Acid Rain Rumors (India)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Acid-rain-rumours-unfounded/articleshow/5511130.cms

Times of India
30 January 2010

Acid rain rumours unfounded

CHENNAI: Rumours of impending acid rain in the city, which did the rounds via text messages, are unfounded, said Met officials and academics. The forwarded message claimed that acid rain could occur due to formation of a black ring around the moon on January 17. [...]

Carbon Paper Still Has Its Uses

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/for/2010/01/30-52/Customs-agents-seize-7-pounds-of-heroin-during-BWI-search.html

The Capital [Annapolis, MD]
30 January 2010

Customs agents seize 7 pounds of heroin during BWI search
Baltimore man tried to mask drugs by wrapping in carbon paper

By ALLISON BOURG, Staff Writer

[Suleiman Zakaria was arrested at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport after heroin was discovered in his suitcase. The heroin was wrapped in carbon paper, apparently to make it undetectable by X-rays.]

Soldier Refused Service (Montana)

http://www.kmbc.com/news/22355845/detail.html

KMBC-TV [Kansas City, MO]
27 January 2010

Facebook Rumor Hits Gas Station Owner
Businessman Fights Back Against Anonymous Posting

EXCELSIOR SPRINGS, Mo. -- It started as a post on Facebook – a story that a man who runs a gas station in Excelsior Springs refused to sell to a person in the military. [...]

[Peter Patel, operator of the BP Quick Corner station, is victimized by a false rumor that he refused to service a customer, saying "You are killing my people."]

Bottomless Lakes

http://blogs.forteana.org/node/101

Charles Fort Institute
22 January 2010

'The lake that has no bottom...'

Mike Dash

Decapitated Teacher

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/column-8/column-8-20100124-msii.html

Sydney Morning Herald
25 January 2010

Column 8

Appliance safety, and how a good story can only get better: ''Seeing your item regarding warning notices for ceiling fans reminded me of a time some years ago when my children came home from high school saying a teacher had been decapitated by a ceiling fan,'' writes Peter Pocock of Hornsby (Column 8, Thursday). ''As I knew the teacher in question I thought I'd better call and see if his head was still attached. He was still alive, but he'd had to go to hospital for stitches - obviously he didn't read those directions as he stood on a chair to open a window, not noticing the fan. His blood was sprayed and he received a nasty cut, but the way rumours work it became a decapitation. By the next day the story ran that he was still speaking as his head rolled across the classroom floor."

Bikers Respond to Animal Rights Activists

http://www.tribune-democrat.com/editorials/local_story_022103710.html

The Tribune-Democrat [Johnstown, PA]
24 January 2010

This hog tale had no substance

BY ARLENE JOHNS

You might have heard about it, but if you didn’t, here’s the gist:

Bikers at Thunder in the Valley, more than a little offended at the actions of some animal rights activists, duct-taped the offenders to a Dumpster at a fast-food restaurant and (horrors!) force-fed them hamburgers! [...]

[The story, which first appeared on The Spoof, a website featuring fake news stories, was picked up by other websites and generated "dozens of inquiries" by callers to the Tribune-Democrat's newsroom.]

http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s2i66233
The Spoof
3 January 2010
Three Reported Missing After Animal Rights Activists Take "War on Leather" to Motorcycle Gang Rally.

Pharm Parties

http://www.slate.com/id/2242212?nav=wp

Slate
21 January 2010

Still More Pharm-Party Phoolishness
The meme lives!

By Jack Shafer

I regret to inform you that this column has failed to eradicate the "pharm party" meme. Since June 2006, I've written five columns ( June 15, 2006; June 19, 2006; March 25, 2008; March 26, 2008; and March 23, 2009) debunking pharm parties, and yet the press keeps on churning out stories that pretend the events are both real and ubiquitous. [...]

