I know that no one here posts news items with the intent to deceive the readers of this forum, but we do see news items being posted which come from parody sites with no indication they are not authentic news stories. Actually, this is perfectly understandable these days, for two reasons. The first reason is that our culture has managed to out-parody parody. The kinds of things members post from these sites have become entirely believable. There was a time during the existence of this forum when the line between reality and parody was obvious. Since the time of the election of the America-hating Krimson Kenyan, the line has become more and more blurred until today, when there is no separation between the two.

The second reason is the proliferation of parody sites. Places such as The Onion and The Babylon Bee employ writers with razor-sharp wit. And then, there are all the others, which post false news items which might contain some humorous content, but that's not why they exist. These sites are nothing but click-bait. These sites benefit no one except their owners. Unlike The Onion and The Babylon Bee, these parody sites play on the assumptions and fears of people searching the web for news items about current events. They bury their true identity in the "About Us" section, or some other portion of these sites that most people do not bother viewing.

Anyone who posts news items in this forum must be diligent. Before you copy and paste any story, before you post a link to any such stories, take a minute- and that's all it takes- to verify the authenticity of the source website. If you're not certain any sites in question are authentic news portals, go to the "About Us" section of the site. If you can't find anything there, just take the name of the website and put it into a search engine. You'll know pretty quickly whether or not they're legit. If all that fails, and you're just not certain, don't post it here.

**Items from parody sites are allowed in this forum, but you must indicate at the top of your post, that whatever your posting is from a parody account.**

Anytime a member does such a thing, they feel badly about it. From what I've observed in this forum, a member will make this mistake once only. These days, every outlandish story is believable, and that's not the fault of anyone in this forum, so, if you've done this, cut yourself some slack. Just approach news itms with scepticism. Take that extra minute and be sure.

Posting items from parody Twitter accounts and the like: Such items are allowed here, again, on the condition you indicate at the top of your post the item is from a parody account. No exceptions. You must do this, because, again, real life has out-parodied parody and even the most outlandish thing is now believable.

Thank you, Para.

We are in a time where we can believe nothing and everything at the same time. Almost seems impossible but it’s true.