It’s What Day?

Friday, Nov. 26 —

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday. My Friday column, reprinted from Thursday’s eJournal, explains why.

Repeat After Me: It’s a Hoax

Friday, Nov. 26 —

I often get panicky e-mails from readers, asking me to blow my journalist’s whistle on a terrible idea emanating from Congress or some other powerful place. Sometimes our esteemed lawmakers and other powerful people are indeed up to no good, but not always. A lot of the panic is just plain unfounded.

Here’s a case in point, a quote from a e-mail that arrived the other day:

“The last few months have revealed an alarming trend in the Government of the United States attempting to quietly push through legislation that will affect your use of the Internet. Under proposed legislation the U.S. Postal Service will be attempting to bilk email users out of “alternate postage fees”. Bill 602P will permit the Federal Govt to charge a 5cent surcharge on every email delivered, by billing Internet Service Providers at source.”

Repeat after me: This is a hoax. There is no such thing as Bill 602P. Never has been.

So the next time someone warns you about this or any other incredibly evil-sounding thing, please do us all a favor. Check out this excellent compendium of Internet hoaxes — yes, it’s from the government and it’s there to help you — before you even consider passing it along.

Think of all the bandwidth you’ll save. Better, think of all the aggravation you’ll not cause.