Parrot Legends

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/books/review/Gottlieb-t.html

New York Times
12 October 2008

My Parrot, My Self

By ANTHONY GOTTLIEB

[...] The antics of parrots have long been deemed newsworthy, especially in Britain, where the BBC has covered dozens of supposedly true stories about them in the past decade. Almost every such report has been prefigured in a folk tale, novel or poem[.] [...]

Elvis is Alive

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/oct/11/dna-lab-owner-elvis-is-not-dead/

Memphis Commercial Appeal [TN]
11 October 2008

DNA lab owner: Elvis is not dead
Supports woman's claim to be Presley's half-sister

By Lawrence Buser

The head of an Arizona DNA lab who supports a woman's claim that she's the daughter of Vernon Presley said Friday there's something even more interesting about the case.

Elvis is alive. [...]

Man-eating Goonch (India)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/3163501/Mutant-fish-develops-a-taste-for-human-flesh-in-India.html

Daily Telegraph [UK]
9 October 2008

Mutant fish develops a taste for human flesh in India

A mutant breed of fish is believed to have killed a number of people in India, scientists have said.

By Lucy Cockcroft

The enormous goonch, a type of catfish, is said to have developed a taste for human flesh after feeding on corpses thrown into the river after funeral ceremonies.

Locals rumours have held for years that a mysterious monster lurks in the water.

But they think it has moved on from scavenging to targeting live bathers who swim in the Great Kali, which flows along the India-Nepal border. [...]

Doll Delivers Islamic (or Satanic) Message

http://www.kjrh.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=5c383aca-c3d2-4b3d-b4a5-5a8108ba4971

KJRH-TV [Tulsa, OK]
9 October 2008

Does doll deliver Islamic message?

Reported by: Jason Grubbs

Parents are outraged about the messages they're hearing from a doll. It's Fisher-Price's "Little Mommy Real Loving Baby Cuddle and Coo" doll.

People claim they can hear it mumble "Satan is king," and clearly speak "Islam is the light." [...]

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20156048&BRD=2754&PAG=461&dept_id=597380&rfi=6

Owasso Reporter [OK]
9 October 2008

EXCLUSIVE - Doll with Islamic message stirs controversy

By Amanda Morgan-Scott, staff writer

[At the end of this article is an e-mail from Mattel, which says that "The only scripted word that the doll actually says is "mama." There is a sound that may resemble something close to the word "night, right, or light." All of the other sounds are baby sounds with no real words or sentence structure. "]

http://www.gastongazette.com/news/baby_26012___article.html/message_doll.html

The Gazette [Gastonia, NC]
14 October 2008

Does baby's babble promote Islam?

Area stores pull doll over purported Muslim message

Corey Friedman

http://www.kansas.com/690/story/562689.html

The Wichita Eagle [Kansas]
16 October 2008

Some hear doll's burbling as a clear endorsement of Islam

BY JOE RODRIGUEZ
The Wichita Eagle

http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/MAT/441344988x0x241603/1A91A7E7-CA4F-4548-9CCA-441BC277E29F/10-13-08_Media_Statement_re_Cuddle_and_Coo_Dolls.pdf

Mattel Press Release
13 October 2008

Statement by: Mattel, Inc.
Re: Little Mommy Cuddle ‘n Coo Dolls

The Little Mommy Cuddle ‘n Coo dolls feature realistic baby sounds including cooing, giggling, and baby babble with no real sentence structure. The only scripted word the doll says is “mama.”

There is a sound that may resemble something close to the word “night, right, or light.” To avoid any potential misinterpretation, we have eliminated that segment of the sound file from future production.

Because the original sound track is compressed into a file that can be played through an inexpensive toy speaker, actual sounds may be imprecise or distorted. [...]

http://www.enewscourier.com/local/local_story_296203547.html

News Courier [Athens, AL]
23 October 2008

Residents says doll utters 'Islam is the light'

By Jennifer R. Hill

[...] The Little Mommy Real Loving Baby Cuddle & Coo Doll, made in China, comes complete with pacifier, bottle, rattle and birth certificate. The box says "come close and watch me wiggle and coo! I say `mama' too! I want to cuddle with you," but several people across the country have reported hearing the doll say the phrases "Islam is the light" and "Satin is King." [...]

http://www.northwestgeorgia.com/local/local_story_319015509.html

The Daily Citizen [Dalton, GA]
14 November 2008

Man claims doll is pro-Islam

By Charles Oliver
Dalton Daily Citizen

Jack Devlin saw some employees passing around a doll while shopping recently. He decided to see what the fuss was about, and when he listened in, he couldn't believe what he heard.

Devlin, who lives in Dalton, says Mattel's Little Mommy Cuddle `n Coo doll says "Islam is the light."

