People, it has to stop.

If you have ever forwarded an e-mail that asked you to boycott something or to write to your congressman/a company/a TV network about something without checking the facts first, you are retarded. No, actually, you're worse than retarded because I'm pretty sure Corky from "Life Goes On" is smart enough not to do that.

You may remember my previous rant about this topic, but clearly it needs to be said again.

Because here's the thing--lots of people out there believe everything that shows up in their inbox. And if you tell them to boycott a company or write a letter, they'll do it. But 99% of the time, these e-mails are full of crap!

Case in point: Today I received one telling me to boycott two different gas companies because of their ties to a certain South American leader who dislikes America (and who, according to this e-mail, is working with the Russians and Iranians to take us down).

After a 10 second fact check at Snopes.com, I learned that yes, said evil leader does own one but the other has no affiliation with him or his country whatsoever.

So, let's say I didn't check, and let's say I did boycott both companies, and let's just say that I forwarded it to my address book and half of them also boycotted the companies and forwarded the e-mail, and half of those people boycotted and forwarded and, well, you get the picture... Potentially millions of people boycott (and possibly bankrupt) a completely innocent company because of false information passed on in an e-mail.

Or let's talk about those letters to your congressman or to a company. Someone has to open and read all those. Talk about a waste of resources! All over something that could have been stopped by a simple search.

So here's the deal. If you get an e-mail that you're tempted to forward, check the facts first! Go to www.snopes.com. In the search bar, type in the main topic of the e-mail. The facts you're looking for will likely pop right up. If any part of it is false, don't friggin' forward it! It's simple!

And I also suggest you take it one step further and do what I do. I hit "reply all" and send out the facts and do my best to make the original sender look as much like an idiot as possible. Even if it's someone I love dearly.

You've been warned.



*How did I manage to misspell companies twice? and why did no one tell me?