Sony Timer Breaks Product When Warranty Expires

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/7054587/The-myth-of-the-Sony-kill-switch.html

The Daily Telegraph [UK]
22 January 2010

The myth of the Sony 'kill switch'

In Japan, a surprising number of consumers really do claim to believe that Sony products are programmed to break as soon as the warranty expires.

By Hunter Skipworth

Gangs Use Child Seat Lure

http://www.fayobserver.com/Articles/2010/01/22/970238

The Fayetteville Observer [NC]
22 January 2010

E-mail about alleged gang-related threat is said to be fake

CLINTON - An e-mail purportedly sent out by a Sampson County deputy warning of a new gang-related threat is fake. [...]

[The e-mail, claiming to be sent by Sgt. Robert Stroud, says a gang practice is to put a child's seat on the roadside to lure women out of their cars. Any woman who stops to examine the seat is raped and attacked.]

Missing Genitals (Nigeria)

http://allafrica.com/stories/201001190581.html

Allafrica.com
18 January 2010

Daily Independent (Lagos)

Nigeria: Missing Genitals - How I Was Framed - OPC Leader

Gbenga Abegunrin

Ibadan — Chairman of O'odua Peoples Congress (OPC) in Ido Local Government Area of Oyo State, Muritala Adekola Ifawale, has explained his involvement in the disappearance of a woman alleged to have used charms to remove the genitals (manhood) of an Okada rider (commercial motorcyclist) plying Omi-Adio area, Ibadan. [...]

Earthquake Panic (Ghana)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8465619.stm

BBC News [UK]
18 January 2010

Ghana text hoax predicting earthquake prompts panic

["Today's night 12:30 to 3:30am COSMO RAYS entering earth from Mars. Switch off ur mobiles today's night.?NASA BBC NEWS ? Plz pass to all ur friends." This text message was interpreted by many Ghanaians as a warning against an impending earthquake. See also this earlier item from India.]


http://gbcghana.com/news/31058detail.html
Ghana Broadcasting Corporation
18 January 2010
Earthquake rumour spread throughout Ghana

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/regional/artikel.php?ID=175303
GhanaWeb.com
18 January 2010
Earthquake rumour shakes Brong-Ahafo Region


http://www.graphicghana.com/news/page.php?news=6152
The Daily Graphic [Ghana]
19 January 2010
Quake Hoax - Nation Forced To Keep Vigil

http://www.modernghana.com/news/259942/1/a-tale-of-all-night-long-in-ghana.html
ModernGhana.com
19 January 2010
A tale of all-night long in Ghana
By Stephen Yeboah


http://www.thestatesmanonline.com/pages/news_detail.php?newsid=9377&section=1

The Statesman [Ghana]
18 January 2010

Koforidua not left out of earthquake scare

Ghana News Agency

[...] A trader, Adwoa Afriyie, told GNA that she had information around 2300 hours from her daughter at Aburi Presbyterian Training College that disaster was looming so all should switch off their mobile phones.

She said she quickly switched off her mobile phone but around 02.00 hours she heard noisy people moving from their rooms and she came out only to be told there was a looming earthquake therefore people should run to safety. [...]


http://www.ghananewsagency.org/s_features/r_11958/
Ghana News Agency
3 February 2010
The text message that robbed Ghanaians of sleep
by Nana Kodjo Jehu-Appiah

AIDS Mary Hoax (Detroit)

http://detnews.com/article/20100115/METRO01/1150368/1409/METRO/Video-of-woman-who-claims-to-have-spread-AIDS-stirs-panic

The Detroit News
15 January 2010

Video of woman who claims to have spread AIDS stirs panic

Oralandar Brand-Williams / The Detroit News

Detroit -- A viral video of a woman claiming to have intentionally infected several Metro Detroit men with the virus that causes AIDS has prompted frantic phone calls to the Detroit Police Department. [...]

http://detnews.com/article/20100115/METRO/1150438/AIDS-video-a-hoax--woman-admits

The Detroit News
15 January 2010

AIDS video a hoax, woman admits

Oralandar Brand-Williams / The Detroit News

Detroit -- The woman who caused a stir on the Internet this week with a video in which she says she has infected more than 500 people with HIV told The Detroit News today that she does not have the virus.