"Being a Christian, this goes against my religion, the message they are sending," he said. "When you look around, this jihad thing in the Middle East, they've been on their way for 40 years, spreading all through Europe and America."

"When I hear this, I can see little children, 3- and 4-years old, slowly but surely being indoctrinated," he said. [...]

http://www.wthitv.com/dpp/news/news_wthi_terrehaute_islam_is_the_light_nintendo_012620092153

WTHI-TV [Terre Haute, IN]
27 January 2009

Video game plays strange message

Toy says 'Islam is the light'

Jessica Hayes

KNIGHTSVILLE, Ind. (WTHI) - Months ago, Rachel Jones was shocked to discover her 4-year-old's baby doll seemed to have a hidden message: Islam is the light.

Imagine her surprise when a game for her 8-year-old daughter's Nintendo DS had the same message. [...]

http://www.wthitv.com/dpp/news/news_wthi_terrehaute_viewers_react_012820092345

WTHI-TV [Terre Haute, IN]
29 January 2009

Viewers react to possible hidden messages in childrens' toys

Jessica Hayes

http://www.dunnconnect.com/articles/2009/02/25/news/doc49a4813549f72200994906.txt

Dunn County News [Menomonie, WI]
25 February 2009

Menomonie Wal-mart pulls alleged pro-Islam doll from shelf

By Aaron Olson

Lois Debee of Cedar Falls went to the Menomonie Wal-Mart after receiving a phone call from her niece about a doll which she said mutters a hidden islamic phrase.

Debee, a child-care provider, was appalled by what she believed the doll says, claiming that besides mundane phrases like “mama” or general cooing, it also mutters the phrase, “Islam is the light.” […]

Fox News

http://www.theleafchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008810060325

The Leaf Chronicle [Clarksville, TN]
6 October 2008

Man picks up 'dead' fox, wrecks after it revives

By TAVIA D. GREEN

[After hitting a fox with his SUV, Tommy Fox put the apparently dead animal in the back seat, intending to later cut off its tail to keep as a souvenir. When the fox revived, the driver "desperately searched for something to hold the fox back and prevent him from climbing into the front seat and biting him." His SUV flipped over and landed in a ditch. Fox ended up with minor injuries; the fox "was found dead in the SUV."]

No Touching!

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/arts/story.html?id=f14ac9e7-89be-4acb-87e6-146ce32badf4

Times Colonist [Victoria, BC, Canada]
6 October 2008

When Paul Newman dropped in

Michael D. Reid, Times Colonist

[John Olson used to own a nightclub in Victoria's Strathcona Hotel called The Sting.]

[...] One of The Sting's fun features, Olson recalls, was in the ladies room. It had upholstered toilets and, above the sinks, a framed picture of a naked Burt Reynolds. A sign on a tiny hinged door installed over Burt's naughty bits warned: "Do not lift."

"Two or three women would go in at the same time and they'd giggle," Olson recalls, chuckling.

"They usually couldn't stand it so one had to go and lift it. It set off a siren and a red light lit up on the outside door so everyone in the club knew." [...]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Art Linkletter, Oops!; or, Life's Awful Moments (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1967), pp. 149-50.

Curiosity was the undoing of a North Carolina woman in her fifties who was on a trip with her family and stopped for dinner in Denver, Colorado. It was a very beautiful restaurant, she told me, and when she went into the ladies' room, she saw a carved statue of a nude man in a fig leaf standing by the commode. Above the statue was this inscription: "Caution. Do not touch fig leaf." Unable to resist, she slowly raised her finger and flipped the fig leaf. It swung to one side -- and an alarm bell went off that could be heard a city block. Realizing she'd been trapped in a practical joke, she looked for another exit, but there wasn't even a window to crawl through. Finally she got up enough nerve to open the door, and walked into a crowd of diners who were all in on the gag. The waitress was also shaking with laughter. "Am I the only women who ever rang the bell?" she asked. "Oh no, dear," said the waitress. "Much older ones than you."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reader's Digest Treasury of Wit & Humor (Montreal: The Reader's Digest Association (Canada), 1958), p. 72.

A woman visiting in Florida one winter was taken by friends to one of the plush resort night clubs. When she entered the rest room she discovered a large mural of Adam, wearing only a fig leaf. A sign warned customers: "Do Not Lift the Fig Leaf." But the visitor's feminine curiosity got the better of her, and she upped the leaf.

Bells began to ring, sirens sounded, plaster fell and bedlam set in. She turned and ran out the rest-room door -- only to be blinded by a giant spotlight, while the orchestra blared fanfares. -- Bob Walling, quoted by Ronald Furse in Plattsmouth, Neb. Journal

The Double Dream

John Robert Colombo, Mysterious Encounters (Willowdale, Ont.: Hounslow Press, 1990), pp. 142-3.

