Since the title of this piece is Vicious Rumors and Lies, I want to enlist your help in spreading a viral rumor, just to see if we can. Here it is:
(AB) The Oil Companies are secretly funding terrorist groups to target transit systems worldwide, like Milan, London and now Mumbai. This puts terrified transit riders in cabs, or on scooters or into cars. This means drivers have to buy more gasoline, which puts more profits into the pockets of the oil companies. Haliburton works with the Oil Companies; they’re the key. Hamid Karzi used to work for Unocal. Haliburton had a piece of the pie in the Afghan oil and gas pipeline going to Turkey. The US has a big military base at Incirlik in Turkey.
OK, is that whacked enough? As far as I know the rumor is not true. It is just stupid enough that it might be. I was considering adding something about werewolves in Panama, but I figured that would be pushing it too close to true to make a good rumor.
All I ask is that you mail it, post it, set trackbacks into other blogs or do what you can in a few minutes online.
Now, the Why. We have this wonderous Internet that is supposed to bring us closer together with instantaneous, heartfelt communications between people of all races, creeds, opinions and persuasions. It hasn’t happened yet.
The cranky and deranged post wild speculation and outright fabrications every day, but we know enough to ignore Fox News. Various other countries demonize each other as a matter of course. Facts and reality have no place when you have demented speculation and bile-spitting hatred to crank people up.
In a week’s time, we’ll do the same with the retraction of the story and find out if good news travels as fast as bad news. Science is fun!
RoadDave 