Not surprisingly I have developed a new pet peeve.

Forwarded emails about people, politicians or celebrities mainly, that come into your Inbox from some well meaning person who dislikes something or someone. Many times, if not most times, the 'facts' in these emails are never verified, just passed on especially and probably only if they agree with the person forwarding them.

Some of them are plain mean-spirited; so much that even if you agreed with them a person of normal psychological make-up would see the danger to their own reputation in passing them on.

Often they are some remarkable or miraculous story meant to bring one to tears...and to one's knees. Sometimes they threaten that something bad will happen if the email is not passed along. Other times the very special blessings waiting for you can only be delivered if you press the 'forward' button. This may be how God works in the 'wired' age.

Oh please!

The Internet has offered to the very least of us what Thomas Friedman from the New York Times in his book, The World is Flat, calls uploading. Anyone with a keyboard and connection can write anything about anyone and send it out on the world wide web. Students are warned, and should listen, that Wikipedia, oft listed in high school research paper bibliographies, is written by....drum roll...any person who wants. Yep, it's true. If you want to add something to a Wikipedia section, you are welcome to do that. Truth schmmoth! Truth is not necessary.

OK I guess that is two pet peeves.

The good thing about uploading is the ability for people like me to write and be published for an audience that could number in the billions. Although only seven or eight people read my blog regularly, and thank you for that, you can see the possibilities...and the danger.

And that's what I think about it.