Rajan

UrbanLegendsOnline:

Turns out this is not a clickjacking scam, just Facebook users widely sharing a rumor. This article from MSNBC tells you more and gives you info on what to do if you do click on something you shouldn’t that will clog up the walls of your friends and family on Facebook.

Hundreds of years ago, a poor woodsman lived in the cottage with his wife and baby. They lived happily until the woodsman was pressed into military service by the local landowner during the English Civil War. The woodman’s wife waited and waited for months for any news of her husband, but none ever came.

One new year’s day, a group of soldiers on horseback came riding through the woods, part of a force that had been plundering the surrounding countryside. Coming across the cottage, they broke in and demanded the woodsman’s wife hand over all her money and any strong drink she might have. When she refused, the soldiers beat and raped her savagely, before taking the baby and riding off, laughing wickedly.

From that day on, the woman dressed in black and roamed the woods searching for her missing child, accosting anyone she met and begging them for any news of the baby. She soon earned a reputation as being quite mad, and so people began to give the woods a wide berth.

The woodsman never returned home, and the woman continued to roam the woods, desperately searching for her lost baby until the day she died.

Legend has it that her ghost still wanders the woods today, and if anyone is brave enough to walk into the woods on new year’s day and shout

"Black lady, black lady, I’ve stolen your baby!" three times, the woman shall appear and confront them.

Antony from Grimsby, England

That woman roams around during foggy evenings, with her face covered by a surgical mask, which would not be especially unusual, as people with colds often wear masks for the sake of others in Japan. When she encounters someone, primarily children or college students, she will shyly ask, "Am I beautiful?" ("Watashi kirei?").

If the person answers yes, she will take off her mask and say, "Even like this?"

At this point, if the victim answers "No," she will slay them with a pair of huge scissors.

If the victim tells her she is pretty a second time, she follows the victim home and slays them in their own doorway. This is because  the word "kirei" , Japanese for ‘pretty,’ is a near homophone of "kire", the imperative form of "to cut".

If the victim answers "You’re average", they are saved.

Also, the answer "so-so," causes the Kuchisake-onna to think about what to do, and her victim can escape while she is in thought. One way to escape is to present the Kuchisake-onna with amber, hard candy. Another is to say "pomade" three times (in some versions, six times). This will make her either falter and turn or run away. If the victim has pomade, they can write with it behind her back to keep her from following. The reason is that this reminds her of either the dentist’s or (plastic) surgery smells, or that her boyfriend used it.

Kyla from Seattle, WA

The Bus has a way of showing up when you are at your lowest. You will hit a certain point, feel a disconcerting crumple in an inner place you thought solid, like a hand crushing an origami box. Just then you look up to see The Bus a block away. You always need to run for it, but just a little bit. Just enough to show you need it. It will wait.

There is an automated voice. It does not say Route forty, service to Second and Lombard. The Bus does not deal in those specifics. It says only Service from and the name of the intersection you are standing at. The doors clunk open, you get on board, the doors hiss shut, and the bus moves on. The driver does not ask where you want to go, but many passengers tell him anyway: Just drive. You pay fare if you can, but if you can’t, the driver will nod, with eyes covered by his blue hat, and you will nod and you will head to your seat.

The shifty and the shameful and the shameless ride Philadelphia’s buses. But most of them are trying to get somewhere. They want to see someone, or acquire something, or get to a place by a time. The Wandering Bus is not for them. Its riders are the people who need to leave wherever they are at that moment. Just leave. The bus goes everywhere. It has been seen in West Powelton, and Grad Hospital, and Center City. It drives down Passyunk, and Haverford, and Dauphin. Most people don’t notice The Bus because it isn’t the one they’re looking for. If your heart is bright and your spirit buoyant, it is likely that you have never seen The Bus.

The Wandering Bus serves a wider clientele than you might think. The failing businessman, the addict’s sister, the questioning Reverend have all ridden on The Bus. Even a mayor and a police chief and a manager of the Phillies. There is no conversation on The Bus. What’s more, when you get off, you cannot recall who was on The Bus with you, or how crowded it was. You remember only that you sat by the window and watched the city slide through your translucent reflection. At some point, you were moved to pull the cord and disembark. One night, your feet hit the pavement, the bus pulled away, and you found yourself near to where you needed to be.

Folks say that some people have ridden The Bus for years on end. Others predict that The Bus will one day leave the city, taking its passengers with it. A woman who knew many things said there was a Wandering Bus in every city she had ever visited. There are even a few who claim that if you ride The Bus long enough, you will one day be dropped off back before your troubles began. But those people are never on The Bus when they say it.

