Dictionary: bogey (bō'gē)
also bo·gy or bo·gie n., pl. -geys also -gies.
1. An evil or mischievous spirit; a hobgoblin.
2. A cause of annoyance or harassment.
3. Sports.
a. The number of strokes that a good player is likely to need to finish a golf hole or course.
b. A golf score of one stroke over par.
4. Slang. An unidentified flying aircraft.
5. Slang. A detective or police officer.
tr.v. bogey Sports., -geyed, -gey·ing, -geys.
To play (a hole in golf) scoring one stroke over par.
We all know that technology has made it easier for us to get access to all kind of information and the latest news – instantaneous market update, latest sports news from half a world away, five-day weather forecast of other cities and even prayer times. Unfortunately, the very same technology has also enabled unfiltered, sometimes even false, information to be posted. I’m sure most of us have received those bogey forwarded emails promising free cash or prizes (in fact, I just received one such forwarded message this morning), or of such and such a body pledging to donate a certain percentage of money to an unfortunate child, if such emails are forwarded. Other examples include disturbing allegations that Tommy Hilfiger is a racist; of toilet seats inhabited by some dangerous spiders; infection if you lick envelopes; deodorants are the main source of breast cancer, etc, etc, etc.
What do you do when you receive such emails? Do you stop and think, hmm, there’s a possibility that there is some truth to the email and proceed to forward them on; do you laugh and brush them off and immediately hit delete; or do you check to see if there is any element of truth in those allegations and claims?
I usually opt for the last: I check if there I could be some truth to the emails. Maybe I’m a bit of a sceptic but I figure better be that than be irresponsible and pass on unfounded emails. After all, there are many sites that you can use to check if there is any basis to the emails you receive: Snopes, Urban Legends Reference Page, Truth Or Fiction, Hoax Slayer, Break The Chain and Urban Myths to name a few. If the emails turn out to be mere hoaxes, I reply back to the sender and tell the sender so, giving the references (I usually give more than one to support my case) and ask if he/she could set the record straight.
On one occasion, namely the claim that Pringles potato snack contains a non-halal ingredient, my reply is this: that I’d seen Pringles sold by the bulk in Makkah. I picked a few cans up, checked to see if the so-called offending ingredient was present and confirmed that the cans did indeed contain the very same ingredients as produced and sold elsewhere. So don’t tell me that the Arabs were less discerning and sensitive about the halal-ness of the food they consumed than other Muslim countries and actually imported cans of non-halal Pringles without knowledge of the ingredients?
On other occasions, I actually wrote to the relevant parties in question to seek clarification/confirmation (in fact I still have their replies in my inbox, you know, for future reference – because we know these bogey emails will resurface and re-circulate) as follows:
#1: Wrigley’s use of animal ingredients in its gums. I posted a query on Wrigley’s UK website and obtained the following reply:
From: Vicky.Morrison@wrigley.co.uk
Subject: Ingredients
Date: 02/25/2002 02:30 PM
To: adek@xxxxxx.com
Dear Miss XXX,
Thank you for your email regarding the use of animal/meat based ingredients in Wrigley products.
Please be reassured that the Wrigley Company’s priority is, and always will be, to manufacture high-quality products that are safe, enjoyable and meet domestic and international food regulations. All the ingredients used in Wrigley products are of the highest standards of safety and purity.
All Wrigley products sold in the UK are free from ingredients of animal origin, including egg or dairy products.
Thank you for your interest in this issue. We hope you will continue to enjoy Wrigley products for many years to come.
~~~
#2: Coca Cola contained alcohol. Now, I don’t drink Coke (I don’t generally drink sugared carbonated drink) but I decided to write to Coca Cola all the same:
From: Coca-Cola Support
Subject: RE: Coca-Cola Web Form
Date: 10/08/2003 11:55 AM
To: adek@xxxxxx.com
Thank you for contacting our Web site, Ms. XXX. We appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns.
The basic ingredients and process used in the manufacture of Coca-Cola are the same in all countries. In the manufacture of Coca-Cola, alcohol is not added as an ingredient and no fermentation takes place. The ingredients used in the production of Coca-Cola are rigorously regulated by government and health authorities in over 200 countries which have consistently recognized the beverage as a nonalcoholic product. This includes countries where Islam is the major religion.