"I don't have AIDS," Jackie Braxton, 23, said in an interview. [...]

http://www.mediatakeout.com/2010/38185-killer_beauty_woman_admits_to_having_aids____claims_that_shes_infected_hundreds_of_men_with_the_virus____and_shes_naming_names_mto_exclusive.html

Mediatakeout.com

KILLER BEAUTY!!! WOMAN ADMITS TO HAVING AIDS...CLAIMS THAT SHE'S INFECTED HUNDREDS OF MEN WITH THE VIRUS...AND SHE'S NAMING NAMES!!!

http://www.freep.com/article/20100115/NEWS01/100115022/?imw=Y
The Detroit Free Press
15 January 2010
Woman: AIDS video hoax meant to be public service
By NAOMI R. PATTON and TAMMY STABLES BATTAGLIA

Kill a Tourist Day (South Africa)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1242110/It-kill-tourist-day--way.html
Daily Mail [UK]
10 January 2010
Victoria Smurfit: 'It was kill a tourist day - and we were in the way'
By Victoria Smurfit

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1241996/Ballykissangel-star-Victoria-Smurfit-shot-Kill-Tourist-Day-South-Africa.html
Daily Mail [UK]
11 January 2010
Ballykissangel star Victoria Smurfit shot at on 'Kill a Tourist Day' in South Africa
By James Tapper, Mail on Sunday Showbusiness Reporter

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20100111081634719C525356
The Independent [South Africa]
11 January 2010
Cops baffled by actress' account of shooting
Quinton Mtyala

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=180&art_id=vn20100112121502529C687209
The Independent [South Africa]
12 January 2010
'No such thing as Kill A Tourist Day'
By Thandanani Mhlanga

Monkey Brains

http://thejakartaglobe.com/home/take-a-bite-on-the-wild-side/352043

The Jakarta Globe
11 January 2010

Take a Bite on the Wild Side

Marcel Thee

[The food stalls lining the main road of Mangga Besar in West Jakarta offer a diverse range of meats, including monkey. All the cooks and vendors there that the reporter questioned said the practice of eating the brains of live monkeys no longer occurs. One food stall owner was quite happy to recount how monkey brains were served "back in the day."]

“The monkeys are strapped into a wooden cage, where their heads pop out of a hole about the size of their neck [so that their heads are secured in position]. The cooks bring them out and either cuts the top part of their head in half, or drills a hole in it, so that the brain is exposed.”

That made my stomach turn, but I bravely continued and asked him how the monkey brain was served.

He said that sometimes the cook would scoop out the brain onto a plate and mix it with strong wine or herbs to hide the smell. But there was also another, even more grotesque, method.

“The cook pours some wine onto the brain, and then you take a straw and suck out the brain juices.”

He eagerly noted that while all of this happened, the monkey retains consciousness as it dies slowly.

It is worth mentioning, however, that this description of serving monkey brains seems very close to the urban legends promulgated by depictions in popular culture, with films such as “Indiana Jones” portraying it on screen. [...]

Mountain Lions Intentionally Released (Oklahoma)

http://www.newsok.com/mountain-of-a-tale/article/3430931

The Oklahoman [Oklahoma, OK]
10 January 2010

Belief that mountain lions are released into woods to kill deer doesn't make sense

By Ed Godfrey
The Oklahoman

Where did this rumor get started that the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation intentionally releases mountain lions to roam free in the state to control the deer population? [...]

http://www.newsok.com/article/3429730?searched=mountain%20lion&custom_click=search

The Oklahoman [Oklahoma City, OK]
5 January 2010
Trail camera near Atoka snaps a mountain lion
BY ED GODFREY

[Two reader comments.]

