Rock Music & Unwed Mothers

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AJguAAAAIBAJ&sjid=nqEFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3375,332568&dq=boykin+pregnant+984+pregnant+music&hl=en

The Montreal Gazette, 2 December 1975, p. 21

Rock music damned for 'appeal to flesh'

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Damning rock music for it's "appeal to the flesh," a Baptist church here has begun a campaign to put the torch to records by Elton John, the Rolling Stones and other rock stars.

About $2,200 worth of records were tossed into a bonfire this week after church officials labelled the music immoral.

Rev. Charles Boykin, associate pastor and youth director at the Lakewood Baptist Church, said he has seen statistics which show that "of 1,000 girls who became pregnant out of wedlock, 984 committed fornication while rock music was being played."

He could not, however, remember the source of the statistics. [...]

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19751205&id=A5guAAAAIBAJ&sjid=nqEFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2959,1207873

The Montreal Gazette, 5 December 1975, p. 39

Syncopated sinners beware: It's that old devil rock music

By Mike Royko

Chicago Daily News

[...] I decided to get further details from Rev. Boykin. I phoned him and we had the following interview:

Where did that statistic come from, the one about all those girls getting pregnant while listening to rock music?

"I want to be accurate, so let me correct you. They didn't all listen to it DURING the sex act. I was speaking of listening to it as a prelude to fornication, as well as during."

I see. But rock music was involved in all but 14 pregnancies out of 1,000 cases?

"That's right. It was sort of like a Gallup Poll of unwed mothers."

And who provided the statistics?

"This man. He's from West Virginia. He stopped in our church one day and gave us the statistics."

He's a professional poll taker?

"Uh, no. He's an evangelist. He travels all the time." [...]

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19751208&id=y_EvAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Sl8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6430,6787826

St. Petersburg Times [FL], 8 December 1975, p. B1

A presentation against rock music has brought more fame than flame

Dudley Clendinen

TALLAHASSEE -- Brother Charlie Boykin is an earnest young man under fire, and he sure hopes that his spiritual brother, Bob Combe, of the Hyles-Anderson College in Hammond, Indiana, can locate the source of those figures for him. [...]

Brother Charlie has telephoned twice out to Hammond, India to ask about it. The first time, Brother Bob said he couldn't exactly remember where they'd come from, he'd have to look through his files. The second time, Brother Bob had gone off to deliver The Message, and Brother Charlie hopes he gets back soon, and finds the source of those figures for him.

Brother Charlie wishes everyone hadn't picked up so hard on the figures to begin with. "That's not our main argument," he says again, so you'll understand. [...]

But people are after him about those figures, and if he's going to be giving the Presentation again, Brother Charlie wants to be able to quote the source, because a lot of people don't believe he knew what he was talking about when he said it.

"Of 1,000 girls who became pregnant out of wedlock, 984 committed fornication while Rock music was being played." That was what Brother Charlie said as part of his Presentation. It was after that the kids at Lakewood Baptist Church decided to burn their Rock records. [...]

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HnZfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ci8MAAAAIBAJ&pg=5784,3364683&dq=boykin+pregnant+984+pregnant+music&hl=en

Lewiston Morning Tribune, 11 December 1975, p. 6A

Minister links music immorality

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (UPI) -- [...] The 25-year-old minister has studied effects of pop music on youths for almost four years and says his survey of high schools in north Florida supports a 1968 poll which he says revealed that 984 out of a sampling of 1,000 girls who became pregnant out of wedlock were listening to rock music during fornication. [...]

Rolling Stone, 12 February 1976, p. 15

Fahrenheit 250: Florida Minister, Flock, Fire Rock

By Michael Bane

[...] What's wrong with [those records], according to Brother Charlie, is their appeal to the flesh; a sensuous, slithering quality that apparently sends youngsters scrambling for the bedroom. In fact, he adds, of 1000 girls who became pregnant out of wedlock, 984 committed fornication while rock music was being played. Brother Charlie cites a 1968 issue of Time magazine as his source, but neither the magazine nor Frank Garlock, the Bob Jones University teacher who inspired Brother Charlie while he was still a student at Tennessee Temple College in Chattanooga, can document the elusive reference. "I never heard of it before," says Garlock over the telephone, gently but firmly extricating himself from the ministry of Charlie Boykin. "I try to steer away from sensational things like that statistic." [...]