Devin from Fontana, CA

*Though Devin submitted this urban legend to the site, it does seem to be copied directly from this site: http://nmirra.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/philly-urban-legends-the-wandering-bus/ So we’d just like to give this person credit for a pretty great story. That is all…

The story I was told went like this:

In 1964, the owner’s two young children were reported missing. The kids had last been seen in the factory, and their nanny and father both confirmed that they had been brought in for a quick visit. The nanny left the children for a short break, and when she returned, they were gone. The factory was shut down to look for them, but no trace was found. After a week, police determined that foul play was likely.

Shortly thereafter, a warrant was issued for the arrest of their uncle. The man in question had been declared mentally unstable. Police reported finding human remains in the factory, namely the meat processing and cut rooms.
Two days after the warrant, a massive recall was issued from the plant. The official reason given was "meat contaminants, human in nature", and customers were strongly urged not to consume it.

Shortly after the recall, the children were declared officially dead and their father had committed suicide in the boiler room. The children’s bodies were never fully recovered.

Ten years later, the new owners called police to report trespassers, claiming they had seen children running around. Frantic employees later reported seeing a man throwing two children into the meat grinder, then vanishing. No trace was found of the reported action, but both employees gave separate, identical accounts.

In 1984, twenty years after the children vanished, the body of their uncle was found hanging from the exact spot their father had killed themselves in, with "I killed them" carved into his chest. It was also reported that the grave of the father was dug up, and that the carvings on the newest body were inflicted post-mortem.

It is said that during the month of October, the ghosts of the children can be seen running around, and on the anniversary of their disappearance, you can occasionally see a man dumping two small bodies into the meat grinder. On the 31st, in the boiler room, you can see the ghosts of the two men who hanged themselves.

The plant was officially closed in 2001, and later revitalized into a haunted house. I’m skeptical that these events actually happened, given that fact, but I can’t deny that the place has a creepy feeling to it, and there was a major meat recall in October of 1964. I have also seen the ghosts of the children, but this may be due in part to hearing this legend before visiting the site.

Perhaps these events did happen. Perhaps they are a ghost legend started by the haunted house company. Either way, it makes for a good, creepy Halloween tale.

April from Tucson, AZ

*photo credit: http://jsmexploration.wordpress.com/2010/03/20/farmer-johns-meat-packing-plant/

The freaky bit is this, they say it is hard for a person to stare into the girls eyes for longer than 5 minutes, there are reports that some people have taken their own lives after doing so. People say the picture changes,as you view it there is a hint of a growing taunting smirk appearing on the girls lips or a dark ring grows around the girl or her eyes.

Catequise from Bamberg SC

The stationmaster finally took the man aside and threatened to call the police if he did not cease and desist. The old man rolled his eyes and replied: "The Express Train for Hell is coming for my soul! You’ve got to help me." He broke away from the stationmaster and ran for the door. The time was two minutes to midnight. At that moment, new sound introduced itself. A long whistle blew, once, twice. The stationmaster was startled. The next train wasn’t due until 12:05.

The old tramp started screaming when he heard the whistle. The stationmaster could hear the roar and chug of a steam train, approaching fast. Approaching too fast to stop at the station. The old man was standing at the edge of the platform, staring down the tracks in frozen terror. The stationmaster ran forward and grabbed hold of the old tramp to pull him out of harm’s way.

The train whistle sounded again. A warm rush of air blew against everyone near the platform and the stationmaster heard the roar of an invisible train passing directly in front of him. He heard the hiss of the steam and the screech of flanges against iron rails; he felt the wind whipping our hair and faces, but he saw nothing.

Beneath his grip, the old tramp gave a terrible wail. Then he vanished, leaving the stationmaster empty-handed. The roar of the invisible train faded into the distance and then ceased. The stationmaster glanced at the station clock. It was midnight.
The stationmaster stared blankly at the tracks. Around him, the waiting passengers and other bystanders were gasping and murmuring in fright. "Good lord, he was right," the stationmaster murmured to himself. "It did come for him." He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his sweating, bald head with it.

A trembling man standing nearby approached the stationmaster: "Sir, what was that?" he asked. "Son, I believe that was the Express Train to Hell," said the stationmaster. He shook his head and that seemed to bring him to his senses. "Why don’t you go back into the station and pour yourself a drink?" he suggested to the trembling man.

He pushed the man through the station door and then turned to address the dazed and frightened passengers. "Nothing to worry about folks," he said. "It was just an express train passing through. The next train will be here in five minutes." The stationmaster’s reassuring manner calmed everyone. People turned away from the empty tracks and settled back into their seats, whispering to each other about the strange events that had just taken place.

Then the stationmaster went into his office, closed the door, and poured himself a stiff drink to calm his nerves. "Well, that’s one for the books," he muttered aloud. "I wonder if I should put it on the schedule; 12 am-Express Train to Hell."
Shaking his head, he fortified himself with one more brandy and then went back to work.