[...] When I was a kid there were the rumors that a circus train had derailed somewhere here in SW OK and that some big cats had escaped [including a black panther] and that they had eventualy breeded with the native wild cats.
David, Altus - Jan 6, 2010 at 3:27 am

[...] I have heard a story for years that a "circus train" crashed between Shawnee and Seminole and all the cats got loose and set up housekeeping out there. Not believeable, but an interesting story nonetheless. [...]
Paula, yukon 73099 - Jan 5, 2010 at 11:57 am

Lincoln Park Brown

Jay Lynch, "Introduction," in James Danky & Denis Kitchen, eds., Underground Classics: The Transformation of Comics into Comix (New York: Abrams ComicArts, 2009), p. 14.

In '67, Skip Williamson and I started an underground humor mag called the Chicago Mirror. By the third issue of the Mirror, we were getting a little bit discouraged, though. It seemed that the hippies just didn't seem to grasp the concepts of satire. This was driven home to me one day when I was selling copies of the Mirror on the streets of Chicago's sixties hippie neighborhood known as Old Town.

At this time, the press had been reporting that some hippies had been drying and curing banana skins to smoke for a legal high. In the Mirror we ran a piece satirically stating that smoking dog poop would provide an excellent psychedelic experience. We went on to say that the best variety of dog poop was something called "Lincoln Park Brown," and we gave tongue-in-cheek instructions for preparing the poop for smoking. We said that the new breed of dog-poop smokers were known as "shit heads." Get it? "Pot heads"? "Shit heads"? It's satire, right? But then when I was selling the mag on the street, this hippie came up to me and said, "Hey, man! Thanks for the tip on how to cure dog poop! We've been smoking it all week, and it's groovy!" I tried to explain to the kid that it was satire and that he shouldn't really be smoking dog poop, but he wouldn't listen. Apparently he was too blissed out of his mind on the nitrogen content of dog feces to grasp my explanation.

Pumas Secretly Introduced to Pennsylvania

Fortean Times #257 (January 2010), p. 73.

Letters

Pennsylvania pumas

[Tamy Kay Thompson of Newport News, Virginia, writes that the Pennsylvania Game Commission once tried to cut down the deer population by secretly introducing pumas outfitted with tracking device collars. Although the cats were probably responsible for the subsequent spate of missing pets and livestock, authorities denied that any pumas were in the area. -- bc]

A short while later, a farmer shot and killed a puma as it prepared to maul his cattle. He removed its tracking device and buried the carcass under his manure pit. The next day, officials with the Game Commission showed up on his porch, demanding to know where the puma was located. The famer looked them straight in the eye and used their own words against them, "There aren't any pumas around here."

Heart Recipient Acquires Donor's Food Cravings

http://www.news.com.au/national/donors-heart-goes-on-with-burger-rings-craving/story-e6frfkvr-1225812992551

The Daily Telegraph [Sydney]
23 December 2009

Donor's heart goes on with Burger Rings craving

Richard Noone

[...] [Kaden Delaney's] parents Greg and Shelley spent two years finding David Waters, whose life was saved when he received their son's heart after he died in a car crash. But in an exchange of emails they learned Mr Waters amazingly had developed a taste for Burger Rings - which was Kaden's favourite snack treat. [...]

The Most Shoplifted Book

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3670336/Jeffrey-Eugenides-Enduring-love.html

The Daily Telegraph [UK]
5 January 2008

Jeffrey Eugenides: Enduring love

By Mick Brown

[...] Jeffrey Eugenides has written just two books in the past 15 years. The first, The Virgin Suicides, a darkly comic fable of five suburban sisters who kill themselves, published in 1993, has sold more than a million copies, but also is said to hold the distinction of being the most shoplifted book of modern times. 'It's my most famous accolade,' Eugenides laughs, 'although Paul Auster claims one of his books is the most shoplifted. It's one of those things authors argue about.' [...]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/books/review/Rabb-t.html?_r=3&partner=rss&emc=rss