Linda Martin and Kerry Segrave, Anti-Rock: The Opposition to Rock 'n' Roll (Da Capo Press, 1993), p. 284.

Perhaps, however, Boykin got the pregnancy theory, if not the actual statistics, from the Population Institute in New York City. In 1975 this organization felt there was a link between rock lyrics and the rise in the number of unwed mothers. The institute started a project to "raise the consciousness of the record industry" even though they admitted there was "no statistical evidence linking any one song to the sharp increase in the number of U.S. teenagers having pregnancies outside wedlock."

http://newspaperarchive.com/lowell-sun/1975-04-15/page-27/

Lowell Sun [MA], 15 April 1975, p. 27

Campaign underway to clean up some rock lyrics

By David T. Cook

Christian Science Monitor

WASHINGTON -- A campaign has begun to clean up the lyrics of popular songs that glorify childbearing outside a formal family setting to a largely teen-age audience.

More responsible rock record lyrics could play a part in solving the rapidly rising number of unmarried teen-age mothers, some population experts say.

The Population Institute, a New York City-based organization supplying information on population matters recently started a three-year project to "raise the consciousness of the record industry," says Norman Fleishman, West Coast director of the Institute.

The Population Institute admits that it has no statistical evidence linking any one song to the sharp increase in the number of U.S. teenagers having pregnancies outside of wedlock. [...]

Tunnels Under North Bend, Oregon

http://theworldlink.com/news/local/what-s-going-on-under-north-bend/article_af6b1714-e0b9-11e1-a59d-001a4bcf887a.html

The World [Coos Bay, OR]

7 August 2012

What’s going on ‘under’ North Bend?

Is there really a secret tunnel system? What is the city finding?

By Jessie Higgins

NORTH BEND -- Imagine downtown North Bend around 1910: Wooden planks lined Sherman Avenue, horses and horseless carriages shared the streets and upstairs from the saloon that is now Roger's Zoo was a brothel.

Legend has it, a tunnel ran from the saloon’s basement beneath Sherman and connected with the Humbolt Building. That way, men could enter the whorehouse discretely. [...]

Deadly Oranges (Nigeria)

http://dailytimes.com.ng/article/lagos-police-debunk-rumours-deadly-oranges

Daily Times [Nigeria]

6 August 2012

Lagos Police debunk rumours of deadly oranges

Spokesperson warns residents against spreading panic

By Patience Ogbo

The Lagos State Police Command has debunked claims that 13 persons died in the state after taking oranges.

A statement released by the Command on Sunday, and signed by its spokesperson, Ngozi Braide, described the news making the rounds on social networks as false.

"The Commissioner of Police considers this rumour false, as none of the Divisional or Area Command Headquarters in Lagos have received any complaint with regards to such, from the public," the statement read.

The news about deadly oranges led to some apprehension in the state, with the information warning people to stay away from oranges.

One of such information being passed round says: "Please stop taking orange! The Nigeria Police has announced this morning that they have confirmed 13 people dead in Lagos, and the orange is spreading faster. Please inform others. Send this to all your friends and family if you love them." [...]

Women Asked to Smell Rag

http://www.kare11.com/news/article/985122/14/Police-search-for-woman-asking-others-to-smell-a-rag

KARE-TV [Minneapolis, MN]

30 July 2012

Police search for woman asking others to smell a rag

WAITE PARK, Minn. - Police in Waite Park are searching for three suspicious individuals who are allegedly asking women to smell a rag in parking lots.

Police received a complaint from a woman who said she was approached by another woman in a parking lot. The suspect asked the woman to smell some perfume. When the woman agreed, the suspect pulled out a rag and asked the woman to smell that. [...]

Light Bulbs & Toilet Paper Removed from Sold Home

http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2012/07/an_urban_myth_a.html

Boston.com

30 July 2012

Boston Real Estate Now

An urban myth and its real-life understanding

by Rona Fischman

I developed a habit because of an urban myth. Since it is not a problem to anyone, I just keep doing it. The habit: I turn on an overhead light at any pre-closing walkthrough, even if it is broad daylight.

Why do I do that? There is a story that I heard at least a half dozen times when I was new in the business. It always happened to a cousin’s brother-in-law’s ex-wife’s sister or some such impossible-to-trace source.

