It has now been nearly 48 hours since the world learned of the death of Usama Bin Laden at the hands of a United States soldier. There have been thousands upon thousands of blog posts and news stories written, dissecting every possible angle of this monumental story. Still more articles have been penned which do not even come close to anything resembling the truth. Speculation, conspiracy theories and outright lies have been printed on websites around the globe. The Internet is a fantastic place to get the news, there’s no doubt about it. But it is always accurate news you’re reading?

I cannot begin to tell you how many times in the past two days I have literally slapped a hand to my forehead, nor how often I have sighed very loudly while reading yet another far-fetched account of the events in Pakistan. The problem is that it’s not a simple matter of people having different opinions and viewpoints than you or I do. The issue is that too many people are focused on getting as much traffic as they can… and they don’t really care if they are printing actual facts. These types of people will say anything they can to suck you in. They love to tick you off, knowing you’ll link to their “journalistic piece” on their social networks in order to tell others how bad it is. That, of course, gains them even more traffic.

Earlier tonight, I happened to be browsing my way through recent stuff posted on our LockerGnome questions and answers site. I was reading a thread where people are debating whether or not the burial of Bin Laden was “proper.” An argument broke out when one person posted something absolutely ludicrous, claiming it to be a fact. When asked to back up his statement, he provided a link to an obscure blog that he favorites. Clicking through to read their article, my hand once again made contact with my head. (Note to self: invest in a forehead cushion!)

A quick ten-second Google search gave me the needed ammunition. Solid proof can be found on a website dedicated to the teachings of the Islamic religion. Which “facts” are you going to believe… those which came from a blogger who clearly doesn’t agree with something and hasn’t done his research or an official website of the religion itself?

Take everything you read online with a few grains of salt, even supposed news stories. Fiction abounds, my friends, as do people with less-than-honorable intentions. You also have to wade through rumors to determine what is real. Let’s not forget that the original stories about Bin Laden included the “fact” that he had been dead for a week. Unfortunately, there are many out there still holding on to that little tidbit as truth.

Just like when buying a product, do your research before accepting what you are reading as truth. Try to set aside your feelings and take the words in through an open mind before deciding whether the words on the page are facts.

Are You Reading Fact or Fiction on Your Favorite Blog?

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Over on our questions and answers community, roguekiller23231 began a discussion about things our parents told us when we were young which may – or may not – have been true. “Your face will freeze that way if you do that!” How many times did you hear that growing up? I’m willing to bet your face is intact and not frozen into some grotesque mask. What things did the adults in your life tell you that you now know for a fact were a fib?

One thing my parents said was that too much time on a computer would hurt me. I’m pretty sure I busted that myth. Another thing I was told was that playing RPGs would lead to Satanism. Uhm… I’ve never worshiped any type of demonic creature, seriously. I’ve played plenty of RPGs and loved them, though!

Now that my dad has his own YouTube account, perhaps he’ll respond to this video. He can let you know about things they told me when I was a kid that did turn out to be true.

What about you? What types of white lies or fibs were you told as a child?

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The Truth as Parents Know It

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http://live.pirillo.com/ – Round two of my play on Blabberize.com. This is something I can see myself spending hours playing with.

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This is Just Wrong

This link was passed to me by Gnomedex Keytone Robert Steele. Seems that we live a life of blogging luxury here in the U.S. – Arab bloggers pay toll for truth:

Not all bloggers in the Arab world are so dedicated in their use of this new freedom. Not all make the extra effort to search out and verify the news. Extremists of all sorts have embraced the internet to brag of their activities and recruit new members.

But a small number of online journalists are telling important truths, despite great obstacles, setbacks and flaws of their own.

Rather than hailing the Arab world’s catch-up with the internet revolution, however, some Arab regimes have done the opposite. They have blocked blogs, removed posts and arrested and detained bloggers or prohibited them from travelling, according to the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, a Cairo-based group.

The Internet is a country without borders – and now we have to wait for political leaders and oppressive social institutions to embrace that irreversible, uncontrollable, undeniable flat fact.

Where Blogging is Feared

Everybody knows that cigarettes are safe! In fact, the health industry has come out in support of cigarettes several times over. Why would doctors (themselves) smoke if they were bad for you? The conspiracy theory has been debunked already, and you are doing the world a disservice by perpetuating the hoax that cigarettes aren’t good for you. If they caused health problems, don’t you think they would have been banned by now? Really, you should stick to what you know – and leave the doctors to think about your health.

Professional articles have been written, experts have given their unbiased testimonies, and people still want to believe that cigarettes are bad…

Watch your logic, folks. Fifty years from now, I’m guessing that we’ll look at today’s truths as yesterday’s fallacies.

Trust Nobody, Trust Everybody

So, I posted about potential dangers of aspartame the other day – and a flurry of comments came in, including loads of links back to Snopes. However, Snopes doesn’t seem to tell the whole story (not surprised, as no site on the Web is 100% complete). I let all the dissenting remarks come through since there were no personal attacks within, per se. The video seems to have surfaced a few more “stop thinking about anything other than what I think you should be thinking about” people, so I guess I’ve gotta take the extra step to do your work for you again. ;)

Okay, maybe I should also tell you that I… simply do not trust the FDA, nor any government institution that thinks it knows what’s best for my body. Let’s not get into the stories of internal FDA ineptitude that have already been discussed (that, again, is for YOU to read about independently). Here’s another resource that’s bent on posting news updates on aspartame. There’s also the DORway site referenced by several insiders.

Hey, I’m just saying: don’t assume truth is static, or that truth hasn’t been paid for (partially or entirely). When it comes to “truth,” you have to consider the source – and you also have to consider more than one source for “truth.” You must come to understand that sometimes “truth” is relative, not absolute.

And SOMETIMES “truth” is as absolute as we understand it to be.

The Truth is Out There – or is it?

Loose Change Second Edition was 100x better than Fahrenheit 9/11. You can watch it now online. And yes, I’m asking you to watch it now. Their film made much more sense to me than what I’ve been spoonfed by “the media” on information surrounding September 11th. Not to quote my favorite skeptic out of context, but even the original Dr. Phil is starting to get pissed off over what’s happening with our world these days (Is the government trying to kill us?). Make up your own mind, my friends – don’t let someone else make it up for you.

Move Over, Michael Moore!