New York Times
16 December 2009

Steal These Books

By MARGO RABB

[...] Although there’s no hard statistical evidence on most-stolen titles, The Telegraph of London reported last year that Jeffrey Eugenides’s novel “The Virgin Suicides” was said to be “the most shoplifted book of modern times.” Eugenides had heard this for many years. “I just assumed that the book appealed to the young and sticky-fingered to a certain extent,” he told me, with some amusement. Years ago, Eugenides was at a literary conference with Paul Auster, another top choice among literary thieves. “Paul and I argued about whose book was stolen more,” Eugenides said. “He claimed he was stolen a lot, I claimed I was stolen a lot. Back and forth. It was one of those deep intellectual conversations.” [...]

The Body in the Snow

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/yule-never-believe-this-story/article1406027/

The Globe and Mail [Toronto]
19 December 2009

Yule never believe this story

Tabatha Southey

[The columnist relates two of many legends told to her by a neighbor. 1) A couple on holiday in Florida made friends with another couple at their hotel and they arranged to babysit each other's kids on alternate nights. On the last night of their stay the Canadians went dining and dancing, but when they returned the other couple and all the children were nowhere to be found. 2) One Christmas Eve a man dutifully shoveling the driveway of his former house -- now his ex-wife's -- looked in a window and saw her and the man who had once been his best friend drinking champagne and dancing. The sight was too much for him; he had a heart attack and collapsed. "And it kept snowing and they never found him until spring."]

Pishtacos article

http://www.slate.com/id/2239003/

Slate Magazine

17 December 2009

The Human Grease Murders
A mysterious crime in Peru revives a vampire legend that's more than 400 years old.

By Daniel Engber

Sick Boy Gets Mail

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/12/internet_rumor_about_ill_mexic.html

The Post-Standard [Syracuse, NY]
17 December 2009

Internet rumor about ill Mexico boy snowballs into avalanche of Christmas cards

By Debra J. Groom / The Post-Standard

Mexico, NY -- Day after day, thousands of Christmas cards are delivered to Jacob Hadcock in Mexico. Cards are coming in from Central New York, every state in the United States and countries as far away as England, Australia and China. They come from people who think 4-year-old Jacob is dying. [...]

Bank Robber Hypnotized Tellers (Russia)

http://www.globalpost.com/mobile?mid=5110292

GlobalPost

5 December 2009

Bank robber hypnotized tellers

By Kevin O'Flynn
Special to GlobalPost

MOSCOW, Russia - Bank robbers have threatened tellers with knives, shot their way into banks and tunnelled up into vaults. But one woman in southern Russia chose a more peaceful method: Police say Galina Korzhova hypnotised a bank teller into handing over tens of thousands of dollars in what is believed to be just one in a series of daring, if non-violent, bank robberies. [...]

Disney Characters Are First on the Lifeboats

[From the POPBITCH Newsletter, 10 December 2009.]

Disney's mouse and duck get special treatment

"This might be a story that does the rounds within the Disney parks, but I'm assured rather sincerely by a friend who worked a stint at one of the Disneylands that it is true.

"If a Disney cruise ship ever needs to be evacuated at sea, the protocol is that the people who get the first lifeboat (before the women and children) are two Disney employees. These two employees are required to take one Mickey Mouse and one Donald Duck costume with them so that when/if the children arrive to safety they can be greeted by Mickey and Donald so that they don't get upset thinking that they have gone down with the ship."

Fumes from Burning Bins Intoxicate Teens

http://www.tamesideadvertiser.co.uk/news/s/1185588_dump_this_deadly_craze

Tameside Advertiser [UK]
10 December 2009

Dump this deadly craze

Sue Carr

YOUTHS setting fire to wheelie bins in an attempt to get ‘high’ are at risk of killing themselves, a fire chief has warned.

Blue bins, used for paper recycling, are at the centre of the latest craze among youngsters in Tameside who wrongly believe an urban myth that the combination of fumes from the paper and burning plastic will give them a hit. [...]

