Email Chains--Fact or Fantastically Fabricated?

If you have an email address and communicate with friends, then no doubt you receive a steady stream of email chains. Friends, family and two-or-three degree separaters that pass along email chains of tips like the secret mobile phone codes to ward off attackers, or the incredible story like the car covered in diamonds, or praising celebrities for heroic deeds.

How do you know which ones are fact or fabricated? Well if you have not heard of Snopes.com then you have now! Snopes is the resource to distinguish if a rumor is valid or full of bovine excrema.

For example, someone sent us this email about a poisonous spider that lurks in toilets and attacks the buttocks. Cheeky creatures...This would have been a great story for Halloween.

FYI NEW POISONOUS SPIDER IN THE UNITED STATES A spider bite...please read............. And you thought the brown recluse was bad!!! Three women in North Florida , turned up at hospitals over a 5-day period, all with the same symptoms. Fever, chills, and vomiting, followed by muscular collapse, paralysis, and finally, death. There were no outward signs of trauma. Autopsy results showed toxicity in the blood. These women did not know each other, and seemed to have nothing in common It was discovered, however, that they had all visited the same restaurant (Olive Garden) within days of their deaths. The health department descended on the restaurant, shutting it down. The food, water, and air conditioning were all inspected and tested, to no avail. The big break came when a waitress at the restaurant was rushed to the hospital with similar symptoms. She told doctors that she had been on vacation, and had only went to the restaurant to pick up her check. She did not eat or drink while she was there, but had used the restroom. That is when one toxicologist, remembering an article he had read, drove out to the restaurant, went into the restroom, and lifted the toilet seat.. Under the seat, out of normal view, was a small spider. The spider was captured and brought back to the lab, where it was determined to be the Two-Striped Telamonia (Telamonia dimidiata ), so named because of its reddened flesh color. This spider's venom is extremely toxic, but can take several days to take effect. They live in cold, dark, damp climates, and toilet rims provide just the right atmosphere. Several days later a lawyer from Jacksonville showed up at a hospital emergency room. Before his death, he told the doctor, that he had been away on business, had taken a flight from Indonesia , changing planes in Singapore , before returning home. He did not visit (Olive Garden), while there. He did, as did all of the other victims, have what was determined to be a puncture wound, on his right buttock. Investigators discovered that the flight he was on had originated in India The Civilian Aeronautics Board (CAB) ordered an immediate inspection of the toilets of all flights from India , and discovered the Two-Striped Telamonia spider's nests on 4 different planes! It is now believed that these spiders can be anywhere in the country. So please, before you use a public toilet, lift the seat to check for spiders. It can save your life! And please pass this on to everyone you care about.

So are these "arachnius gluteus" genuine butt attackers? Snopes verified that the story is FALSE. Snopes dates the rumor back to 1999 and tracks its many versions. It also offers other logical explanations and supporting statements from reputable organizations.




Did you read the one about the gas tank symbol on your car dashboard? Where the handle of the gas pump indicates which side your gas tank is on your car so no matter if you're driving a rental or a friend's car, you'll know instantly which side the gas tank is on? Well before I Snoped this one, I went to my Hyundai Sonata and nope. Gas pump handle on dashboard showed right side and my car's tank is on left side.


So now you have a resource to determine if someone is pulling your leg or if you really should squat over the toilet vs. sit on toilet seat.

We know you receive those email chains--SO GO AHEAD--click below and LEAVE A COMMENT!