The Double Dream

Audrey Soltys

[...] Mrs. Soltys wrote up her experience for George Gamester, the noted columnist with the Toronto Star, who devoted a series of columns to just such accounts. He called the series "Tell Us Your Eerie Tales," and published "The Double Dream" on 7 July 1989.

Mrs. Soltys is a graduate of the University of Manchester in England. She has travelled around the world with her husband M. A. Soltys, a microbiologist, and their children. She now lives in Guelph, On. In a letter she sent to me on 27 June 1989, she explained the following:

The incident happened in Melaka (Malacca) in 1975. I can't recall the season as Malaysia has an average temperature of about 32 [degrees] year round, hot and humid. Our friends were looking in town at some apartments, which were too small, and at some houses, which were too big, which was why they went the next day to a different neighbourhood. [...]

While staying in Malaysia, we became friends with a young couple named Omar and Sharifah who were looking for a house.

One day, when we were going through an older, more traditional area outside the town, Sharifah clutched her husband's arm and said: "Look at that sweet little house. I dreamed last night of a house exactly like that."

As we approached, we saw an old man sweeping the walk. The moment he spotted us, he rushed inside.

Omar knocked at the door and told the man: "Don't be afraid."

The old man replied: "I'm not afraid of you. It's that woman. Last night I dreamed she came to steal my house."
~~~~~~~~~~~
Andrew Lang, The Book of Dreams and Ghosts (1897)

The story of the lady who often dreamed of a house, and when by chance she found and rented it was recognised as the ghost who had recently haunted it, is good, but is an invention!

Oliver North Rumor Repeated by Pakistan's President

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/world/asia/02zardari.html

New York Times
2 October 2008

Pakistani Leader Repeats a Long Debunked Hoax

By BRIAN STELTER

The president of Pakistan apparently believes an Internet hoax alleging that Oliver L. North warned of the dangers posed by Osama bin Laden 20 years ago.

President Asif Ali Zardari, in an interview with the Fox News Channel that was televised on Tuesday, claimed that Mr. North installed a security system for his home in the late 1980s "because he was `scared of Osama bin Laden.' "

That rumor emerged on the Internet shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It has been thoroughly debunked by a number of reliable sources, including the United States Senate's Web site and Mr. North himself. [...]

Gang Initiation: Rape of University Student

http://cbs4denver.com/local/text.message.rape.2.830578.html

cbs4denver.com [Denver, CO]
1 October 2008

Fake Text Message Warns Of Rape At UNC

Reporting
Kathy Walsh

GREELEY, Colo. (CBS4) - University of Northern Colorado officials say it's a fake, but some college students in Greeley were being extra cautious Wednesday after getting an alarming text message Tuesday night.

Seniors Amanda DeSessa and Allison Loncar were two of a number of students who got a disturbing text message that read, "Please do not walk anywhere alone ever gang initiation this week is to rape a UNC student." [...]

http://media.www.uncmirror.com/media/storage/paper972/news/2008/10/01/News/Fake-Text.Message.Causes.Alarm-3462773.shtml

UNC Mirror [University of Northern Colorado]
1 October 2008

Fake text message causes alarm

Magdalena Wegrzyn

Officials are still investigating the source of a text message sent to several students' cell phones Tuesday night warning them about gang initiation week. [...]

Worms in Vaginas (Africa)

http://www.mmegi.bw/2006/February/Monday27/358062720912.html

Mmegi [Botswana]
27 February 2006

Rumours And More Rumours

By Monkagedi Gaotlhobogwe

One of the latest rumours in Gaborone goes thus: Four University of Botswana (UB) female students are being tormented by worms in their private parts after they slept with Nigerian men after a drinking spree. [...]

http://www.news24.com/Regional_Papers/Components/Category_Article_Text_Template/0,,372_2326229E,00.html

Vaal Weekly [South Africa]
21 May 2008

Forced to 'lick his worms'

By Lazarus Dithagiso

VANDERBIJLPARK. - Women fear for their lives as rumours of a Hummer-driving pervert sexually exploiting female pedestrians are spreading like wildfire.

The man is estimated to be in his fifties and he targets women aged anywhere between 18 and 35 years of age. His modus operandi is that he allegedly lures female pedestrians with his expensive vehicle and showers them with expensive gifts before taking them to a luxurious hotel, which he also claims to be the owner of.

At the hotel, the assailant apparently threatens his victims with a firearm and forces them to have oral sex with him. The man is also reported to be wearing disposable nappies. [...]

http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2402104,00.html

News24.com [South Africa]
30 September 2008

Hummer man, sex worms a myth

Oris Mnisi & Thandy Ndlovu

Polokwane - Limpopo health officials have denied rumours that a growing number of women are seeking treatment for worms in their vaginas.

Rumours are doing the rounds that, in the past two months, a man driving a black Hummer has slept with and infected women from Phalaborwa to Polokwane, Mankweng, Mokopane.

