Scoops on Snoops

[For links to CPSIA information and our OTHER Dr. Seuss style story about it, click HERE]

Heather (The Homeschooler's Notebook and BelovedBooks.com) and I have been at it again! This time we took on the 'fact-checking' giant, Snopes.com. Heather wrote the next section so well, I'm going to post what whe wrote.

"Background: Snopes.com is a self-proclaimed outer of urban legends and internet myths -- and it is the first (and only) resource many people seek out to determine if a questionable email or news item has any merit. Regarding the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, Snopes.com has received and replied to hundreds of emails providing them with facts about the CPSIA that they have seemingly chosen to ignore.

Misinformation is one of the biggest battles we face when trying to inform the general public about the dangers of the CPSIA in its current form. "I checked out Snopes and you're wrong" is what we hear again and again. We've been summarily dismissed as lunatics by some -- simply based on the assumption that Snopes is infallible.

Snopes.com has had an opportunity to make corrections over the past several weeks and is stubbornly refusing to do so. They have been asked to at least change the "False" designation to a mixed True/False. That would have been reasonable, given the confusing nature of the written legislation and all of the follow-up "clarifications" and "rulemaking". They have also cherry-picked only the thrift store issue to report on, and this despite the countless reputable news items about Goodwill stores across the United States removing inventory from shelves and refusing donations.

For Jodi and I -- well, this is our little vent in that regard..."


--------

We've read all the emails, we've been there before --
Sending cards to a child who is now thirty-four
(and who really would like us to stop sending more.)

"Just forward this email, and you'll get a dollar --
Quite easy to do; it does not take a scholar --
Real cash he will send; you'll be wise in the end --
Absolutely! Bill Gates has the money to spend!"

And our email in-boxes are stuffed with the news
of a certain lost tribe in the Hullabaloos
Who needs us to send very quickly some shoes.

Is it true? Is it factly?
Can we trust it exactly?

Is it bunk?  Is it rot? Do we believe it or not?

Did you research the facts,
did you check it on SNOOPS?

This questionable stuff must be put through the hoops!

Snoops always has had the most firm dedication
to glean the best truthful, inside information --

Fact versus lie, harmful mis-allegation --
to unravel takes confidence, charm, dedication;

(of that I am sure they'd provide confirmation.)

---

With our heads in the sand (and our hearts down-side up),
we drink a fine toast -- and we empty each cup,

Grateful are we for their helpful assistance --
we now can rely on some faithful persistence

to fight for the truth and to weed out the lies;
to uncover the phonies, whate'er their disguise.


Yes, Snoops gained our respect as a source of clear fact...

AND THEN CAME THE DREADED C.P.S.I.A. ACT.

---

"No matter the facts, this is HOKEY I say --
We just cannot print it as truthful this way!

This law can't be right, it's blown up, it's inflated!
It can NOT have been rightfully, legisly, 'lated --

The silliness meter is right off the scale!
Books, clothing, toys -- why, that's everything for sale!

This gobbledygook's just too strange to be true
They'd never believe it, I say now - would YOU?

We must tactfully err on the side of the sane,
How this can be true we could never explain --

This just cannot happen in America -- it CAN'T be!
In the home of the brave and the land of the free?

We'll make up a story to prove it, you see."

So...

They thought up a twist and a bit of a lie
to make it read right to the not-so-trained eye,

and they published a FALSE where a TRUE should have been
(to confuse the poor buggers who trusted in them.)


"People BELIEVE what we say, yes they do!
Whatever we say they'll believe that it's true!

They won't check their own facts; they'll rely upon us --
We'll lull them to sleep and they won't make a fuss!

Those simpletons reading their emails and worrying,
believing in things without thinking, just hurrying,
won't bother to further look into the matters --

They'll think everyone else is a bunch of mad-hatters!"

But...

We must be on guard for those shrewd mommy bloggers --
Not to mention the toymakers, knitters and joggers --

Those book-hugging, baby-wearing, blog-loving mommies
(To tell you the truth, we suspect they're all Commies --

And we fear they might cause us a bit of a trouble
since reading that bit 'bout the town of Bedubble.)

What if they out us? Our goose will be cooked --

And they're multiplying quickly the last time we looked!

---

Now let us be clear --
Snoops does not claim to be --
the absolute ultimate au-thor-i-tee

On things that are false
and things that are true
like book bannings, thrift stores and Hullabaloo,

We all need to separate rumor from fact;
We all need our facts to be plainly exact.

But when lazy reporters
rely on one source --

And don't get their rumors right straight from the horse,

We all stand to lose
and we all stand to fail
to make good decisions from stuff in the mail.

---

We're finding out now they're no longer reliable --
So Snoop it yourself to find out what is viable.


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Copyright 2009 Heather Idoni and Jodi Whisler - Permission is granted to reproduce a "snippet" of a few lines of your choice, give full credit, and link back to this page. Please do not reproduce more than 8 lines of this story poem.

Link to this page: Scoops on Snoops

Other Dr. Seuss resources:
Horton Hears a Who
A Unit Study with Dr. Seuss
Horton Hears a Who Mini Unit Study