A seller was so unhappy with the outcome of a sale that he removed all the toilet paper and all the light bulbs from the house before closing. He then scheduled the closing for 4 PM, leaving the new owners in the dark and without bathroom material. I also heard it as 4 PM on a Friday of a holiday weekend, when it would be hard to get light bulbs and toilet paper. [...]

John Lennon: An Asshole with a Kotex on His Head

Rolling Stone, 14 February 1974, p. 24

Random Notes

John Lennon went to the Troubadour to hear Ann Peebles, and for the occasion he wore a Kotex on his head. There were about 11 people in his party; he didn't leave the waitress a tip, and in response to her scowl he said, "Do you know who I am?" "Yes," she said. "You're some asshole with a Kotex on your head."

======

Rolling Stone, 5 June 1975, pp. 48, 68

Long Night's Journey into Day: A Conversation with John Lennon

By Pete Hamill

What actually did happen those nights at the Troubadour when you heckled the Smothers Brothers and went walking around with a Kotex on your head asking the waitress, "Do you know who I am?"

Ah, y'want the juice...If I'd said, "Do you know who I am?" I'd have said it in a joke. Because I know who I am, and I know she knew, because I musta been wearing a Kotex on me head, right? I picked up a Kotex in a restaurant, in the toilet, and it was clean and just for a gag I came back to the table with it on me head. And 'cause it stuck there with sweat, just stayed there, I didn't have to keep it on. It just stayed there till it fell off. And the waitress said, "Yeah, you're an asshole with a Kotex on," and I think it's a good remark and so what? Tommy Smothers was a completely different night and has been covered a million times. It was my first night on Brandy Alexanders and my last.

[That conditional sentence he starts with gives me the impression that Lennon doesn't remember the remark, while the rest of his answer establishes that he believes it happened. -- bc]

=======

Larry Kane, Lennon Revealed (Philadelphia: Running Press, 2005), p. 100

One night, John, May Pang, and legendary guitarist Jesse Ed Davis got together for an early evening dinner at a restaurant in Santa Monica, where John got famously drunk before disappearing into the bathroom.

“He returned from the bathroom with a Kotex on his forehead,” May recalls. “I pleaded with him to take it off. He just smiled.”

The trio headed to the Troubador where John continued to drink and ignore the pleas of May Pang. This episode ended unceremoniously when John said to the waitress, “Don’t you know who I am?” The waitress, in one of the more direct retorts in John Lennon’s life, said, “Yeah, you’re some asshole with a Kotex on his forehead.” 

======

Philip Norman, John Lennon: The Life (Anchor Canada, 2009), pp. 723-4.

One evening, about halfway through Julian's visit, John went with May and the Keltners to the Troubadour, the famous club on Santa Monica Boulevard that had given Elton John and many others their first big break. Headlining that night was Ann Peebles, a rather dour soul chanteuse whose single, "I Can't Stand the Rain," had lately been on the U.S. and British charts. Before going to the club, John's party ate dinner at Lost on Larrabee, a restaurant popular with the rock crowd. As they were leaving, he slipped into the women's room and rifled a cabinet full of Kotex sanitary pads. When he reached the Troubadour, he took a Kotex from his pocket and clamped it to the center of his forehead like an unwieldy caste mark. (Even this may have been a symbol of missing Yoko. Not long after their first meeting in 1966, she had sent him an artwork called Mend Piece, consisting of some Kotex and a broken cup, which he'd unwrapped in the presence of both his then wife and mother-in-law.)

As Jim Keltner recalls, Ann Peeble's appearance onstage was slightly delayed, so the club's whole VIP section had ample opportunity to share in the joke. According to hallowed legend, John snapped at a dilatory waitress, "Do you know who I am?" and she snapped back, "Yeah, an asshole with a Kotex on his head." Neither May nor the Keltners recall any such words being said.

======

[The following incident, also at the Troubadour, occurred later, on 12 March. The waitress in this case wasn't so witty in her response to the drunk rock star.]

Rolling Stone, 25 April 1974, p. 13

Trouble at the Troubadour

Lennon's Hard Day Night

There is a special raised platform at the Troubadour informally known as the VIP section. Lennon was sitting with a female companion, May Pang, and Harry Nilsson in that section the night of the altercation. The Smothers Brothers, on the comeback trail, were about to start the second act of their first Los Angeles appearance in five years.