"We are very concerned about these malicious rumours because curious people are flocking to our health facilities to catch a glimpse of these non-existent patients," said provincial health spokesperson Phuti Seloba.

He said some people arrive with R30 and ask hospital staff to buy liver with it, because they've heard that if the liver is placed on the woman's vagina, it will draw out the worms. [...]

http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=143120

Merinews [India]
29 September 2008

A South African, spreads worms through sex

A South African man spreads worms through sex with young girls. He impresses them by conducting himself like a gentleman. Soon the girl is eating out of his hand; that’s when he reveals his true colours; it’s too late for the girl to back out.

Kgobalale Peter Moruthane

SINCE JUNE this year, there have been rumours all over South Africa about a man spreading worms through sex with young girls. The rumours, which shocked the people, turned out to be true in the beginning of this month (September). Four girls from Limpopo province are reported to have been victimised by this unknown man and a fifth one reportedly survived after fleeing from his hotel room in the Mokopane area of Limpopo. [...]

http://www.times.co.sz/index.php?news=2739

Times of Swaziland
2 November 2008

To all the young women out there: be warned!

By TIMES SUNDAY REPORTER

MBABANE—There is a mystery man who is preying on young women—charming them with fancy things and money then inducing them to have sex with him.

However, in the process, he is believed to infect them with a strange sickness which is in his manhood.

The man is said to be using the name Geoffrey and is also alleged to be of South African origin.

He is alleged to be so determined to spread the strange sickness that those who have had an encounter with him say it makes him wear baby pampers. [...]

http://www.times.co.sz/index.php?news=2835

Times of Swaziland
5 November 2008

10-year-old escapes clutches of ‘worms man’

By ZWELIHLE SUKATI

MBABANE – A primary pupil is lucky to be alive after escaping from the clutches of the man who has been reported to be on the prowl to intentionally infect women with a deadly disease.

This is the same man who is said to drive around in luxurious cars and has worms in his private parts. The man, known as ‘Geoffrey’ is estimated to be in his 50s. [...]

http://www.times.co.sz/index.php?news=2833

Times of Swaziland
5 November 2008

Worms man’s victim admitted to hospital?

By MBONGISENI NHLEKO

MANZINI – Following widespread reports of a man who is prowling on women to infect them with a strange disease, there have been circulating rumours that one of his victims has been admitted to a local hospital.

It has been gathered that the woman who is in her mid 20s was admitted to the hospital a few weeks ago and has been receiving treatment since then.

Due to the severity of her sickness, it has been gathered that she has been sleeping on her hospital bed with her legs stretched wide apart.

It is said that her private parts were grossly affected by the disease, which causes genital warts that go to the extent of developing worms.

A story that did rounds in one of the big churches in Manzini was to the effect that people were only allowed to see the woman at a cost of E10, which she wanted to use to cover medical costs. [...]

http://www.times.co.sz/index.php?news=2854

Times of Swaziland
6 November 2008

Show us worms man

By MBONGISENI NHLEKO

MANZINI - Members of the public are spitting fire on the issue of the so called ‘Mr Hummer’ who is alleged to be prowling on women with the intention to infect them with a strange disease.

People have varying feelings about the man of South African origin who allegedly entices women with loads of cash and groceries before dating them in luxurious hotels and infecting them with the disease that causes worms on their private parts. [...]

http://www.times.co.sz/index.php?news=2893

Times of Swaziland
7 November 2008

Worms man fear grips the country

By NATHI GULE (News Editor)

MBABANE – Unparalleled curiosity, anxiety and fear has gripped the country following the reports of a ‘rich’ armed man on the loose with a rare ‘worms’ sickness targeting women.

The police have been receiving more than 100 calls a day from worried members of the public ever since the Times SUNDAY broke the news of the man allegedly in ‘diapers’ driving a variety of sleek vehicles luring women with money to infect them with his sickness.

Police are still investigating the validity of the claims of the attacks on the women, but so far no one has come out to lay a formal complaint against him except a 10-year-old primary school girl who alleges she escaped his clutches.

The Times has gathered that the peak time of the calls to the police is the afternoon and people have been divulging leads on the story claiming to have either spotted him or had a brief encounter with him. No one, though, has told the police she was infected except for people claiming to know people infected only for those leads to turn out to be wild goose chases. [...]

http://www.times.co.sz/index.php?news=2892

Time of Swaziland
7 November 2008

National warning from the police

By Nathi Gule

MBABANE - Police have issued a national warning to all women and children—"you are banned from accepting free rides."

They have also warned people from accepting money and free gifts from strangers.

