Pinoy Internet Hoax: Art Bell

“A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.”
–Winston Churchill

Churchill’s quote is especially true in the internet age.

There seems to be an internet rumor going around–an old one that is getting “recycled” in friendster/myspace. This rumor concerns Art Bell, an eccentric radio host from Nevada who supposedly wroten a disparaging email about Filipinos. After reading the rumor I did a little research–imagine my surprise when I saw pictures of him with a Filipina wife! Here’s what I found from wikipedia:

In July 2001, the Philippine Daily Inquirer printed an email letter purportedly from Bell that made derogatory statements about Filipinos. This letter was subsequently demonstrated to be a hoax perpetrated upon Bell, who in fact had a publicly loving relationship with his Filipina wife and his previous wife Ramona, who was also Filipina, and who often spoke openly about his admiration for the Filipino people on his radio show.

Here’s a guy that loved his wife (Filipina), spent some time in the Philippines (considered moving there), and married another Filipina. I don’t think this guy hates Pinoys.

Please don’t post/email things without doing a little bit of research
.

See also:
Avoiding Internet Rumors

Email Etiquette: Think Before you Forward

“A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.”
– Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

This statement is especially true in the email/internet age. I’ve been using the internet since the mid-90’s. I cannot count the number of email forwards that I have received that were simply NOT TRUE.

My point is this: RESEARCH BEFORE YOU FORWARD EMAILS. One excellent website is SNOPES.COM. It only takes a minute to check something out and see if there is really something to the email.