During the intermission, according to [Troubadour owner] Doug Weston, Lennon and Nilsson were harmonizing, barbershop style, on the Ann Peebles song, "I Can't Stand the Rain." A few photographers began snapping shots of the Lennon party. Lennon, according to a Troubadour waitress, barked "fuck you" to a male photographer, who responded, "Did you say 'fuck you' to me?" Lennon replied, "No, I said it to the waitress."

"Well," said the waitress to Lennon, "fuck you."

 ======

Jonathan Vankin (writer), Mark Poutenis (artist), “John Lennon,” The Big Book of the ‘70s (New York: Paradox Press, 2000), 48.

 

 

Cheating Couple (Kenya)

http://www.kenyan-post.com/2012/06/drama-as-husband-and-wife-catch-each.html

The Kenyan Daily Post

18 June 2012

Drama as husband and wife catch each cheating in a hotel in Mlolongo

Patrons at a popular guest house in Mlolongo town along Nairobi-Mombasa highway were over the weekend treated with a rare kind of drama when a husband and wife burst each other in the hotel. The two had made the guest house homage to their infidelity.

A hotel employee told sources that the two frequented the guest house often separately but they had no idea that each was a patron at the hotel. [...]

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000060040&story_title=Rage-as-husband-meets-wife-in-lodging

The Standard [Kenya]

18 June 2012

Rage as husband meets wife in lodging

By ALLAN OLINGO

A married couple busted each other when they bumped into each other at the same lodging in Mlolongo town on the Nairobi-Mombasa highway.

The little town, which is just a collection of shops and pubs spread on both sides of the highway, is popular with amorous track drivers and married men and women with secrets to hide.

According to Salma, an eyewitness in Mlolongo, husband and wife separately hooked up with their respective clandestine lovers a fortnight ago. [...]

Pyramids Have No Date With the Wrecking Ball

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/24/world/middleeast/in-egypt-rumor-of-pyramids-demise-proves-flimsy.html

New York Times

24 July 2012

Contrary to Gossip, Pyramids Have No Date With the Wrecking Ball

By ROD NORDLAND and MAYY EL SHEIKH

CAIRO - What's this? Egypt's new Islamist leaders want to raze the Great Pyramids, scratch away the images on the death masks of the pharaohs, maybe even wipe the grin off what is left of the face of the Sphinx?

Someone who reads a lot of right-wing blogs in the United States these days might be forgiven for thinking so, though there is no sign here that any such Islamist clamor to destroy the monuments of ancient Egypt has actually arisen.

The fear that it has, though, is a textbook example of how a rumor, especially about a place as tumultuous as Egypt these days, can take on a life of its own - fed by a kernel of fact, a dash of Twitter, and a convenient coincidence or two. [...]

The Beatles' Sexual Superpower

Paul Gambaccini, "The Rolling Stone Interview: Paul McCartney," Rolling Stone, 31 January 1974, p. 40.

[Paul McCartney:] Then the this-little-bit-if-you-play-it-backwards stuff. As I say, nine times out of ten it's really nothing. Take the end of Sgt. Pepper, that backward thing, "We'll fuck you like Supermen." Some fans came around to my door giggling. I said, "Hello, what do you want?" They said, "Is it true, that bit at the end? Is it true? It says 'We'll fuck you like Supermen.' " I said, "No, you're kidding. I haven't heard it, but I'll play it." It was just some piece of conversation that was recorded and turned backwards. But I went inside after I'd seen them and played it studiously, turned it backwards with my thumb against the motor, turned the motor off and did it backwards. And there it was, sure as anything, plain as anything. "We'll fuck you like Supermen." I thought, Jesus, what can you do?

