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

Filipino Gestures


Something kind of funny happened to me last week. I was having lunch with a group of pastors when one of them asked me a question. Since it was a “yes/no” kind of question, I just raised my eyebrows (quickly raising one’s eyebrows is just like nodding in the Philippines, but it doesn’t mean much to Americans). He stared at me for a couple of seconds before I verbally answered.

I remembered this a day or two later and laughed to myself. Usually I’m able to mentally separate the language and gestures that I need to use for each country. Usually, but not always.