Anatomy of an e-mail forward
It's been a while since I posted a nice debunking of a right-wing e-mail forward. So with no further ado, selections from a piece that's been circulating since Katrina struck New Orleans:
Let me tell you a few things about the wonderful group of evacuees we received here in Utah. The first plane arrived with 152 passengers. Of the 152; 10 were children. 3 of these children had been abandoned by their parents. As these passengers attempted to board the plane, the National Guard removed from their person; 43 handguns (it is Illegal to own a Handgun in New Orleans), 20 knives, one man had 100,000 dollars in cash, 20 pounds of Marijuana, 10 pounds of Crack, 15 pounds of Methamphetamines, 10 pounds of various other controlled substances including Heroin. Upon their arrival here in SLC, two people immediately deplaned and lit up a joint.
During the course of medical evaluations, it was discovered that parents were using their kids to carry loads of looted Jewelry (price tag still on), and other items. One third of the people who got off the plane were angry that they didn't get to go to Houston or San Antonio. Over the course of the next 36 hours we received an additional 430 evacuees. Most of these, like their predecessors had to be relieved of illegal items. Additionally, most of them, were the owners of exceptionally prolific criminal records, just like those in the first flight. By the second night in the shelter, there was one attempted rape of a relief worker, sales of drugs on going and a gang had begun to rebuild.(. . .)
Poverty is not an excuse to behave like animals. Difficult situations are not an excuse to loot your neighbor 24 hours before the storm even hits. I have always said New Orleans was a toilet; now everyone has proof that not only was it a toilet, but a toilet long overdue for a flush !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Scary stuff, huh? Ten pounds of crack! (!!!!!!!!) Too bad none of it is true. Unless you consider 'anonymous Internets author' to be a more reliable source than the governor of Utah and the Utah police:
"Guests on the base have displayed exemplary behavior and been cooperative with volunteers and law enforcement," said Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. in a September 8, 2005 statement. "No major crimes or incidents have been reported at Camp Williams since the arrival of our guests. None of the guests at Camp Williams have criminal records that would justify booking them into jail."
BOGUS BONUS: In December, 2005, famed Nixon supporter and movie extra Ben Stein delivered a commentary in which he said he wasn't, as a Jew, offended by the display of Christmas trees. And that he can understand why the 80% of the country that consider themselves Christians are "tired of being pushed around." But someone out there in the Land of the 80% Minority wasn't satisfied and tacked on a lengthy screed-- falsely attributed to Stein and filled with misquotes and other phony attributions-- on the concept that banning religion from the classroom caused Katrina. It's been making the rounds for the last three months.
Let me tell you a few things about the wonderful group of evacuees we received here in Utah. The first plane arrived with 152 passengers. Of the 152; 10 were children. 3 of these children had been abandoned by their parents. As these passengers attempted to board the plane, the National Guard removed from their person; 43 handguns (it is Illegal to own a Handgun in New Orleans), 20 knives, one man had 100,000 dollars in cash, 20 pounds of Marijuana, 10 pounds of Crack, 15 pounds of Methamphetamines, 10 pounds of various other controlled substances including Heroin. Upon their arrival here in SLC, two people immediately deplaned and lit up a joint.
During the course of medical evaluations, it was discovered that parents were using their kids to carry loads of looted Jewelry (price tag still on), and other items. One third of the people who got off the plane were angry that they didn't get to go to Houston or San Antonio. Over the course of the next 36 hours we received an additional 430 evacuees. Most of these, like their predecessors had to be relieved of illegal items. Additionally, most of them, were the owners of exceptionally prolific criminal records, just like those in the first flight. By the second night in the shelter, there was one attempted rape of a relief worker, sales of drugs on going and a gang had begun to rebuild.(. . .)
Poverty is not an excuse to behave like animals. Difficult situations are not an excuse to loot your neighbor 24 hours before the storm even hits. I have always said New Orleans was a toilet; now everyone has proof that not only was it a toilet, but a toilet long overdue for a flush !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Scary stuff, huh? Ten pounds of crack! (!!!!!!!!) Too bad none of it is true. Unless you consider 'anonymous Internets author' to be a more reliable source than the governor of Utah and the Utah police:
"Guests on the base have displayed exemplary behavior and been cooperative with volunteers and law enforcement," said Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. in a September 8, 2005 statement. "No major crimes or incidents have been reported at Camp Williams since the arrival of our guests. None of the guests at Camp Williams have criminal records that would justify booking them into jail."
Police said there had been no appreciable increase in the crime rate following the influx of refugees.
Sadly, the site's host says that similar hate letters popped up "in every part of the country where [evacuess] were given shelter." At least the victims of Katrina can feel better knowing that whitey's wrath is shifting to Latinos. What a relief!BOGUS BONUS: In December, 2005, famed Nixon supporter and movie extra Ben Stein delivered a commentary in which he said he wasn't, as a Jew, offended by the display of Christmas trees. And that he can understand why the 80% of the country that consider themselves Christians are "tired of being pushed around." But someone out there in the Land of the 80% Minority wasn't satisfied and tacked on a lengthy screed-- falsely attributed to Stein and filled with misquotes and other phony attributions-- on the concept that banning religion from the classroom caused Katrina. It's been making the rounds for the last three months.
posted by Matt Sandwich | 5:38 PM
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