OSAMA DIED FROM EATING POP ROCKS WITH COKE:

Osama bin Laden is alive and well and living in Utah: As the anniversary of Sept. 11 approaches, terror-related urban legends are running rampant. Luckily, Snopes.com is on the case. (Katharine Mieszkowski, Sept. 3, 2002, Salon)

What have been the most popular types of rumors?

There have been three different types.

The first have been rumors of explanation. What happened was so horrifying and so awful that we cannot accept that this could have just happened. It is far more comforting to believe that there were portents and there were signs, and we just missed them.

That's why we see the Nostradamus rumor and the Oliver North rumor. The rumor was that Oliver North had warned us about Osama Bin Laden during the Iran-Contra hearings, and we just didn't listen.

It's so much more comforting to believe that we just missed the warnings than to say there wasn't one.

The second type of rumors and stories we're dealing with are trying to come to terms with what might potentially have happened. Which is why we're dealing with the "helped terrorist" rumors and the disappeared Afghan boyfriend rumor, because these are all attempts to reduce the threat down to something manageable, to something that we can cope with.

It's so much easier to say that keeping my family safe means that I just don't go to the mall on Oct. 31, as opposed to I have to keep looking around me all the time.

The third type of rumors and stuff we've been seeing have to do with people trying to take back a sense of control and having a chance to fight back a bit. And that's where we see the ones about Osama Bin Laden owns Snapple or Citibank; therefore, let's boycott Snapple or Citibank.

People feel powerless because there is no definable enemy standing in front of them. The war in Afghanistan is going on half a world away. People need to feel that they're involved in the fight against terrorism, in a little bit more direct a manner than just vicariously through CNN. They need to feel that they can do something to fight back, because they're trying to reclaim a sense of control, not feeling so helpless, so powerless.

If you can boycott Snapple, you're striking a blow.

These guys are a Godsend, because you can quickly check the stories you receive to see if they've already been debunked. Posted by Orrin Judd at September 9, 2002 11:35 PM