This follows widespread reports that there is an armed man with ‘worms’ on his private parts who is on the loose targeting females. [...]

http://www.times.co.sz/index.php?news=2891

Time of Swaziland
7 November 2008

Special cops units hot on worms man’s heels

By NATHI GULE

MBABANE – Two special police units are combing the country in search of the mystery ‘worms man’. [...]

http://www.times.co.sz/index.php?news=2917

Times of Swaziland
8 November 2008

Drama as cops mistake PS for worms man

By BRIAN MOHAMMED

MBABANE- A Principal Secretary (PS) in one of the government ministries was ridiculed and embarrassed by police on Wednesday night after they pounced on him, mistaking him for the mystery man otherwise known as the WORMS MAN.

There was drama at the Zeeman’s Filling Station when four police vehicles surrounded the PS’ car where they demanded to search both him and his car without telling him what they were looking for. [...]

http://www.observer.org.sz/weekend/main.php?id=48392&section=mainweek

Weekend Observer [Swaziland]
8 November 2008

Worms man...one great hoax!

By Fanyana Mabuza

Is it one major hoax or not? This is one question raging in many people's minds over the widespread reports of a man who is on a sexually transmitted diseases rampage, and with a will to infect every woman he comes across with a rare genital warts illness. [...]

http://www.times.co.sz/index.php?news=2943

Times of Swaziland
9 November 2008

Pupil identifies ‘Worms Man’

By SABELO MASIMULA

MBABANE—The much anticipated capture or identification of the so-called ‘worms man’ proves to be a tall yet attainable order for the police seven days after this newspaper published the story.

However, one of the worms man’s supposedly survivors positively identified the picture e-mailed to this newspaper as that of the man whom she escaped last-week. [...]

http://www.times.co.sz/index.php?news=3033

Times of Swaziland
12 November 2008

Look out for ‘Worms Man’

By SIHLE DLAMINI

HLUTI - In the wake of reports of a man who is in a mission to infect women with a worm disease, some schools in the region have cautioned pupils to be on the lookout. [...]

http://www.times.co.sz/index.php?news=3045

Times of Swaziland

13 November 2008

Worms man just a myth

By INNOCENT MAPHALALA

MBABANE – The story of a man allegedly going around infecting women with genital worms is nothing but a myth, if reports from South Africa are anything to go by.

In fact, The Times of Swaziland has established that the story was created in Botswana as early as February 2006. [...]

Mayor Wonders if Barack Obama is the Antichrist

http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/stories/wcnc-092708-sjf-obamaantichrist.ba89c01c.html

WCNC-TV [Charlotte, NC]
27 September 2008

Mayor 'just curious' if Obama is antichrist

By STUART WATSON / NewsChannel 36

FORT MILL, S.C. -- Fort Mill Mayor Danny Funderburk says he was "just curious" when he forwarded a chain e-mail suggesting Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama is the biblical antichrist. "I was just curious if there was any validity to it," Funderburk said in a telephone interview. "I was trying to get documentation if there was any scripture to back it up." [...]

http://www.fortmilltimes.com/187/story/309384.html

Fort Mill Times [SC]
1 October 2008

Fort Mill Mayor's Obama e-mail causes furor

By Jonathan Allen

The phone at Town Hall was ringing off the hook Monday following revelations over the weekend that Fort Mill Mayor Danny Funderburk passed along a chain e-mail suggesting Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama is the Antichrist. [...]

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/columnists/bud_kennedy/story/975000.html

Star-Telegram [Fort Worth, Texas]
15 October 2008

In political smear e-mail, the devil's in the details

By BUD KENNEDY

Only "a nut or a con artist" would say Barack Obama might be the Antichrist of the Book of Revelation, says a Baptist pastor in South Texas.

Unfortunately for the Rev. John Tisdale, that e-mail is circling the world - signed with his name. [...]

"This is not your mark"

Sydney Morning Herald
27 September 2008

Column 8

[...] "Derry Thomas's tale of an enterprising student using images of Auckland to illustrate his India assignment sparked memories from the 1970s of my brother Geoffrey's high school project on the tundra," recalls Lori Face, of Wamberal. "Lacking in both time and material, but not audacity, he captioned a Borneo jungle scene replete with native Dayaks with 'This is not the tundra and these are not eskimos.' His teacher duly marked and returned said project with '10/10. This is not your mark."'

Gang Initiation: Rape & Stabbings (Regina, Sask.)

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=4c267451-c1a3-4076-898d-71893f3babd1

Regina Leader-Post [Saskatchewan, Canada]
25 September 2008

E-mail about gang initiations false: Regina police
E-mail warning of 'rapes and stabbings' is a hoax, say police

Jana G. Pruden , Leader-Post

REGINA -- An e-mail warning that gang members are randomly raping and stabbing women as part of an initiation is a hoax, according to city police.

The e-mail, under the subject line "YOU NEED TO KNOW," warns that there have been "a tremendous amount of rapes and stabbings" against women in Regina recently. The information is purported to come from a woman who works in a city hospital.

