> <\/FONT><\/FONT><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\"><FONT size=\"2\">&#8212; for responsble <\/FONT><FONT size=\"2\">people to Forward them without <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV><br \/>\n<DIV><FONT size=\"2\"><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\">attempting to verify them.&nbsp; (See <\/FONT><A href=\"http:\/\/www.virtualchase.com\/quality\/hoaxes_in_the_news.html\"><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\" color=\"black\">Virtual Chase <\/FONT><\/A><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\"><FONT color=\"black\">on<\/FONT> internet hoaxes.)<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV><br \/>\n<BLOCKQUOTE><br \/>\n<BLOCKQUOTE><br \/>\n<BLOCKQUOTE><br \/>\n<BLOCKQUOTE><br \/>\n<BLOCKQUOTE><br \/>\n<BLOCKQUOTE><br \/>\n<BLOCKQUOTE><br \/>\n<BLOCKQUOTE><br \/>\n<BLOCKQUOTE><br \/>\n<DIV><FONT size=\"2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/ethicalesq\/vampireCf.gif\" alt=\"vampCf\" \/><\/FONT><\/DIV><br \/>\n<DIV><FONT size=\"2\"><\/FONT>&nbsp;<\/DIV><br \/>\n<DIV>&nbsp;<\/DIV><br \/>\n<DIV><FONT face=\"Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif\" size=\"2\">a nuisance&#8211;<BR>even mountain cherry blossom<BR>rumors fly<\/FONT><\/DIV><br \/>\n<DIV><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\"><\/FONT>&nbsp;<\/DIV><br \/>\n<DIV><br \/>\n<DIV dir=\"ltr\" align=\"left\"><SPAN><\/SPAN>&nbsp;<\/DIV><br \/>\n<DIV dir=\"ltr\" align=\"left\"><SPAN><FONT size=\"1\">from<\/FONT>&nbsp;<FONT face=\"Times New Roman\" color=\"red\" size=\"1\"><STRONG><A href=\"http:\/\/webusers.xula.edu\/dlanoue\/issa\/index.html\">Issa<\/A><\/STRONG><\/FONT><FONT face=\"Times New Roman\" size=\"1\">, translated by <\/FONT><A href=\"http:\/\/www.worldhaiku.net\/poetry\/eng\/us\/d.lanoue.htm\"><FONT face=\"Times New Roman\" color=\"#000000\" size=\"1\"><STRONG>D.G. Lanoue<\/STRONG><\/FONT><\/A><FONT face=\"Times New Roman,Times,Serif\" size=\"1\">&nbsp;<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV><br \/>\n<DIV dir=\"ltr\" align=\"left\"><SPAN><FONT face=\"Times New Roman\" size=\"1\"><\/FONT><\/SPAN>&nbsp;<\/DIV><br \/>\n<DIV dir=\"ltr\" align=\"left\"><SPAN><FONT face=\"Times New Roman\" size=\"1\"><\/FONT><\/SPAN>&nbsp;<\/DIV><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><br \/>\n<UL><br \/>\n<LI><br \/>\n<DIV align=\"left\"><SPAN><FONT face=\"Times New Roman\" size=\"2\"><STRONG><EM><FONT color=\"red\">p.s.<\/FONT><\/EM><\/STRONG>&nbsp; In the spirit of avoiding rumor-mongering, I will not speculate on the reasons for the&nbsp;settlement today of Bill O&#8217;Reilly&#8217;s sexual harassment lawsuit &#8212; nor even link to it.&nbsp; (But, don&#8217;t you just hate it when settlement papers are kept secret?)<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV><\/LI><\/UL><br \/>\n<P align=\"left\"><SPAN><FONT face=\"Times New Roman\" size=\"2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/ethicalesq\/Hbagn.gif\" alt=\"Hbag n\" \/><\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/P><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; one-breath&nbsp;pundit&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; Whether they think they&#8217;re sending me a trick or a treat, I grow increasingly weary with folk (many of them beloved friends and relatives) who hit the Forward icon to send me email that spreads (1) fantastic rumors about the supposed sins of others &#8212; usually with a political motivation, (2) health [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2926],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pre-06-2006"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kP1R-1kd","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5097"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13551,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5097\/revisions\/13551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}