BECAUSE GRINNELL'S REAL NICKNAME ACTUALLY IS "CORNELL WEST": As long as there has been an Internet -- hell, let's go back to the Usenet days -- it's been used to spread well-meaning lies and misinformation, and once there was a Web there was a Snopes.com to sort reliably the truth from the urban legends.
The NYT profiles Snopes founders David and Barbara Mikkelson today.
Their cookie recipe is great. I'm so glad I sent in all of those pull-tabs to get him a new kidney and helped him break the world record for most postcards. I'm still waiting for my $50 gift certificate for forwarding their website address, though.
ReplyDeleteAs a Grinnell alum, I say we drop one of the l's and become the "Cornel Wests." Then we can wear afro wigs to basketball games, occasionally make outlandish left wing comments (we're good at that already), our mascot will be a public intellectual, and it's a subtle dig at east coasters who don't know we exist. We can't lose!
ReplyDeleteMy mom used to be a big sender of these urban legends to her her friends (including me). I would send her back a snopes link on each one to debunk them. The good news is she stopped sending them to all her friends. The bad news is that now she sends them just to me and says "Honey, could you check this out for me and see if it's real?"
ReplyDeleteMarsha -- I could have posted your comment verbatim. It's something about the Long Island Jewish moms, I guess.
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