[McCartney also discusses this incident in Barry Miles' Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now (New York: Henry Holt, 1997), p. 332, where the declaration is said to sound like "We'll fuck you like Superman" (singular). In this version he remembers inviting the fans inside to hear the record being played backward. -- bc]

I had quite a few visitors there, but these kids came in one day and said, 'What's all that swearing when it goes backwards on the end of the loop about?' I said, 'No, it doesn't, it says, "It really couldn't be any other." ' They said, 'It does do it, though, we've done it.' I said, 'No, it bloody doesn't.' I said, 'Well, come in, look, we'll get my record player.' We put the record on, then you could turn the turntable backwards. It probably hurt the motor, but you could turn it backwards, and sure enough, it said something like 'We'll fuck you like Superman; We'll fuck you like Superman. We'll fuck you like Superman.' I said, 'Oh, my Gawwd!' That kind of stuff does happen. That's why you can explore the accident. But that was far out. We had certainly had not intended to do that but probably when you turn anything backwards it sounds like something ... if you look hard enough you can make something out of anything.

Foreign Cockroaches Invade Naples

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/16/world/europe/in-naples-italy-crying-foul-over-reports-of-cockroaches.html

New York Times

16 July 2012

Naples Journal

Trying to Eradicate Reports of a Cockroach Invasion

By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO

NAPLES, Italy - It began with ominous reports of an invasion of oversize red cockroaches, the American type, which were not only driving out the native Neapolitan black cockroaches but also possibly carrying deadly diseases.

The headline in the newspaper Il Mattino of Naples, Italy, reads "City Invaded by Red Cockroaches - Hepatitis and Typhoid Infection Risk." But health authorities and city officials say the reports are untrue.

It did not matter that city and health officials scoffed at the reports. The summer - high season for cockroaches and bottom-of-the-barrel stories in the Italian news media - was upon the land, and the story could not be squelched, no matter how many entomologists protested. [...]

No Quacking in the Quiet Car

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/13/no-quacking-in-the-quiet-car/

New York Times

13 July 2012

Metropolitan Diary

No Quacking in the Quiet Car

By RUKHL SCHAECHTER

Dear Diary:

As I sat in the subway at rush hour with nothing to do, I playfully scrolled through the various ringtones on my iPhone. I suddenly realized the train had reached my stop, Grand Central, and I hurried out to catch the Metro-North train home.

As usual, I walked down the Metro-North platform to get to the first car, known as the quiet car, so that I could read my Kindle in silence. I sat down opposite two men who proceeded to chat about mutual acquaintances.

After a minute or so I leaned over and said: "I'm sorry to bother you, but this is the quiet car. The first car on the train during rush hour is the quiet car."

They looked at each other, and one of them stretched his neck to confirm that there was indeed no other car before us. Seeing there wasn't, he took out some reading material, and his friend opened up his laptop.

As the three of us sat engrossed in our silent activities, a loud quacking sound seemed to come from one of their briefcases - apparently, his phone was ringing. He didn't answer it, in deference to the "no talking" rule, but the quacking was so loud and annoying, it seemed even worse than conversation.

Finally, the ringing stopped. But then five minutes later, once again - the same quacking. "Why doesn't he just switch the phone to silent, instead of subjecting us all to this ridiculous noise?" I thought irritably.

As the train reached my station, I gathered my belongings and stepped off the train onto the platform. And then, as the train pulled away, I was mortified to hear the quacking once again - coming straight out of my shoulder bag.

Craigslist Pets Used as Target Practice

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20120708/UPDATE/120708001/Deputies-receive-reports-Craigslist-pets-being-used-target-practice?odyssey=nav%7Chead&nclick_check=1

Statesman Journal [Salem, OR]

8 July 2012

Deputies receive reports of Craigslist pets being used as target practice

Written by Saerom Yoo

http://www.koinlocal6.com/mostpopular/story/Is-Craigslist-a-hub-for-animal-abusers/xHPj5AVBJ0qI_VItLeRRcA.cspx

KOIN-TV [Portland, OR]

9 July 2012

Is Craigslist a source for animal abuse?

Reported by: Brian Pryor

Paul Newman's Tip

Rolling Stone, 5 July 1973, p. 44

The Redoubtable Mr. Newman

By Grover Lewis

[Actor Paul Newman:] "Geez, ego is a very peculiar thing, you know it? I remember I was on a skiing trip in Switzerland once, and six or eight people were having dinner with me in a cafe. Our waiter kept staring at me, and finally he walked over and slapped me on the back -- practically knocked me out of the chair -- and said, 'I couldn't think of your name, but you're Steve McQueen, aren't you?' And I said, 'Oh, yeah, pal.' He said, 'God, I really love your pictures. The Reivers -- I  thought you were great in that.' I said, 'Thank you very much.' When the bill came, I left the guy a dime tip. So McQueen's name in Switzerland is mud."

