Friday, January 18, 2008

debunking email myths


a few characteristics of my present life result in my receiving A LOT of conservative and/or stupid forwarded emails every week.

although i work in "liberal" academia, there's very little progressivism in my department. and arguably, i think its my department's scientific philosophy that makes it one of the most conservative of higher education. on top of that, i'm also in the middle of the country with rural on all sides of me, in a state that most would still consider to be "the south." and then, include the fact that my mom is a tv evangelical enthusiast, republican voter and you soon understand why i receive so many emails declaring obama an islamist terrorist and swiffer products as dog killers.

it's irritating and the little enjoyment i can get out of it comes with replying occasionally with some factual opposition.

some of the debunking links i've shared below are oldies that everyone's aware of and then some of them might not be. and then you may know of good ones that i don't have here (and in that case, please share).

www.sourcewatch.org: wikipedia-like site that allows users open-review of various organizations.
www.snopes.com: love this one and use it almost daily. note: interesting that clinton and obama are the only presidential candidates with negative items in the top 25 widely circulated email myths.
www.opensecrets.org: one of the best sources on political donations (who gives, who gets, and how much).
www.ripoffreport.com: one of the more widely used open complaint sites on vendors, documenting specific instances of fraud.
www.junkbusters.com: less a verification source and more just smart how-tos on riding your life of spam and scam.
www.guidestar.org:info on non-profit funding and spending

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

people criticize what they're most afraid of, so the fact that clinton and obama are receiving such negative publicity mostly shows that they are something to be afraid of, while the republican party obviously isn't worthy of such degradation. if that makes you feel better. : )