"The gang in Regina is called NS (Native Syndication) (sic) and they are now going through Initiation," the e-mail says. "What these gang members do is break into your vehicles and hide in the back. They are also grabbing women out of their cars at stop signs, red lights, etc. Their initiation is to rape and stab." [...]

Gang Initiation: Gas Station Assault (Pontiac, MI)

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/17527588/detail.html

WDIV-TV [Detroit]
22 September 2008

Pontiac Gas Station Text Threat Circulating
Validity Of Attacks Unclear

PONTIAC, Mich. -- Pontiac police are looking for answers to numerous residents' concerns about a gang initiation that was threatened via text messages on Friday.

Police sent out a release to news agencies confirming they had received numerous calls from residents who were concerned about text messages and e-mails about a local gang initiation during which members would physically assault a random female while she was pumping gas.

The messages did not state which gas station the attack would occur at but indicated that the attack would happen between 6 and 8 p.m., police said. [...]

http://www.mlive.com/flintjournal/index.ssf/2008/10/rumor_of_gang_targeting_women.html

The Flint Journal [MI]
1 October 2008

Internet hoax about gang targeting women at Genesee County gas stations sparking panic

by The Flint Journal

GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan -- An apparent Internet hoax is causing hysteria as rumors spread through text messages, e-mails and word-of-mouth about a supposed gang initiation involving shooting women in the head at gas stations.

State police said they have been flooded with calls about rumors that a woman had been shot. The rumors remain unsubstantiated, although panicked residents flooded police with telephone calls, parents pulled students out of school and at least one school district went into lockdown. [...]

Helicopters Dumped Rattlesnakes

http://www.tidewaternews.com/news/2008/sep/24/rattlesnake-rumors-ridiculous-state-officials-say/

Tidewater News [VA]
25 September 2008

Rattlesnake rumors `ridiculous,' state officials say

By R.E. Spears III

[...] With cell-phone photos to bolster their case, some Statesville-area residents reported recently that they had actually seen a rattlesnake -- reports differed on what kind -- in someone's yard.

Before long, a backstory had been created, with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries in the sinister role of the government agency trying to save a protected species by taking reckless actions that would endanger actual people in the community.

Helicopters with boxes full of rattlers had been seen flying over the area, and the reptiles had been "reintroduced" to Southampton County by game wardens dumping them into swampy, low-lying areas in southern Virginia or, possibly, as far south as North Carolina. [...]

Fertility Waters

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jD74kTD28809ocr0OW5tSVqig9JQD93CQLV00

Associated Press
23 September 2008

Nicole Kidman credits fertile water with pregnancy

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman said swimming in Australian Outback "fertility waters" during production of her latest film may have contributed to her unexpected pregnancy over the past year.

The 41-year-old Aussie, who gave birth to daughter Sunday Rose in July, said she and six other women who swam in the waters of a small Outback town during production of the epic romance "Australia" fell pregnant. [...]

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,24446107-2761,00.html

Sunday Times [Australia]

4 October 2008

Why they're girl crazy in Kununurra

Anthony Deceglie

KUNUNURRA locals are lapping up Nicole Kidman's belief that the town's waters are a pregnancy potion. [...]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/5729658/Women-clamour-for-Nicole-Kidmans-fertility-water.html

Daily Telegraph [UK]
3 July 2009

Women clamour for Nicole Kidman's 'fertility water'

The waters of several remote Australian swimming holes are suddenly in high demand after Nicole Kidman claimed they helped her, and several other women, conceive their children. [...]

Soda Cans Infected by Rat Urine

http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/Global/story.asp?S=9061772&nav=menu227_3

KPAX-TV [Missoula, Montana]
23 September 2008

Soda can legend circulating in Gallatin Valley

An urban legend about soda can tops is making its rounds in the Gallatin Valley.

The legend comes from north Texas where a woman drank soda from a soda can that was infected by dried rat urine.

The legend concludes the woman died of Leptosporosis, a disease that is caused by liquids contaminated with animal feces, and claims soda cans are more contaminated than toilet seat covers. [...]

Eggs Balanced During Equinox

http://www.dailystatesman.com/story/1463731.html

Dexter Daily Statesman [Missouri]
23 September 2008

They were "eggs"actly right!

By Mike McCoy
Statesman Staff Writer

Even though scientists readily dismiss the theory, Gregory Banken and friends at his business in downtown Dexter demonstrated that eggs could indeed be stood on their end during the fall equinox. They bought a dozen eggs Monday and began their experiment at exactly 11:44 a.m. That was the exact time when the earth's gravitational forces were perfectly aligned, according to Banken. They stood a dozen eggs on end at that time, and about 10 to 15 minutes later the eggs began to roll back to their sides. [...]