Organ Thefts (Vietnam)

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/en/society/24440/rumormonger-arrested-in-dong-thap.html

VietNamNet Bridge

4 July 2012

Rumormonger arrested in Dong Thap

VietNamNet Bridge – Police of the southern province of Dong Thap have arrested a man for spreading false rumors of someone who kidnapped children to take their internal organs for sale.

Earlier, people in the southern province of Kien Giang and An Giang had been worried of the rumor of the appearance of a gang that kidnaps children to take their internal organs for sale. [...]

Robert Mitchum's Nuts

Rolling Stone, 15 March 1973, p. 36

The Last Celluloid Desperado

By Grover Lewis

[Actor Robert Mitchum, "visibly sloshed" after a late lunch, clowns around outside his camper on the set of The Friends of Eddie Coyle. With him are the director, Peter Yates, actor Alex Rocco and Tim Wallace, "his long-time stand-in and constant crony."]

"Listen, you guys, I gotta tell this story on Bob here. He was ballin' this babe one time, see. He was in the saddle, see, and his nuts was swingin' back and forth in the air, see. And this babe's dog jumps up on the bed and takes his nuts in his mouth, see. Big sonofabitch -- "

"The dog was like half Great Dane and half bull mastiff," Mitchum muses. "Like a pony."

"Huge sonofabitch."

Mitchum nods. "Yeah, big yellow-eyed mother."

"So I walk into the room by accident, see, and this dog has hold of Bob's nuts like a retriever would hold a bird. I couldn't help it -- I started laughin' -- "

Mitchum grins. "I told him, don't laugh. I very slowly got, uh...disengaged. And I smacked that motherin' dog -- whap! -- clear across the room. I woulda shot it if I'd had a gun."

"I tellya, I had water in my eyes from laughin' so hard at 'im. There was water all over the place, in fact. The bed was wet, you can bet your sweet ass on that." Wallace cackles shrilly, then fixes the writer with a stern glare: "Don't put that in your fuckin' magazine, friend. It's a true fuckin' story, but jeez -- Bob's wife, you know..."

South Korean Tunnel Hunters

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/04/world/asia/for-south-korean-tunnel-hunters-a-quixotic-quest-to-prove-a-threat.html

New York Times

3 July 2012

For South Korean Tunnel Hunters, a Quixotic Quest to Prove a Threat

By CHOE SANG-HUN

HWASEONG, South Korea - [...] Mr. Kim, 47, is one of a small but dedicated band of South Koreans who have been hunting for North Korean "invasion tunnels" for years, some for decades. Only four tunnels have ever been detected, all between 1974 and 1990 and all near the border. Not one has been found since, despite thousands of drilling operations conducted not only by the South Korean military but also freelance prospectors like Mr. Kim.

Although broadly dismissed as cranks, the private tunnel hunters tap into the source of one of South Koreans' greatest fears about  North Korea: its penchant for taking its war preparations underground, a reaction to the leveling of its military installations by United States air power during the 1950-53 Korean War. [...]

Seductress Spreads AIDS (Saudi Arabia)

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20120627128270

Saudi Gazette [Saudi Arabia]

27 June 2012

AIDS femme fatale is a myth: Police

TABUK -- Tabuk police denied recent rumors of a young woman who has been spreading the AIDS virus by seducing men. The woman, said to be a Syrian national who entered the Kingdom illegally, was alleged to have lured men and teenagers into hotels and furnished apartments with the aim of transmitting the virus to them.

According to police, the rumor spread via social networking sites. The official spokesman for Tabuk Police, Maj. Khaid Ghabban, said police investigated the rumors and were led to a dead end.

“This is purely fictional and not reality,” said Ghabban while urging people to verify stories before passing them on as fact and contact authorities for accurate information if they were in doubt. -- SG

Vibrator Mistaken for Electric Drill (Germany)

http://www.thelocal.de/society/20120627-43381.html

The Local [Germany]

27 June 2012

Police mistake rogue vibrator for burglar

A concerned resident called Bochum police at 11 pm on Sunday, worried that someone was trying to get into the house with a drill. The noise was so loud, Die Welt newspaper reported on Monday, that the tiles in his flat were vibrating.

