Case in point, I just got this email:

Now you know “the rest of the story”… Unfortunately the damage has been done.

———————————————————————–

This is unbelievable

Be sure and watch this video which was not allowed in America .

This video shows that George Bush tried to warn Congress in 2002 that this economic crisis was coming, if something was not done. But congress refused to listen, along with Barney Franks. This video says it all.

Also that the liberal AMERICAN media did not want this video on You Tube, so they had Time Warner threaten a law suit (proprietary rights) if it was not taken off.

This link is of the same video but is routed through Canada . Everyone in America needs to see this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMnSp4qEXNM&NR=1

Can you already see how laughable that is? I’m not even talking about the merits of the video…. I mean, whatever. I’m just looking at the email itself. Whoever first wrote this claims that the video is “not allowed” in America (therefore censored), even though it obviously came from American station Fox News. (Don’t let the blue bar at the top fool you, that was added later by the person who uploaded the video.)

They also claim that the link is “routed through Canada” (what the heck?) but it’s clearly just another YouTube link that does nothing but take you to the video.

The email claims that “the American liberal media did not want this video on You Tube, so they had Time Warner threaten a law suit (proprietary rights) if it was not taken off.” Now, I could be wrong about this, but from what I can tell Fox News is owned by Fox Entertainment Group which is a subsidiary of News Corporation which has its roots in, I believe, Australia. From what I can tell, they have no connection to Time Warner, especially not in the way to make Time Warner the owner of the copyright on the video. Looks like Time Warner owns AOL, New Line Cinema, Time Inc., HBO, Turner Broadcasting System, The CW, UBU Productions, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Cartoon Network, CNN, DC Comics, Mohawk Productions, and more… but, gasp, no Fox News! Therefore, Time Warner would have no rights to bring forth a lawsuit about some video from Fox News being on YouTube! Not to mention, even if I’m wrong and they do own copyright, all they have to do is serve a DMCA and YouTube will automatically yank the video, no lawsuit needed.

Heh, I wouldn’t be surprised if the person who started the email was the same one that uploaded his video and is purposely trying to scare people into watching some big conspiracy just for his YouTube views/ratings.

I know these are small potatoes, but it’s been really bad lately. I’ve been getting tons of emails like this. Of course, I never forward them, I always check them out, and I sometimes respond with proper information. Also recently I’ve received one that said if you are ever being held up at the ATM, enter your pin in backwards and it will call the police (omg!!11!!1!!). Not. True. Apparently some dude tried to pass a law like that but it was deemed non-effective. (Try thinking of your pin backwards when you’re under stress, at gunpoint, or knife point, or whatever. Yeah, can you even remember your pin forwards? Not to mention by the time the cops get there, he’s either gone or you’re dead or both.) And it took me all of 2 seconds to find this out on Google. Then there was the heartwarming story I got about the mother tiger who lost all her baby tigers and was in depression so the zoo found some motherless pigs, put them in baby tiger fur and miraculously, the mother tiger nursed them! That one turned out to be real as far as the photos went, but fake in that it was just some gimic by a Southeast-area Asian zoo! A form of entertainment.

Now I love the people that forward me this stuff. I really do. Most are family. I just wish that they would stop a second and run a search on whatever it is. Any phrase plus “Snopes” will do it! Then if it’s incorrect, don’t pass it on!

Oh, well. I could have griped about this tonight or you could listen to me rant about Craigslist people again who don’t listen and keep emailing us saying, “I’m interested in xxx call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx” when our listing clearly states NOT to do that, that we can tell you anything you need to know via email. (Steve does not have the time to sit and return all these phone calls and start getting in a phone tag game with these people who are probably just going to try and scam him anyway. After all, he’d rather spend his precious few hours between work and/or school or tutoring and bed time with his family, ya know?)

You’re slammed with a friendship chain letter:

I like you because of who you are to me…A true friend.

And if I don’t get this back I’ll take the hint.

Tonight at midnight your true love will realize they like you.

Something good will happen to you at 1:00-4:00 PM tomorrow.

It could be anywhere — AOL, Yahoo, outside of school, anywhere.

Get ready for the biggest shock of your life.

Please send to 5 people in 5 minutes.

Ack!!

So you sit there and stare at the screen (blinded, of course) and wonder if this person is serious. Does he or she really expect me to email this back? If I don’t send this back is that person really going to “take a hint”? If I email this back, are we going to end up in an emailing back war? Because technically, that is the ultimate scheme of the email – to get two people to keep sending it back and forth to one another until one of them goes insane. It’s the email version of Chicken.

But then you realize, no! If you were really my friend, you wouldn’t send me this crap in the first place!

Of course, I could stand to have something good happen to me between 1 and 4 pm tomorrow. That would be nice. Is someone going to give me a million dollars if I forward this email on? If so, that “anywhere” had better apply, since, you know, I don’t go to school and I detest AOL…

But then again, that line about my true love realizing they like me is kinda scary. After all, I’m already married. And I don’t really need another stalker…

Oh, but we must press on. Next we’re given a little joke… mildly funny. Then a warning not to skip to the last line but to read it all! That is followed by more corny gifs and lines about friendship being like toilet paper or some crap like that and then we’re told:

Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND,
Even if it means sending it back to the person who sent it to you.

If it comes back to you, then you’ll know you have a circle of friends.

So I guess that answers my question. I’m now supposed to engage in that Email Game of Chicken or risk the people I love hating my guts. :P

Of course, usually when I get these things, I delete by subject line, I don’t even read them. I’m not picking on anyone, I’m not even sure who sent me this one, I didn’t notice. Heck, I get these things from people I don’t even know. People who seem to have a family member or friend or online acquaintance in common with me and then add me to their address book. That is why I say death to the forwards. As if I don’t get enough email as it is.

Yes, today is a wasted day so I feel like I can rant about stupid stuff like this. Happy Saturday :)

Die email forwards, die!

Guess what?

I will delete it.

Thanks for your time.

Bah, I’m just tired of email forwards. I had gotten to the point where my friends had gotten the clue, finally, not to send me these things. But then I met new people and all that fell through the cracks. For instance, there was this one woman I spoke to briefly at a craft fair in June (fellow boother). She needed some information, I had it at home. I gave her one of my cards and told her to drop me an email, then I would respond with the information. She did, and then I did. Now I am subjected to all these forwards from her about getting free gift certficiates from Applebee’s or make a wish and then send this to 10 people and it will come true. Blah, blah, blah.

I just waded through three forwards including the “do not delete” one. I did start to look at it and once I got past all the addresses tucked in there, the email itself is very sporadic… a short line of text, three lines of space, a short line of text, five lines of space, etc. I really hate those. Really. So it got deleted immediately.

The first forward had text that was around 20 point, black, Comic Sans… with a bright yellow background. I made it through most of that one, it was an okay story – something I’ve heard before, but completely turned around now. But when the email started telling me to make a wish on the story and then send it to a thousand people, otherwise I hate everyone… it got deleted.

The third was a slow moving joke. The last line? “When you stop laughing, pass it on.” Well… maybe, if I had ever laughed in the first place. It was just not funny. Delete.

As if I don’t have enough to deal with, I’ve got all this crap to wade through. :P

I propose we add to the ballots this November a law that will make illegal any and all forwarded emails of this nature. Who’s with me?