There’s a mass e-mail that has been floating around in cyberspace for several years promoting a rumor that should have died long ago.

But, it’s in cyberspace and continues to work its way around the web. If you’ve received it once, you’ll probably receive it again — if not this year then the next, or the next or the next...

The Internet has given “urban legends” seemingly ever-lasting life and it’s a shame but it’s also an example of why people have to be cautious when they go online or even when they just open their own e-mails.

I don’t want to re-ignite, any more than it has been, the false information, so I’m going to keep this as generic as possible. Basically, a company was accused of repackaging its product in a patriotic fashion and included the pledge of allegiance on it. However, to be “politically correct” the company allegedly omitted the words “Under God.”

In checking with the company, which most mass e-mail senders don’t do, I was informed that the e-mail was an out right lie. I was told that there not only won’t be a pledge of allegiance on the product’s packaging but there is no patriotic redesign at all.

We’ll discuss this in more depth in my Friday blog and I’ll explain why most people should probably develop at least a little bit of journalistic skepticism when surfing the web.