Be Careful of What You Read on the Internet

In January I posted my credo.  One of the lines states: "I will challenge everything, question everything, and validate everything."  Every so often something gets posted about someone that's not true and it goes viral unchecked.  During the past election cycle there were posts flying through the internet stating that Mitt Romney said he "can relate to black people" because his ancestors once owned slaves.  According to Snopes.com this statement was from a spoof article published by a satirical web site.

The latest is the re-posting of a message attributed to Bill Cosby.  This one seems to pop up every so often. My guess is since Bill Cosby is a well known and respected public figure someone thought that attributing these comments to him would lend some credibility to their right-wing agenda.  Below is an excerpt from the post:

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Bill Cosby "I'm 83 and Tired"
"I've worked hard since I was 17. Except for when I was doing my National Service, I put in 50-hour weeks, and didn't call in sick in nearly 40 years. I made a reasonable salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, it looks as though retirement was a bad idea, and I'm tired. Very tired. 

I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth" to people who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it......" 

Bill Cosby was born on July 12, 1937 which means he is 75 years old.

This viral rant attributed to Bill Cosby was debunked on Urban Legends' website.  They note that "the sole and actual author (excluding the anonymous perpetrators of various revised versions over time) was former Massachusetts state senator Robert A. Hall, who published the original document on his personal blog on Feb. 19, 2009."  This also prompted Bill Cosby to post a message on his website on September 9, 2011.

"There’s an email floating around – entitled “I’m 76 and tired” – purportedly sent by me. I did not write the email, I did not send the email, I’m not 76, and I don’t subscribe to the ugly views expressed in the email. We are coming up to an important anniversary on Sunday, which is a day when we should all come together. Whoever wrote this email is not thinking about our country, or what is important. If you get the email, it’s time to hit DELETE."

Challenge everything, question everything, and validate everything.

It starts now, let's get this thing done...