Lies, Dammed Lies and Emails!

by Larry Smith

Frankly, I am sick and tired of all those forwarded emails peddling scams, lies and hate propaganda.

This irksome correspondence used to derive mostly from unsophisticated internet users who thought they were doing their friends and relatives a favour by sending a useful safety tip or an interesting take on the news. But now it seems almost everyone is getting into the act - even well-educated and otherwise level-headed folks - and the information they are peddling grows more outrageous by the day.

Why is this? Well, as one blogger put it recently, "these forwards are not just a way of spreading an idea efficiently, they are a way of getting people to commit to the idea, or deepen their commitment, by the very act of forwarding it. This is a dangerous practice in a democracy: getting people to commit to ideas and beliefs which may be false, without any regard to the actual evidence."

The most egregious recent example came from a lawyer friend, and it had already been forwarded by several other Bahamian lawyers as a cautionary word to the wise. The email featured a link to a video, which purported to show the former health minister of Finland, Dr Rauni Kilde, warning that the swine flu vaccine is actually a bio-weapon intended to cripple the immune system for purposes of population control.

"It's not the swine flu that's dangerous, it's the injections," Kilde says in a thick scandinavian accent. "Behind the whole thing is to diminish the population, because it's toxic, and to get millions and millions into their own pocket by using scary propaganda. The World Health Organisation has ordered that everybody, by force, has to be injected. The figures released by the WHO are all false. They have been forced to do this by Big Pharma. The target is to get rid of as many people as possible and to get as much money as possible."

Well those seem to be two contradictory goals to me, since I assume that drug companies can't make much money from dead people. But Kilde does have a background of sorts. She was apparently a provincial medical officer in Lapland until injuries she received in a car accident in 1987 forced her to retire. Since then she has described herself as a "ufologist" and has alleged that world governments are implanting microchips in our brains to control behaviour.

"Are we ready for the robotization of mankind and the total elimination of privacy, including freedom of thought?" she asks in one essay. "How many of us would want to cede our entire life, including our most secret thoughts, to Big Brother? Yet the technology exists to create a totalitarian New World Order."

If you google her name, Kilde turns up on a wide variety of fringe, new age, libertarian and conspiracy websites. She has also been featured on slightly less crazy right wing websites - like the Massachusetts Liberty Preservation Association and Patrick Buchanan.org - although in some cases her videos have since been removed.

The attitude of most of the folks that run these websites is that the rest of us are insane for believing the lies of Big Medicine and Big Government.

In fact there is a big movement afoot to warn people about the dangers of the swine flu vaccine and the effort by world governments to force it on us. These warnings come in several forms, some more extreme than others. One of the more innocuous was sent to me recently by a local friend. It takes the form of a pseudo-scientific medical advisory from a "bachelor of pharmacy" at the University of South Australia who was top of his class at school.

"If the regular flu kills 40,000-plus per year, and the swine flu only killed 2-3,000," the pharmacist asks knowingly, "then why are governments buying it in advance, giving it to us for free, and giving drug manufacturers immunity to legal cases against them? Does that make sense? No. This stuff is poison."

Of course, such dire health warnings are frequently wrapped up in ridiculous rightwing accusations that "the government" is seeking to destroy our freedoms and force us to take harmful drugs. And the effectiveness of this scare-mongering was confirmed over the weekend when a CNN poll reported that more than half of Americans don't want the H1N1 vaccine because they believe it's unsafe.

This is despite the fact that this vaccine is no different from the seasonal flu shot, which has been administered to hundreds of millions of people and raises no objection. The two vaccines are produced in exactly the same way and have the same potential - but rare - risks. And the vaccinations are not mandatory in the US or in other countries, although some hospitals and localities may require healthcare workers to take the shots, for obvious reasons.

In order to avoid being fooled by this nonsense, just do this: Never believe anything, especially forwards, that you receive in your e-mail inbox. Most of these messages are untrue. And you will not get bad luck for 100 years if you delete the message before forwarding it to all of your friends.