TV Remote Stuck Up Man's Ass

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-world/2009/12/10/chinese-man-gets-remote-control-stuck-in-bottom-after-drunk-prank-115875-21886936/

The Mirror [UK]
10 December 2009

Chinese man gets remote control stuck in bottom after drunk prank

[...] Nineteen-year-old Huang Chen mystified medics when he turned up drunk at Hunan Hangtian Hospital in Changsha, complaining of unexplained pain from his rear end.

While being examined, the tipsy student turned over in bed, and inadvertently changed channel on the ward's telly.

Astonishing X-rays later revealed that the teenager had a TV remote control lodged up his backside. [...]

Asian Restaurant Serves Dog Meat, Claims Leaflet (Bristol, UK)

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/homepage/Bristol-restaurant-dogged-smear-campaign-offers-163-10-000-reward/article-1588618-detail/article.html

Bristol Evening Post [UK]
9 December 2009

Bristol restaurant dogged by smear campaign offers £10,000 reward

A £10,000 reward has been put up by a Bristol restaurant owner to track down the instigators of a smear campaign which claimed it served dog meat.

Several customers have called Asian restaurant Cosmo on Clifton Triangle to tell staff about a leaflet put through doors in the surrounding area, which says the venue has been closed by environmental health officers for serving "suspicious meat". [...]

Kidney Thefts (Malaysia)

http://www.mmail.com.my/content/21043-kidneys-gone-after-sex-prostitutes

The Malay Mail [Malaysia]
7 December 2009

KIDNEYS GONE AFTER SEX WITH PROSTITUTES
Two claims of organ harvesting in JB reported

Yushaimi Yahaya

KUALA LUMPUR: Two calls to his handphone yesterday by men claiming that syndicates in Johor Baru were "stealing" kidneys from those who visit prostitutes in the capital of Johor has set Datuk Michael Chong's alarm bells ringing.

Chong said in the first case, the caller claimed that his friend had visited a prostitute and ended up waking in a bath tub full of ice. [...]

http://www.mmail.com.my/content/21229-kidney-harvesting-urban-myth

The Malay Mail [Malaysia]
8 December 2009

Kidney harvesting an urban myth

MARHALIM ABAS

KUALA LUMPUR: Johor police have not received reports of organ harvesting in the state. [...]

McDonald's Applie Pies Contain Chayotes (Australia)

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/money/money-matters/are-there-chokos-in-mcdonalds-apple-pies/story-fn300aev-1225807413552

The Daily Telegraph [Australia]
6 December 2009

Are there chokos in McDonald's Apple Pies?

John Rolfe, Daily Telegraph

THE MYTH: McDonald's secretly uses chokos in its hot apple pies to cut costs. [...]

Burglars' Code (UK)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/6703441/Burglars-tag-homes-to-let-each-other-know-which-are-worth-stealing-from.html

The Daily Telegraph [UK]
2 December 2009

Burglars tag homes to let each other know which are worth stealing from

A gang of burglars have been scrawling coded messages in chalk outside homes to let each other know which are worth targeting, police have disclosed. [...]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/dec/03/burglars-code-chalk-marks-wall

The Guardian [UK]
3 December 2009

Is your home about to be burgled?
Chalk marks left by burglars on your walls could be a signal to rob you

Duncan Campbell

[...] Inspector Elaine Burtenshaw described the use of the symbols as "a troubling development". She is now asking local residents to alert the police if they spot them. This time the chalking of circles on the wall is said to mean that a wealthy person lives in the house, a circle with a cross over it denotes "nothing worth stealing", while others indicate whether the resident was "nervous and afraid" or has "already been burgled". [...]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1232496/The-Burglars-Code-Criminals-chalk-messages-pinpoint-targets-villains.html
Daily Mail [UK]
2 December 2009
The Burglars' Code: Criminals chalk messages which pinpoint targets for other villains