We hope this information is helpful. Should you have additional questions or comments, please visit our Web site again. Best wishes!
Robin
The Coca-Cola Company
Industry and Consumer Affairs
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[THREAD ID:1-4TWJ9Y]
-----Original Message-----
From: adek@xxxxxx.com
Sent: 10/7/2003 9:15:55 PM
To: "Coca-Cola Support" <coca-cola.support@na.ko.com>;
Subject: Coca-Cola Web Form
Hi there,
I would like confirmation on the following:
(i) whether or not Coca-Cola contains alcohol; and
(ii) do the ingredients in Coca-Cola differ from country to country? For example, if I travel to Australia, can I be assured that the local Coke is free from alcohol?
I’m a strict teetotaler and your prompt clarification would certainly put my mind at ease. Thanks.
Adek
~~~
#3: A fellow blogger chastised the Chief Minister of Selangor for not visiting the storm victims in Klang earlier in the month. I was sure he got that from the mainstream media so what did I do? Why, write to the Chief Minister of course. Barely a day later, I received a reply from his aide assuring me that it was just a ploy of the ruling coalition to cast the Chief Minister in a bad light. He also guided me to the Selangor state website for me to check and confirm.
As members of the online community, we all have responsibility to our fellow online community members. Hence, let’s verify our sources before we decide to forward that email or blog about something. If unsure, state so. With all the information swirling around us and the means to manipulate the truth, it helps if we could all play our role in determining whether something is ‘a mere Urban Legend or the Real Mc Coy’ (I so love using this line).
~~~~~~~~
Thanks to technology too, we have been able, for some time now, to view live sports and matches beamed via satellite on a real-time basis. The fatigue travel-weary Gunners made a return trip to the north (following last week’s trip to Blackburn) to meet bogey side Bolton on Saturday. Of course there was also that long-distance 2,700-mile air-mile-racking round trip to Kiev in the middle of last week so the trip to Bolton was the Gunners’ third consecutive trip on the trot. I understand they only reached London in the early hours of Thursday morning – hardly enough time to recover and return to the training ground. But such is the demanding schedule of footballers (the Christmas/Boxing Day weekend would be another mad marathon of matches).
My heart was sinking as we conceded a goal when the match was less than a quarter of an hour old, so much so I muted the volume. I only turned it back on when Arsenal, after having hit the woodwork not once but twice (by Adebayor and Song) so much so I thought we would really be unlucky this time, equalised 12 minutes later via Eboue (I had a good time laughing at this post of Eboue of the past) and Bendtner added a second goal 85 seconds later. My heart almost stopped though when Bolton counter-attacked particularly in the second half with their successive free kicks and corners and I was at the edge of my seat. Armed with my comfort pillow, I was threatening to throw it to the Gunners when they slipped off their performance (of course they could hear me and see my gestures thousands of miles away!) with lapses in defence and sloppy passes. Thank goodness there were few of that and Arsenal managed to control the game especially after the hat-trick hero Walcott came in for Bendtner. We finally hit a third one three minutes before stoppage time.
Thank God for that.
BBC Sport Player Rater man of the match: Arsenal's Cesc Fàbregas 7.59 (on 90 minutes).
Watched the highlights of the West Ham-Newcastle match among others too. The former’s jerseys looked strange without any sponsor logo on them. I didn’t really want to watch the smelly match between Chelshit and ManUre but did catch some of it as I wanted to find out the outcome. Honours even at Stamford Bridge and that means Arsenal are at the top (OK, for now)!
Now, if the US Government had not stepped in to save AIG, ManUre’s jerseys would also look as horrible as the Hammers’. Have a look at this.
Oh, and in the aftermath of the Titanic-like financial havoc that rocked the world last week, Arsenal managed to post a profit of £36.7m (so after taking into account the expenses, can we now spend some on some new blood, please, Wenger/Arsenal board?).
Oh, that reminds me, I did scour the Internet looking for Wenger’s email address a few weeks ago and finally sent him a message via the Arsenal website. Heh.
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