Anyone can post anything on the internet, but when making important decisions regarding your health and the health of your loved ones, who would you rather consult - some crazy website or your family doctor? Let me put it another way, would you google 'pufferfish', then watch a youtube video on how to prepare this deadly poisonous fish, then trust the information enough to cook it and serve it to your children?

The important thing to know is that when you google something, the search results that come up first are based on the number of hits they receive, not on how reliable the content is. For example, just because the first site that pops up when you google “H1N1 vaccine ingredients” tells you that it contains formaldehyde, live monkey virus, mercury and tissues from aborted babies does not mean it is true.

Also, please remember that anyone can sign any name at the bottom of an e-mail and there is no way to track this back. For example, I could write a message telling everyone that eating macaroni and cheese dipped in crab fat will give you immunity from swine flu. Then I could sign it 'Dr Hubert Minnis' and include a list of his credentials. But it doesn't mean the advice is true. In fact, the falsehoods being spread about the H1N1 vaccine are much more dangerous than any potential side effect from the vaccine itself, since they encourage the credulous to ignore good medical advice.

That brings me to my second example - a political chain email I received recently from a close family member that concerned US President Barack Obama (who else?). But before I get to that, have you noticed that most of the insulting trashy propaganda and hate mails circulating around the internet come from the American political right, with a large majority directed at Obama? I can't recall getting any emails that denigrate the right wing or social conservatives in the same fanatical way. It's tempting to think that moderates and liberals are more likely to question the validity of such crazy emails.

Now back to the Obama email, which first appeared around the time of the presidential election. It purported to be a message from liberal historian David Kaiser, and it compared Obama to Adolf Hitler. The email is, of course, a forgery, but it presents a litany of familiar ultra conservative themes that boil all our problems down to one man - Barack Obama - who will destroy the constitution and reshape America in the same way that Hitler transformed Germany. This message has been traced to a rightwing blog by Pat Dollard, called The War Starts Here.

I don't understand how otherwise intelligent and well-meaning folks can distribute such messages or be taken in by them so easily. The way to avoid that is to use critical thinking. And claims about huge conspiracies are the first thing to look out for.

The American political system is simply too big and there are too many checks and balances for a handful of Obama supporters to be able to stage a secret communist coup. Likewise, it would have been impossible for a select few in the Bush administration to orchestrate the 9/11 attacks. And the world is an even bigger place, so please be skeptical when emails tell you that one group or another is secretly pulling all the strings.

Here are a few other simple ways to identify internet hoaxes: If an email villifies political enemies or uses religion to make political or social points; if you are directed to send an email to everyone in your address book urgently; if an email offers no specific facts that can be easily checked; if an email presents sensational or frightening stories, or appeals to your worst fears; or promises goods or money, or if the message sounds like special insider information.

These are all clear signs that you are being taken for a fool.

Comments

[Grace Yodototo]

Great article... and if an email comes from a former employee who definitely has extra time on her hands, just delete it and don't bother writing back. Hmphf.

[Rick Lowe]

Very well done as usual, and I agree we should check the source and the content on those medical remedies etc.
With regard to those conspiracy theories just hit the delete key.
Bashing politicians is usually quite fun. They pass laws every day to make us accountable, yet they allow each other to get off on all sorts of transgressions.
Of course no e-mails ever vilified Mr. George W. Bush.
But why should Mr. Obama get a pass?

[Stan Thorpe]

Bad call, Larry.

There's plenty of evidence for these items you aren't able to accept.

"Only the small secrets need to be protected. The large ones are kept secret by public incredulity."---Marshall McLuhan

[larry smith]

You are so right. After all, a good conspiracy is unprovable. "I mean, if you can prove it, it means they screwed up somewhere along the line." -- Jerry Fletcher

[Nick Higgs]

Living in the UK I am always shocked at how undiscerning Americans (which might as well include Bahamians as well- a fact reinforced every time I come back home) are when it comes to information sources. The UK the media are always under scrutiny and there is a constant healthy suspicion of any news information from the public here. Over that side of the pond it seems that people can't do with having FACTS presented; they need to be constantly told what to think about these facts and that's what passes for news! Just a pinch of critical thinking folks... and that is what you Larry are so good at. I try my hardest to get my Bahamian friends reading this blog.

