Date: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 16:24:10 -0600
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Sender: The Internet TourBus - A virtual tour of cyberspace
Comments: Resent-From: crispen@netsquirrel.com
Comments: Originally-From: Patrick Douglas Crispen
From: crispen@NETSQUIRREL.COM
Subject: TOURBUS -- 14 JANUARY 1999 -- NEW URBAN LEGENDS
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TODAY'S TOURBUS STOP(S):
NEW URBAN LEGENDS -- NUTRASWEET / ISP LONG DISTANCE FEES /
FEBRUARY 30TH / THE IRS
TODAY'S TOURBUS ADDRESS(ES):
http://netsquirrel.com/combatkit/
http://caloriecontrol.org/opinasp.html
http://www.nutrasweet.com/html/lib_rumors.html
http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/
http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/blasp.htm
http://korova.com/virus/hoax981220.htm
http://astro.nmsu.edu/~lhuber/leaphist.html
Howdy, y'all! :)
I promise that today's TOURBUS post has absolutely nothing to do with
the current impeachment trial in the US Senate (you can find
everything you could ever want to know about the trial at any of the
hundreds of online news sites). Instead, today's TOURBUS post talks
about four of the most pervasive urban legends currently floating
around the Net.
Before we get to that, though, I want to thank the folks at "Advisory
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On with the show ...
-----------------------------------
UPDATE: THE URBAN LEGEND COMBAT KIT
-----------------------------------
To help you combat the sea of urban legends that fills your inbox
every day, your fearless bus driver has created the Urban Legend
Combat Kit. The Combat Kit is a *FREE* collection of canned email
responses that helps you debunk some of the Internet's most prevalent
myths and urban legends. Just cut and paste whatever you need.
You can find the Combat Kit on my Web site at
http://netsquirrel.com/combatkit/ .
I recently added four new urban legends to the Combat Kit, including
two from today's TOURBUS post. :)
-------------------
IS NUTRASWEET SAFE?
-------------------
Anyone who has taken high school physics knows that to every action
there is always opposed an equal reaction. This Newtonian truism is
not just limited to the world of mechanics. For every Web page that
says that Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cower is the greatest
thing to happen since the invention of Iron City Beer, there is also a
Web page that says that Cower is the antichrist.
By now, everyone had heard of the artificial sweetener aspartame (also
known as NutraSweet). Over the past thirty-five years, several
hundred studies have concluded that aspartame is not associated with
ANY serious adverse health effects. However, for every action there
is an equal (no pun intended) and opposite reaction, and there is now
a letter circulating around the Internet warning that aspartame has
been proven to either cause or contribute to global outbreaks of
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Lupus
- Paralysis
- Blindness
- Birth defects
- Brain damage, including tumors
- Desert Storm disease
- And a host of other diseases and ailments.
The question that everyone seems to be asking now is "is aspartame
REALLY safe?" Honestly, it is a matter of opinion. Many major and
well-respected medical organizations and health professionals have
publicly stated that aspartame is completely safe. In fact, you can
find a list of testimonials in support of aspartame's safety at
http://caloriecontrol.org/opinasp.html .
Included in this list of testimonials are quotes from, among others,
the American Medical Association Council on Scientific Affairs, the
American Diabetes Association, the American Dietetic Association, the
American Cancer Society, The Epilepsy Institute, the US Food and Drug
Administration, and the US Centers for Disease Control. Monsanto, the
manufacturer of aspartame, has even created a Web site titled "Fact
and Fiction: Correcting Internet Myths About NutraSweet" at
http://www.nutrasweet.com/html/lib_rumors.html .
However, according to the anti-aspartame email circulating around the
Net right now,
MONSANTO ... knows how deadly [aspartame] is. They fund the
American Diabetes Association, American Dietetic Association,
Congress, and the Conference of the American College of
Physicians.
The letter argues that since Monsanto funded the organizations that
conducted investigations into aspartame's safety, the results of
those studies simply cannot be trusted.
One of the leaders of the anti-aspartame camp is Mark Gold, who has
created an "Aspartame (NutraSweet) Toxicity Info Center" homepage at
http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/ .
His page includes information about aspartame including toxicity
reactions, health damage cases, and scientific and historic
information about aspartame.
Of course, our dear friend David 'alakazam' Emery at the Mining
Company has created a wonderful article on the whole aspartame story
at
http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/blasp.htm .
David's article includes a very important point that I shall now
steal:
[A]spartame is acknowledged to produce minor side effects
in some people most notably headaches (see Aspartame Ingestion
and Headaches, Neurology, 1994). Also, the American Heart
Association warns that because of its high phenylalanine content,
use of aspartame may be risky for persons with phenylketonuria, a
metabolic disorder.
However, David's conclusion (with which I concur) is that "all that
the information presented in the [anti-aspartame] email is
disorganized, hysterical, and poorly substantiated." Still, this
whole aspartame safety issue is a matter of opinion. A very large
number of well-known and well-respected medical organizations and
health professionals have publicly stated that aspartame is safe.
