Showing posts with label Snopes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Snopes. Show all posts

Monday, October 15, 2018

Getting Caught with my Snopes Down

See, the thing is all of those people that figure out a way to ruin a politician with misinformation can be liberal too. I was caught yesterday while roaming around on Facebook.

That share button is so tempting when you see words that you do not want to see ever. So, share I did. (Snopes info here.)

I woke up during the night wondering if that guy really did say that and who in the world is he. As I sat down with my green smoothies this morning, I began doing a Snopes check on the post. What did I find?

  1. The accusation was made several years ago so is out of date.
  2. The politician, a Republican, was forced to drop out of the race.
  3. His Facebook page was probably hacked.
  4. He claimed he did not say what was posted.
So, people don't do what I did without checking first. 

I shared a video of a man telling a young person to sit down when they questioned his statement that global warming was probably caused my bodies heat (said in jest I am sure.) That one did make me mad because politician forget that those young people are future voters and have parents. I will not take that one down.

So, what is the point? Be sure to check and be very careful. What we share usually involves REAL people that may be damaged by something that is untrue.

Oh, and I did take that post down...deleted I hope forever.

Have a wonderful day.

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Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Where Did You Hear That?

It is Election Day, 2016 today. Hillary Clinton (Dem.) is running against Donald Trump (Rep.). I'm with Her. We shall see if I have chosen the right person. I certainly hope so.


Because I am an educator, I am very much in tune with the concept of using a prime source. In case
Election Day 2016
you are not aware, a prime source is defined as:
In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called original source or evidence) is an artifact, a document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, a recording, or other source of information that was created at the time under study.
In the real world, I keep the concept in mind when I hear or read something that just doesn't seem right. Being raised during the 1950's I am well aware of brainwashing and how those people that do that sort of thing don't change everything in a piece of information. However, when the words are rearranged just slightly, the meaning changes markedly.

I had a friend swear up and down that Paul Harvey had said something very hateful on the radio and, because Paul Harvey said it, it must be so. When he read that same piece in writing, the writer had changed ever so few words. That small change left the my friends believing that it was what he had heard.

Thankfully, this election is over today. This is just for future reference. When you hear something that sounds a bit wonky even if it agrees with your beliefs, please check it out. Where we get the information is more important than anything. Talk show hosts are very good at bending our perception of the facts to suit their agendas and I can't imagine that you don't take what they say with a grain of salt.

I don't know if Snopes is infallible. I can't imagine that anyone can be. But they check facts and I have found original sources of information that I could go back to if I just used my brain. There is a site that evaluates charitable trusts. It would pay you to check that out before you begin repeating information about that sort of thing. I am sure there are many many others.

So, now that I have that off my chest, I am settling in so I can see how this day unfolds. I hear that Donald Trump is already suing Nevada for letting people vote after the poles are suppose to close. (I have not checked that piece of information out yet so do that before you repeat what you see here.) It should all be very interesting.

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Snopes: Clinton in Egypt False
Snopes: Nobel Peace Lies False
Snopes: Uranium Given to Russians (Note: Among the ways these accusations stray from the facts is in attributing a power of veto or approval to Secretary Clinton that she simply did not have.) Unproven

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Dumb people at the Gas Pump are ALL Women?

Moral of this story:  Laugh at the idiots scammers...they can't help themselves.

The email was forwarded to me...you know, the email warning about safety at the gas pump.  It seems that women and cell phones and the filling stations just sets people off.  So an idiot someone had the brilliant idea to embellish a safety warning put out by the Petroleum Equipment Industry pertaining to gas pump fires. (In case you are wondering, the key to getting an email like this to go viral is to include just enough truth and include some hate or prejudice.) If the sender of the email had read the message closely, they would have seen that it was written to offend women.  In the case of this woman, she was not offended.  It made her laugh until she was crying.  Honestly!

THE PHONY EMAIL:
We have become so comfortable around gas stations that we forget just how deadly gasoline can be and how easy it is to ignite....
Shell Oil Safety Alert!

Four Rules for Safe Refueling:
  1. Don't smoke
  2. Turn off the engine
  3. Don't use your cell phone - leave it inside the vehicle or turn it off (the false part of the email.)
  4. Don't re-enter your vehicle during fueling.
 Bob Renkes of Petroleum Equipment Institute is working on a campaign to try and make people aware of fires as a result of 'static electricity' at gas pumps. His company has researched 150 cases of these fires. His results were very surprising: 
  • Out of 150 cases, almost all of them were women. (Not in the original warning) 
  • Almost all cases involved the person getting back in their vehicle while the nozzle was still pumping gas. When finished, they went back to pull the nozzle out and the fire started, as a result of static. (This may be true.)
  • Most had on rubber-soled shoes.
  • Most men never get back in their vehicle until completely finished. (The PEI did not say this.) This is why they are seldom involved in these types of fires....
That is where I quit reading because I was laughing so hard!  I might add they mentioned dribbling gas too. Sigh!

This is the reply published by PEI in response to the email scam. You can read the original report from Bob Renkes. Notice there is NO mention of women being the problem. This is a copy of the whole PEI page along with references replying to the scam...no attempt to mislead here:

Three Rules for Safe Refueling
1. Turn off engine.
2. Don't smoke.
3. Never re-enter your vehicle while refueling.
Are Cell Phones Responsible?No. We have not documented a single incident that was caused by a cellular telephone. Cell phones continue to be cited as causing fires at the pump in e-mails circulating on the Internet. So far, we have been unable to document any incidents that were sparked by a cellular telephone. In fact, many researchers have tried to ignite fuel vapors with a cell phone and failed.  
PEI still advises against using any electronic device that might distract the motorist during the refueling process.
More Information:  The following links offer more information on static electrical discharge— the fact and the fiction.
Snopes.com: Analysis of infamous warning e-mails circulating
Mythbusters: Season One of The Discovery Channel television series includes an episode on the cell phone myth and features our own Robert Renkes
University of Oklahoma: Report on wireless phones at gas stations
ESD Journal: More static-related incidents and safety tips
About.com: Detailing the truth of the urban legend
PEI Forum: Safe refueling questions and answers
Download the video of an actual refueling fire incident: WMV | AVI | MOV                      courtesty of www.PEI.org 
Static electricity yes, cell phones NO!  And silly women...not at all!

As for girls being girls...I will have to admit that in Oregon where I live 6 month a year we do NOT pump our own gas.  I have had to have someone help me here in Arizona more than once...the gas pump mystery confounds me. Even when I am confounded I will not be getting back inside my car while I am pumping the gas and I would urge all men to follow my lead.  I don't like gas pump fires!

Have a wonderful day and laugh at the idiots that fool us all...really, I guess they just can't help it.

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Technorati tag:  email scams, scams, snopes, email fraud

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