John from NY

Ever wonder what is on your magnetic key card?

• Customer’s name
• Customer’s partial home address
• Hotel room number
• Check-in date and out dates
• Customer’s credit card number and expiration date!

When you turn them in to the front desk your personal information is there for any employee to access by simply scanning the card in the hotel scanner. An employee can take a hand full of cards home and using a scanning device, access the information onto a laptop computer and go shopping at your expense.

Simply put, hotels do not erase the information on these cards until an employee reissues the card to the next hotel guest. At that time, the new guest’s information is electronically ‘overwritten’ on the card and the previous guest’s information is erased in the overwriting process.

But until the card is rewritten for the next guest, it usually is kept in a drawer at the front desk wit h YOUR INFORMATION ON IT!

The bottom line is: Keep the cards, take them home with you, or destroy them. NEVER leave them behind in the room or room wastebasket, and NEVER turn them into the front desk when you check out of a room. They will not charge you for the card (it’s illegal) and you’ll be sure you are not leaving a lot of valuable personal information on it that could be easily lifted off with any simple scanning device card reader.

For the same reason, if you arrive at the airport and discover you still have the card key in your pocket, do not toss it in an airport trash basket. Take it home and destroy it by cutting it up, especially through the electronic information strip!

If you have a small magnet, pass it across the magnetic strip several times. Then try it in the door, it will not work. It erases everything on the card.

Information courtesy of: Metropolitan Police Service.

Gretchen LaBelle from Dayton, Ohio

Be cautious of hair bands at open markets around the city – they are probably from China since they are purchased in bulk very very cheap! Take a good look before buying hair bands in future – especially like the following kind. These hair bands were made from used condoms and threads.

BEIJING (AFP) – Used condoms are being recycled into hair bands in southern China threatening to spread sexually-transmittable diseases they were originally meant to prevent, state media reported Tuesday

In the latest example of potentially harmful Chinese-made products, rubber hair bands have been found in local markets and beauty salons in Dongguan and Guangzhou cities in southern Guangdong province, China Daily newspaper said.

‘These cheap and colorful rubber bands and hair ties sell well… threatening the health of local people,’ it said. Despite being recycled, the hair bands could still contain bacteria and viruses, it said.

‘People could be infected with AIDS, (genital) warts or other diseases if they hold the rubber bands or strings in their mouths while waving their hair into plaits or buns,’ the paper quoted a local dermatologist as saying. A bag of ten of the recycled bands sells for just Rs.5, much cheaper than others on the market, accounting for their popularity, the paper said.

A government official was quoted as saying recycling condoms was illegal. China’s manufacturing industry has been repeatedly tarnished this year by a string of scandals involving shoddy or dangerous goods made for both domestic and foreign markets.

In response, it launched a public relations blitz this summer aimed at playing up efforts to strengthen monitoring systems.

Check your kids hair bands and make sure they do not put them in their mouth while trying to plait or tie their hair.

See below for Chinese Slippers now being sold in Walmart in the US. Hopefully, they are not yet in India.

REMEMBER THE PAINT ON KIDS TOYS?

This is very true as I heard it in news from one of our local radios here that our government has to be extra careful on these cheap imports from china. These includes clothes, food, toys, slippers and even glasses because the Chinese are using some strong but cheap chemical in their manufacturing process. Cheap is becoming expensive and at the same time fatal.

PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO PASS THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE IN YOUR CONTACT LIST.

Toni from Lyndhurst, NJ

Just to alert everyone. My co worker went to Milford , DE Wal-Mart last week. She had her items rung up by the cashier. The cashier hurried her along and didn’t give her a receipt. She asked the cashier for a receipt and the cashier was annoyed and gave it to her. My co worker didn’t look at her receipt until later that night. The receipt showed that she asked for $20 cash back. SHE DID NOT ASK FOR CASH BACK! My co-worker called Wal-Mart who investigated but could not see the cashier pocket the money. She then called her niece who works for the bank and her niece told her this. This is a new scam going on. The cashier will key in that you asked for cash back and then hand it to her friend who is the next person in line.

Please, please, please check your receipts right away when using credit or debit cards!

This is NOT limited to Wal-Mart, although they are the largest retailer so they have the most incidents.

I am adding to this. My husband and I were in Wal-Mart North Salisbury and paying with credit card when my husband went to sign the credit card signer he just happen to notice there was a $20 cash back added. He told the cashier that he did not ask nor want cash back and she said this machine has been messing up and she cancelled it. We really didn’t think anything of it until we read this email.

I wonder how many "seniors" have been, or will be, "stung" by this one? To make matters worse …THIS SCAM CAN BE DONE ANYWHERE, AT ANY RETAIL OR WHOLESALE LOCATION!!!