A Married Man's Bathwater

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1059159/My-funny-old-life-Julie-Walters-tells-story--reveals-painful-truths-past.html

Daily Mail [UK]

22 September 2008

My funny old life: Julie Walters tells her story - and reveals some painful truths about her past

By Julie Walters

[...] Then, at secondary school, I laboured under the delusion, born of a rumour spread throughout my year, that if a girl had splayed feet, it meant that she had lost her virginity. It didn't occur to me that my mother's feet, for instance, pointed straight out in front.

I was also told by some informed soul that you could get pregnant by sitting in a married man's bathwater, so I always gave the bath a good rinse if my father had been in before me. [...]

Abridged extract from THAT'S ANOTHER STORY by Julie Walters.

Hurricane Ike Caused Mass Fatalities

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6014137.html

Houston Chronicle
21 September 2008

For some, rumors harbor 'the truth' of Ike's carnage
Officials say talk of mass fatalities has no basis in fact

By ROSANNA RUIZ

Images from Galveston and other areas along Texas' coast reveal the scope of Hurricane Ike's destructive power, while the death toll remains relatively low.

But, for some, the real story of the lives lost to Hurricane Ike remains untold.

Thousands of bodies are floating in the Gulf of Mexico, dangling from trees or otherwise obscured by debris and unaccounted for, these people insist in online forums and posted reader comments. A government conspiracy and media blackout are afoot, they say, which explains why those images remain unseen. [...]

http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou080923_mp_ike_myths.a731bade.html

KHOU-TV [Houston, TX]
24 September 2008

Busting the myths and rumors about Ike

Shern-Min Chow / 11 News

HOUSTON - When people don't have access to good information, rumors start to grow. One official called it "drawing pictures in the dark."

11 News has decided to shed some light on the myths, stories and rumors that have developed since Hurricane Ike hit the Gulf Coast. [...]

Myth #1: Deadly diseases have leaked out of UTMB and the island was "nuked"

Myth #2: Twelve lab monkeys and two tigers are loose on the island

Myth #3: There are lots of bodies in Crystal Beach and Bolivar Penisula.

Myth #4: Grocery stores on generators had cold beer, but no milk in order to make a profit

Myth #5: A tiger and lion were loose on Bolivar Island.

Myth #6: Both animals were put down.

Myth #7: United Way is running a Food Stamp program.

Myth #8: Hotels aren't honoring the "no tax" policy

Auschwitz Rabbis Put God on Trial

http://www.thejc.com/node/5828

The Jewish Chronicle [UK]
19 September 2008

Wiesel: Yes, we really did put God on trial

Jenni Frazer

The story that rabbis in Auschwitz once decided to put God on trial - and found him guilty - has frequently been assumed to be apocryphal.

But on Monday night, the Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel startled his audience at a Holocaust Educational Trust appeal dinner in London when he declared: "I was there when God was put on trial." [...]

Various Football (Soccer) Legends

http://www.theherald.co.uk/sport/headlines/display.var.2447645.0.In_sport_the_more_farfetched_the_more_we_want_it_to_be_true.php

The Herald [UK]
17 September 2008

In sport, the more far-fetched, the more we want it to be true

MARTIN GREIG

[...] Urban myths are part of the fabric of following sport. They should be preserved and cherished, regardless of their veracity. [...]

[Various football (soccer) legends.]

Gang Initiation Shooting (Macon Mall, GA)

http://www.13wmaz.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080916/NEWS01/80916038

13WMAZ [Macon, GA]
16 September 2008

Police Debunk Mall E-mail Threat

Wrtier: Kari Corbett

Macon police say an email warning of possible gang violence at the Macon Mall appears to be a hoax.

Lt. Eric Walker with Macon Police says the department has tried to trace the e-mail forwarded from person to person to try to find its origin.

In a news release, he wrote that the department had received numerous phone calls and emails about the alleged threat. The email says gangs will be shooting people at the mall as part of a gang initiation. [...]

http://www.macon.com/198/story/466061.html

Macon Telegraph [GA]
17 September 2008

No substantiation of e-mail that threatens shooting, police say

By Ashley Tusan Joyner

Snakes from a Tap

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/south/epaper/2008/09/15/0915snakes.html?imw=Y

Palm Beach Post [FL]
15 September 2008

Forget on a plane, try snakes near the drain

By MICHAEL LaFORGIA
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

[Elena Trowell, of Ocean Ridge, Florida, claims two snakes emerged from her bathtub faucet, "dismissing the opinions of utilities and officials and animal experts who called such a thing impossible."]

John McCain Invented the BlackBerry

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/16/mccain_didnt_create_blackberry.html

Washington Post
16 September 2008

McCain Didn't Create BlackBerry, Despite Adviser's Claim

By Michael D. Shear and Robert Barnes

MIAMI -- John McCain did not invent the BlackBerry.

Early this morning, his top economic adviser claimed that he did. [...]

