Snopes.com

Ever get those e-mail forwards that alert you to a vast left-wing/right-wing/homosexual/transexual/heterosexual/metrosexual/governmental/ anarchist/Jewish/ Catholic/Muslim/Hindu/Mormon/Iraqi/Pagan/Soviet/ hollywood/Clinton/white/black/asian/ vegetarian/union/tobacco industry/car industry/meat industry/NRA/Al Quaeda/Florida Citrus Council conspiracy in the form of "In God We Trust" being removed from our currency or barcodes being the long prophesied Mark of the Beast?

If you don't already, check Snopes.com the next time you get one of these. Chances are whatever vast goverment cover-up someone's intrepid uncle exposed is actually an e-mail hoax that has been going on for years and has mutated into several different versions.

I love this site. Any e-mail or story you hear that sounds sensational is worth researching with them. I've probably checked up on around 15 sensational e-mails or urban legends using Snopes. Turns out all but one have been bogus.

Here are a few of my favorites:

The "Microsoft/AOL/Apple will give us all a million dollars if you forward this" e-mail.

The "If we all don't buy gas on a certain day, oil companies will buckle and lower the price of gas permanently and all forms of evil on earth will turn into flowers and rainbows" e-mail.

The gangs-using-headlights-to-initiate-new-members hoax. The longevity of this one is impressive. I remember police warning us about this in high school more than 10 years ago.

And, of course, the "Harry Potter is converting children to devil worship" hysteria, which can largely be traced back to an article from The Onion. The funniest part about this is the fact that whatever hysterical, well-intentioned yet hopelessly ignorant mom originally wrote the e-mail didn't find it odd that High Priest Egan would use the word 'gravy' to express his excitement at the large number of virgins joining his church. Simply outstanding.