Others disagree. The final decision on which side to believe,
however, is completely up to you.
---------------------------------------------------------------
THE FCC MODEM TAX STORY, PART 28: THE SEARCH FOR KENNARD'S GOLD
---------------------------------------------------------------
There is a message floating around the Net right now saying that
CNN stated that the Government would in two weeks time decide to
allow or not allow a charge to your phone bill equal to a Long
Distance call EACH time you access the Internet.
CNN did indeed report this on November 7th, 1998, but CNN's story is
just flat out wrong. Four days after CNN's story first aired, Federal
Communications Commission chairman William Kennard made the following
statement at a meeting of the National Association of Regulatory
Commissioners:
For reasons that escape me, there are those who regularly suggest
that the FCC is considering the imposition of per minute charges
on Internet providers. The forces behind these rumors are doing
a disservice to the American consumer, because in fact nothing
could be further from the truth. But somehow these rumors keep
arising, often on the Internet itself. I know, because I receive
hundreds and thousands of e-mails every time this rumor arises.
I know that many of the e-mails I receive are from well-meaning,
but misinformed, people who are concerned about the future of the
Internet. I applaud their vigilance and I am glad to assure them
that the FCC is not about to impose per minute charges on the
Internet.
In other words, CNN's story is false. For more information, take a
look at
http://korova.com/virus/hoax981220.htm .
--------------------
THE LEAP MILLENNIUM?
--------------------
This week's "stupid people should not breed" award goes to the author
of our next urban legend:
DO YOU KNOW THIS?
FEBRUARY 2000 WILL HAVE 30 DAYS. THERE ARE SOME NUMBER OF
SECONDS THAT ARE ACCUMULATED EVERY DAY WHICH MAKE UP TO BECOME
AN EXTRA DAY ONCE IN EVERY FOUR YEARS AND THAT IS WHY WE HAVE
THE LEAP YEAR. IN THE SAME MANNER THERE ARE SOME NUMBER OF
SECONDS WHICH ARE ACCUMULATED FROM THE LEAP YEARS WHICH FORM TO
BECOME AN EXTRA DAY ONCE IN EVERY 400 YEARS AND THAT IS WHY IN
THE YEAR 2000 THERE WILL BE 30TH FEB 2000.
Folks, this urban legend is not even REMOTELY true. The Gregorian
calendar accumulates an "uncorrected" error of about one day every
2500 years, not every 400. Although various adjustments to the leap-
year system have been proposed to correct this "Y2.5K" error, none has
been instituted. Besides, if this urban legend *IS* true, show me
*ONE* calendar for the year 2000 that includes a February 30. Just one. I'll
wait.
By the way, you can find everything you could ever want to know about
the Georgian calendar (and others) at
http://astro.nmsu.edu/~lhuber/leaphist.html .
------------------------------
FINALLY, A *TRUE* URBAN LEGEND
------------------------------
Alert TOURBUS rider Kenneth Mitchell forwarded me our following
warning, which only affects US citizens:
WARNING! PLEASE READ IMMEDIATELY!
THIS IS SERIOUS!
If you get an envelope from a company called the "Internal
Revenue Service," DO NOT OPEN IT! This group operates a scam
around this time every year. Their letter claims that you owe
them money, which they will take and use to pay for the
operation of essential functions of the United States
government. This is untrue! The money the IRS collects is used
to fund various inefficient and pointless social engineering
projects.
This organization has ties to another shady outfit called the
"Social Security Administration," who claim to take money from
your regular paychecks and save it for your retirement. In
truth, the SSA uses the money to pay for the same misguided
make-work projects the IRS helps mastermind.
These scam artists have bilked honest, hard working Americans
out of billions of dollars. Don't be among them!
Remember, you heard it here first! :P
TODAY'S TOURBUS STOP(S):
NEW URBAN LEGENDS -- NUTRASWEET / ISP LONG DISTANCE FEES /
FEBRUARY 30TH / THE IRS
TODAY'S TOURBUS ADDRESS(ES):
http://netsquirrel.com/combatkit/
http://caloriecontrol.org/opinasp.html
http://www.nutrasweet.com/html/lib_rumors.html
http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/
http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/blasp.htm
http://korova.com/virus/hoax981220.htm
http://astro.nmsu.edu/~lhuber/leaphist.html
--------------------------------
TODAY'S SOUTHERN WORD OF THE DAY
--------------------------------
RAY-ED (Adjective). The long wave extreme of the visible spectrum.
Usage: "Why do firemen wear ray-ed suspenners? To keep their paints
up!"
[Special thanks to Jeff F. for today's wurd]
You can find all of the old Southern Words of the day at
http://netsquirrel.com/crispen/word.html
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.~~~. ))
(\__/) .' ) )) Patrick Douglas Crispen
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/ , , ) \ http://www.netsquirrel.com/
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_( ( )_.' Warning: squirrels.
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