BEWARE !

Lately I’ve been getting a lot of e-mails containing dire warnings about this or that. Each of these messages claim that the "facts" have been verified by Snopes and end with a Snopes URL. Other e-mails start out with the words, "Snopes Approved."

When I click on the URL, I cannot come up with the Snopes Urban Legends site. But when I check out that site from my "favorites" list, I find that the message is either "false" or at best partly true and false.

And about those "Snopes Approved" messages – when I check out the Urban Legends site, I find that Snopes never approved those messages.

Almost all of these warnings are not new. These e-mails have been floating through cyberspace for several years. For one reason or another they seem to be resurrected every now and then.

So beware! In order to avoid all this phony baloney, NEVER take those Snopes verification or Snopes approval claims for granted.

And in addition to those phony warnings, there are all those questionable e-mails floating around about President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and alarming legislative proposals.

Take the trouble to check out the Snopes Urban Legends site yourself in order to get the real scoop if you have any doubts about any messages you may get.