Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/04/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]> "I wish I could remember exactly what it was, but there was a sheriffs > department in California I think who set up a task force to deal with some > public safety issues that were reported in the Onion.... > tim" > > That was the same department that uses Ferrari's as patrol cars with > blonde's issuing speeding tickets. > here you go: She cites another example. In September 2002, The Onion ran a piece called, "Al-Qaida Allegedly Engaging in Telemarketing." The piece told of the terrorist organization's nefarious plan to raise funds through various phone scams. It also showed screenshots of a videotape the CIA had uncovered in which al-Qaida's second in command, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, is seen with a headset, presumably tricking an unsuspecting victim. http://www.theonion.com/onion3834/al-qaeda_telemarketing.html "We had known about al-Qaida's practice of raising money through drug trafficking and money laundering, but it seems the full scope of their depravity had barely been imagined," the story fictitiously quoted CIA Director George Tenet saying. The regular Onion reader likely read the story, laughed and moved on. But to those unfamiliar with The Onion, such stories can be alarming. Thus, upon seeing the story, the Branch County sheriff's department in Coldwater, Michigan, which had been investigating telemarketing scams targeting the elderly, issued an urgent press release. "In the course of this investigation, it was learned that this is going on throughout the United States, and some of these telemarketing programs are believed to be operated by al-Qaida," the release stated. "The CIA has announced that they acquired a videotape showing al-Qaida members making phone solicitations for vacation home rentals, long-distance telephone service, magazine subscriptions and other products." The joke was on the sheriff's department, which, after the release was written up in the local paper and hit the national wires, was bombarded with phone calls about the story. http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/news/stories/20020926/localnews/160109.ht ml