Buildings Containing Ashes Can't Be Torn Down

http://www.albanyherald.com/archives/News/2008/front091208c.html

The Albany Herald [GA]
12 September 2008

Reader ignites “urning” for truth

Carlton Fletcher

ALBANY — There’s nothing people like better than a good urban legend, and Albany Herald reader David Chatman of Albany came up with a doozy concerning the current brouhaha surrounding the relocation of the Albany Museum of Art downtown to the so-called Holman Mule Barn on Pine Avenue.

Writes Chatman: “As a lifelong resident of Albany and having spent many hours of my earlier years in the downtown area, I remember prominent Albany residents telling that the ashes of ‘Old Man Holman’ (W.C. Holman) were interred within the urn that is still high atop the front of the building. The stories I remember being told were that ‘Old Man Holman’ had this done because there was a law in Georgia that assured his building could never be torn down other than through the ‘hands of God’ (a natural disaster). Maybe it’s time someone looked into this.” [...]

Ballots Mistaken For Trash

http://www.wptv.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=71e2d137-1c23-4be3-aa89-cdef86f326b4

WPTV-TV [West Palm Beach, FL]
11 September 2008

Missing ballots mistaken for trash?

Reported by: Tim Malloy

PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL -- Are the 3,478 missing ballots inside of a landfill?

Were they inadvertently thrown out by elections officials who thought they were trash? [...]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/opinion/entries/2008/09/11/heres_what_we_know_now.html

Palm Beach Post [FL]
11 September 2008

Ballots weren't thrown out with the trash

By Joel Engelhardt

Here's what we now know about Palm Beach County's missing ballots: They're not in a landfill, as Channel 5 WPTV alleged in a report on Wednesday night's 11 p.m. news.

The report said workers at one Boynton Beach location had run out of duffel bags to haul ballots to the election center on election night. So they used black plastic garbage bags instead. A "reliable law enforcement source" told the TV station that the garbage bag was thrown out and the ballots may be sitting in a landfill somewhere.

Sheesh. What hogwash. Ballots aren't even put in duffel bags, county election officials announced today at a news conference to kill the "urban legend" reported by Channel 5. [...]

Clock Stops at Inventor's Death

Carl Reiner, My Anecdotal Life (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2003), pp. 198, 206.

[Irving Reiner, Carl Reiner's father, was a watchmaker and inventor. His last invention was a clock powered by a "quasi-perpetual battery."]

He continued to work on this project for many years, finally handcrafting a handsome brass-trimmed, glass-domed pendulum clock. He was awarded two patents, one for the simple three-geared clock and one for a static-electricity battery that was capable of delivering two thousand volts and one milliamp.

By the time the patent papers came through, the clock had been in our dining/living room, proudly perched atop a breakfront -- or china closet, as my folks referred to it -- and had been ticking away for more than twenty years without once stopping.

* * *
[Irving Reiner's death was marked by a "strange coincidence." His other son, Charlie,] noticed that the perpetual battery, which had been powering Pop's clock for over fifty years, expired -- on the very day our father had.

[E766.1 Clock stops at moment of owner's death.]

9/11 Rumor: Cell Phones Explode Bombs

http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/69298

BYU NewsNet [Brigham Young University, Utah]
11 September 2008

Students Recall When Two Towers Fell

By Lindsay Crandall and Chelsea Warren

Ask any student at BYU, and they will probably remember where they were and how they felt when the September 11 attacks happened.

Virginia Dickson, a junior majoring in Middle Eastern Studies and Arabic, related her first thoughts when she learned of the two planes crashing into the World Trade Center. [...]

"At lunch there were all these rumors," Dickson said. "Like people in New York couldn't use their cell phones because they would explode more bombs." [...]

Poor Quality Water Leads to Hair Loss (Dubai)

http://www.xpress4me.com/news/uae/dubai/20009589.html

XPRESS [United Arab Emirates]
11 September 2008

The drop of life: Tapping pure water

By Vikram Singh Barhat, staff reporter

Hair loss, health concerns and high laundry bills are forcing people in Dubai to set up water purification systems.

For Shoukat Mohammad Dalal, a resident of Jumeirah Islands Community, it was a matter of saving his wife's lovely tresses.

"I had a water purification system installed six months ago. The water in Dubai is very hard and my wife tends to lose hair. My wife previously used to bathe in Masafi water. I don't want a wife who's bald. It might be better to invest in a water-softening machine than having to buy wigs for her. A lot of people I spoke to said the water is causing hair loss," said the British national. [...]

On hair loss due to poor quality of water in Dubai, Dr Rolf Soehnchen, dermatologist at the American Hospital Dubai, said: "Patients often come with this complaint here. I cannot tell you whether it's true or not. There is no study conducted in the context of water quality and hair loss in Dubai. I don't know if it's a rumour."