He joined the officers in scouring the house to track down the mysterious noise, which grew ever louder the further down the building they were.

Eventually they ended up in the building's communal cellar, expecting to find a determined burglar armed with an electric drill.

But on entering there was nothing to be seen apart from a lone vibrator that had fallen off a shelf, turned itself on and rolled up against pipes. [...]

[An earlier "electric drill" version:]

http://www.thelocal.de/society/20110423-34585.html

The Local [Germany]

23 April 2011

Police called to investigate noise find lone jiggling vibrator

Police called to a flat in Berlin by neighbours who said it sounded like someone was using an electric drill through the night smashed down the door to find a vibrator had switched itself on and was jiggling around on the floor.

Officers who answered the desperate call of the neighbour tried repeatedly to contact the 23-year-old woman whose flat it was, according to a report in the Berlin Kurier on Saturday.

But they could not get a response, and eventually decided to break in the door in an attempt to find out what was going on in the flat.

"You could hear the noise out on the street," one neighbour was quoted as saying.

When the officers smashed their way into the flat they found nothing more dangerous than the vibrator which was doing its best on the floor.

Now the young woman is not only going to have to face her neighbours when she returns home she will also have to pay for the smashed door, the paper said.

Drones Spy on American Farmers

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/reining-in-the-rumors-about-epa-drones/2012/06/16/gJQAwWjkhV_story.html

Washington Post

16 June 2012

Reining in the rumor about EPA ‘drones’

By David A. Fahrenthold

It was a blood-boiler of a story, a menacing tale of government gone too far: The Environmental Protection Agency was spying on Midwestern farmers with the same aerial “drones” used to kill terrorists overseas.

This month, the idea has been repeated in TV segments, on multiple blogs, and by at least four U.S. congressmen. The only trouble is, it isn’t true. [...]

Ballots Marked With Disappearing Ink (Egypt)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/paranoia-over-pens-to-mark-the-ballot-in-egypts-vote-amid-talk-of-vanishing-ink-conspiracy/2012/06/16/gJQAAFzXhV_story.html

Washington Post

16 June 2012

Paranoia over pens to mark the ballot in Egypt’svote amid talk of ‘vanishing ink’ conspiracy

By Associated Press

CAIRO -- Rumor had it a devious conspiracy was afoot: Egyptians voting for a new president Saturday were being tricked into using pens with disappearing ink so their choice on the ballot would vanish before it was counted. [...]

Store Refuses to Serve Guardsman (Bogalusa)

http://www.gobogalusa.com/news/article_5dd53c8e-b0e1-11e1-8d13-001a4bcf887a.html

The Daily News [Bogalusa, LA]

7 June 2012

Social media causes a stir

BY MARCELLE HANEMANN

The Daily News

The impact of social media was evident in Bogalusa Thursday after a message posted on Facebook prompted rapid and widespread calls for the boycott of a local store, and a small group of people assembled outside the establishment waving American flags and telling their story to passers-by.

Inside, Savi, the East Indian owner of SP Truck Stop, the former Duval’s located across Louisiana Highway 10 from the American Legion Home, was upset and confused.

The Facebook message was a forward from a woman who sent a mobile phone message claiming that her husband was in line at the store and heard a uniformed member of the National Guard told “We don’t serve your kind.”

The Facebook messenger then called for a boycott to “force them out of business,” and invited people to “share.” [...]

http://www.gobogalusa.com/news/article_cbe59bd0-b2fb-11e1-80c5-001a4bcf887a.html

The Daily News [Bogalusa, LA]

10 June 2012

Facebook fracas | Protests, search for ‘guardsman’ continue

BY MARCELLE HANEMANN

The Daily News The Daily News

On Friday, the day after a posting on Facebook prompted dozens of flag-waving protestors to assemble in front of a store that allegedly refused service to a uniformed member of the National Guard, a Louisiana National Guard spokesman said he had heard nothing, from his people, of such a slight. [...]

http://www.gobogalusa.com/news/article_a9ef82a6-b559-11e1-a277-0019bb2963f4.html

The Daily News [Bogalusa, LA]

13 June 2012

Facebook protest affects business

By Richard Meek

The Daily News The Daily News