Confirmed: 'Woolly Mammoth' Video a Hoax
That "jaw-dropping" video presented by The Sun last week of a woolly mammoth crossing a river in Siberia has been confirmed a hoax by the videographer who shot the original footage, in which there is not a single extinct ice-age pachyderm to be seen.
Anyone surprised?
From LiveScience.com:
• 'Live Woolly Mammoth" Video Proven a Hoax
Did Rick Santorum Declare War on Heavy Metal? Nope.
An article claiming that presidential candidate Rick Santorum gave a speech in which he condemned heavy metal music as "Satanic" and the "single most dangerous force in America today" has sparked an outbreak of viral indignation on Facebook and Twitter, despite the fact that there's no public record of such a speech, and the article, credited to blogger Keith Spillet, is transparently satirical.
Obama's Left-Handed Flag Salute
Circulating via forwarded email for the past two years and now trending on Facebook:
FW: Clueless.....
Now is it just me, are both of them as dumb as they appear. I guess this could have been taken in a mirror which would screw it up, or maybe it is authentic. I would not doubt it being authentic!!!! Note both have rings on their ring finger and most likely on their left hand. I think they are truly clueless!!!!
I think we know who's truly clueless in this scenario. Read more...
'The Half-Time Flush' and Other Super Bowl Myths Debunked
In an interview with the LA Times a few years back, renowned folklorist Alan Dundes ventured to explain why Super Bowl Sunday has become the focus of so many larger-than-life "urban beliefs" in the United States — for example the claim that every year during half-time the water systems of major cities verge on collapsing because so many people flush their toilets simultaneously.
Wrote Dundes: "Every culture's legends express that culture's values. Super Bowl legends usually involve numbers and a sense of enormity. The idea of big numbers, of being bigger than other people, is very American."
Or maybe we're just prone to exaggerate. Who isn't? Read more...
Eddie Murphy Isn't Dead
I'll keep this short and sweet.
Despite the fact that "RIP Eddie Murphy" is trending on Twitter, and Facebook jabberers are busily sharing the "news" that the comic actor died in a snowboard accident in Switzerland, Eddie Murphy is just fine.
The false report originated — as most premature death notices do these days — on the prank website Global Associated News. Murphy is only the latest of literally dozens of celebrity victims of similar hoaxes perpetrated via the site. Read More...
The Long, Long Snake
The first time I saw this photo (about eight months ago), it was attached to a forwarded email claiming it was taken near the Morganza Spillway in Louisiana. The second time I saw it, it was on a message board posting entitled "King Brown Snake. Branxton, NSW, Australia." The third time I saw it (just last week, in fact), it was on Facebook, and according to the posting it was taken Jan. 25 in Delray, Florida. None of the above is true.
Feb. 2 Is Groundhog Day
Though Groundhog Day proper is a North American tradition of fairly recent origin, its historical roots stretch back through the medieval Christian feast of Candlemas to ancient pagan midwinter celebrations. For the past 100 years, Groundhog Day has revolved around the ceremonial de-hibernation of a domesticated Pennsylvania woodchuck named Punxsutawney Phil.
Every February, Phil is hauled out of his artificial burrow on Gobbler's Knob (a hilltop near Punxsutawney, PA) to "predict" the next six weeks' weather. If Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, legend has it, the cold winter weather will continue into March; if he doesn't, there'll be an early spring.
True? Of course not. It's folklore. Historically, the groundhog's "predictions" have more often been wrong than right.
Can You Guess What This Is?
No, it's not frozen yogurt. It's not soft-serve ice cream. It's what's known in the meat processing industry as "mechanically separated chicken." After being stripped off the bone by machinery, sieved and extruded in the form of an appetizing pink paste, it will end up in hot dogs and lunch meat to be consumed by you and me. Read more...
Navy SEAL Team 6
"This is what the Navy SEAL team looked like when they went in to get Bin Laden," says a forwarded email touting the shock-and-awe-inspiring photo above. A closer examination suggests otherwise. Read more...
FACEBOOK SCAM: 'Chuck Norris Dies at Age 71!'
The latest Facebook clickjacking scam takes the form of a blurb for a video supposedly describing how action film star Chuck Norris died. But as anyone capable of conducting a basic Internet search can easily find out, Norris isn't dead. The links are bogus. Read More...