Truth and the Internet: an uneasy alliance
The truth will set you free. But first, it will piss you off.
Gloria Steinem
This morning a good friend forwarded a great story to me. It was one of the myriad tales which people send to their Outlook Contacts list – usually stealing their employer’s time and ISP bandwidth in the process.
Brought a tear to my eye.
It was a heart-warming vignette about the farewell to New Zealand soldiers departing Auckland Airport for Afghanistan. The story didn’t sound very Kiwi to me – we’re an undemonstrative, miserable bunch. It bore the hallmarks of American patriotism and sentimentalism. They overdo it, we don’t do enough of it.
I did what I usually do with such messages on the rare occasions that I’m tempted to forward them; I googled a key phrase from the story (between quotes to restrict the search to just that specific phrase).
In this case I used:
“I immediately turned around and witnessed one of the greatest acts of patriotism I have ever seen”
I came up with this: http://www.snopes.com/glurge/daughter.asp and over 600 other hits. Obviously the message I’d received had been adulterated. It was a cynical lie.
It’s sad.
The sentiment was laudable and maybe the original story was true, but it doesn’t need someone from Vancouver, Brisbane, Omaha or Auckland to plagiarize it and create a truth that doesn’t exist.
I found it particularly offensive because the lie was overlaid on an appeal for support for Anzac day, a day in every year which is sacred to many New Zealanders and Australians. That day, on the 25th of April of every year, which brings 20,000 young Kiwis and Aussies to the far off hills of Gallipoli to remember the thousands of their forefathers who fell over a century ago. The day which means at least as much to many of us as the traditional days of religious celebration.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
On the plus side, this duplicity provides a reminder of the way the Internet’s power can easily be used to distort reality. I spend several hours a day using the Net and I’ve become adept at sorting the wheat from the chaff. Unfortunately not everyone has the knowledge, skills and pessimistic view of life required to accomplish that.
The younger we are the less likely we are to avoid being duped, perhaps in much more serious ways. We need to watch out for our children and our grandchildren. Next month I will become a great-grandfather – the worry burden grows exponentially. 
I’ve appended the offending message here so that you can see what I’m exercised about:
A twisted tale:
Last week I was in Auckland (Ed: insert your city of choice) attending a conference.
While I was in the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to clap and cheer.
I immediately turned around and witnessed one of the greatest acts of patriotism I have ever seen.
Moving through the terminal was a group of soldiers in their uniforms, as they began heading to their gate everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly to their feet with their hands waving and cheering.
When I saw the soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and cheered for, it hit me. I’m not alone. I’m not the only red blooded Kiwi (Ed: American/Aussie/whatever) who still loves this country and supports our troops and their families.. Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to school, work, and enjoy our home without fear or reprisal.
Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our service men and women a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old, ran up to one of the male soldiers.
He knelt down and said ‘hi,’ the little girl then asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her.
The young soldier didn’t look any older than maybe 22 himself, said he would try and what did she want to give to her daddy.
Suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she could muster and then kissed him on the cheek.
The mother of the little girl, who said her daughters name was Courtney, told the young soldier that her husband was a Corporal and had been in Afghanistan for 5 months now.
As the mum was explaining how much her daughter, Courtney, missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up.
When this temporarily single mum was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second.
Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a military looking walkie-talkie.
They started playing with the device and talking back and forth on it.
After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to Courtney, bent down and said this to her, ‘I spoke to your daddy and he told me to give this to you.’
He then hugged this little girl that he had just met and gave her a Kiss on the cheek.
He finished by saying ‘Your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is coming home very soon.’
The mum at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young soldier stood to his feet he saluted Courtney and her mum.
I was standing no more than 6 feet away as this entire event unfolded.
As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people resumed their applause.
As I stood there applauding and looked around, there were very few dry eyes, including my own.
That young soldier in one last act of moment turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney with a tear rolling down his cheek.
We need to remember everyday all of our serviceman/women, and their families and thank God for them and their sacrifices.
At the end of the day, it’s good to be a New Zealander (Ed: Tajik, Tunisian, Martian…).
RED FRIDAYS
Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing Red every Friday.
The reason?
Kiwi’s who support our troops used to be called the ’silent majority’.
We are no longer silent, and are voicing our love for Country and home in record breaking numbers.
We are not organized, boisterous or over-bearing.
We get no liberal media coverage on TV, to reflect our message or our opinions.
Many Kiwi’s, like you, me and all our friends, simply want to recognize that the vast majority of New Zealand supports our troops.
Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect starts this Friday and continues each and every Friday until the troops all come home, sending a deafening message that every Kiwi who supports our men and women afar will wear something red.
By word of mouth, press, TV — let’s make New Zealand on every Friday a sea of red much like a homecoming football team
If every one of us who loves this country will share this with acquaintances, co-workers, friends, and family, It will not be long before New Zeland is covered in RED and it will let our troops know the once ’silent’ majority is on their side more than ever, certainly more than the media lets on.
The first thing a soldier says when asked ‘What can we do to make things better for you?’ is…’We need your support and your prayers’.
Let’s get the word out and lead with class and dignity, by example; and wear something red every Friday.
IF YOU AGREE — THEN SEND THIS ON
IF YOU COULD NOT CARE LESS THEN HIT THE DELETE BUTTON.
IT IS YOUR CHOICE.
THEIR BLOOD RUNS RED—- SO WEAR RED! —
Lest we Forget.
)
We all know that pigs are smart creatures. It’s even tempting to surmise that they may be smarter than Filipinos — but I know that’s not the case because my friend Angelito’s a Filipino and he’s really smart.
The inauguration of President Barack Obama as the first African-American president of the United States has been the occasion of much self-congratulation. I haven’t yet heard “Only in America” but it’s only a matter of time.