[2-fer]

""Of course no e-mails ever vilified Mr. George W. Bush.""
Almost every bad thing I've ever heard or read about GWB has turned out to be true.

I won't waste my time debating the 9/11 event but I have seen enough to realize that far too many large corporations (with millions of middle class employees) are making FAR TOO MUCH MONEY from these wars for them to ever just let their government decide to stop fighting.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6621486727392146155#
(not the best example but all I could find atm)

[2-fer]

That particular video gets really interesting around the 45-55 minute mark

[Rick Lowe]

Hey 2-fer
I'm not sure what "Almost every bad thing you heard about Bush" might be, and I don't doubt much about politico's. Do you think Mr. Obama is an angel?
Neither the left wing conspiracy, nor the right wing conspiracy have a lock on assholes, as the present Global Warming controversy is revealing yet again.
I personally opposed the war even though MI5 information presented to Rotarians here by the British High Commissioner after the 9/11 attacks was quite unnerving and one could see why the free world would think they should control Iraq.
Mr. Obama was going to withdraw the troops. Now he is going to send more!
Where's the outrage about it?
I'm deafened by the silence of the left wing progressives.

[2-fer]

re: Rick Lowe

Don't make assumptions about me.

All recent, present and probably future Presidents of the United States ain't worth shit.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6621486727392146155#docid=7535755025025800195

[Erasmus Folly]

@Rick

Your hatred of Obama is just ill placed if you stomached GW Bush, the worst President in US history. Arguing 'the case' is futile, there is so much material on his 'screw ups' and the evidence really speaks for itself. An overextended, debt ridden and precarious 'super power' is what Obama inherited from the W. If that ain't evidence enough of his mis-management, then you just need to take your head out of the sand and look around a little more. The detritus waste of his regime lies all over the United States today in the form of hopeless and jobless Americans.

[2-fer]

And don't get your hopes up too high for Obama OR whoever replaces him in 4/8 years. I'm thoroughly convinced now that the position of President of the United States is purely for public relations.

The world will focus on one man's decision to bow while the dozens of people below and above (who practically appointed each other to their posts) get away with murder and robbery.

He will leave his position eventually and in the end the world will debate how much they love or hate him. Everything good and bad is his fault. The majority of the people around him, the ones responsible for everything, continue to go unnoticed. They retire or transfer themselves to another unnoticed position or take a 4-8 year vacation.

[Rick Lowe]

Couldn't agree more about much of the disastrous job Mr.Bush.
But where's your outrage over Mr. Obama? He's making a bad thing even worse.
Besides he made the promises about troop withdrawal etc, not Mr. Bush.
Can you comment on the present Global Warming e-mail conspiracy while your beating me up?

[minor]

Bit of a contradiction to say the right has all the crazies and then cite the 9/11 nutjobs don't ya think?
At present most the of the emails and conspiracies are about the left because they are the ones in power.

[larry smith]

No contradiction. Many of those 9/11 nutjobs are on the extreme right wing.

And my memory goes beyond november 2008.

I have friends and relatives throughout North America, the Bahamas and the UK and I can't account for this (the rightwing emails - not the fact that I have friends).

[Erasmus Folly]

@Rick
Your house and your home aren't too many feet above sea level. You want to roll the dice, be my guest. The climate is complex. We are changing it though. If you doubt that, go to Switzerland and look at the glaciers. It is about way more than climate change at this point though... it is about ENERGY SECURITY. That is what the Republicans don't get. You can't be 'nationalistic', 'obnoxious' and 'imperial' when you need the stuff coming from other people. You only get to do that when you DON'T need those other people. If not for altruism or environmentalism, do it for plain old fashioned freedom and greed. If that floats your boat. ;-)