A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.
The British philologist Robert Nares (1753–1829) says that the word hoax was coined in the late 18th century as a contraction of the verb hocus, which means "to cheat", "to impose upon" or "to befuddle often with drugged liquor".Hocus is a shortening of the magic incantation hocus pocus, which in turn is a contraction of the phrase Hocus pocus, tontus talontus, vade celeriter jubeo, mentioned in Thomas Ady's 1656 book A candle in the dark, or a treatise on the nature of witches and witchcraft. According to the book, the Latin-like gibberish phrase was uttered by a conjuror to distract his audience from his sleight of hand.
Alternatively, hoax could have been derived from the Irish Gaelic olcas, pronounced olkəs and h-olkəs, an adjective used to describe behaviour similar to mischief, naughtiness, spite, wickedness, evil. Similarly, hocus could have been derived from the same word.
A police officer (also known as a policeman or policewoman, and constable in some forces, particularly in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth nations) is a warranted employee of a police force. In the United States, "officer" is the formal name of the lowest police rank; in many other countries "officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank, and the lowest rank is often "constable". Police officers are generally charged with the apprehension of criminals and the prevention and detection of crime, and the maintenance of public order. Police officers may be sworn to an oath, and have the power to arrest people and detain them for a limited time, along with other duties and powers.
Some police officers may also be trained in special duties, such as counter-terrorism, surveillance, child protection, VIP protection, and investigation techniques into major crime, including fraud, rape, murder and drug trafficking.
Responsibilities of a police officer are varied, and may differ greatly from within one political context to another. Typical duties relate to keeping the peace, law enforcement, protection of people and property, and the investigation of crimes. Officers are expected to respond to a variety of situations that may arise while they are on duty. Rules and guidelines dictate how an officer should behave within the community, and in many contexts restrictions are placed on what the uniformed officer wears. In some countries, rules and procedures dictate that a police officer is obliged to intervene in a criminal incident, even if they are off-duty. Police officers in nearly all countries retain their lawful powers, while off duty.
A missing person is a person who has disappeared for usually unknown reasons.
Missing persons' photographs may be posted on bulletin boards, milk cartons, postcards, and websites, along with a phone number to be contacted if a sighting has been made.
People disappear for many reasons. Some individuals choose to disappear alone; most of these soon return. Reasons for non-identification may include:
By the end of 2005, there were 109,531 active missing person records according to the US Department of Justice. Children under the age of 18 account for 58,081 (53.03%) of the records and 11,868 (10.84%) were for young adults between the ages of 18 and 20.
During 2005, 834,536 entries were made into the National Crime Information Center's missing person file, which was an increase of 0.51% from the 830,325 entered in 2004. Missing Person records that were cleared or canceled during the same period totaled 844,838. The reasons for these removals include: a law enforcement agency located the subject, the individual returned home, or the record had to be removed by the entering agency due to a determination that the record is invalid.
One Number for Hell!
Now, horror has a brand new number.
...it's for you.
Revenge is on the line.
When Spike dialed 976-EVIL, he knew it was an expensive toll call, but he didn't know that he'd have to pay for it with his soul.
Hoax: Once you've been to hell, everything else pales in comparison!
Pet Parrot: [After possessed Hoax slashes and kills his mother and blood splatters onto the sofa] [Repeated Line] Not on the couch! Not on the Couch! *squawk::Hoax: [Possessed Hoax reaches into the cage and squeezes the bird to death] That's what the plastic's for, asshole!
Hoax: [possessed Hoax produces two ripped-out hearts] Would it be...possible...to open with a pair of hearts?
In July of '69
We blasted off to space,
to beat the Russians to the moon
And win the great space race!
But did we ever really go?
Or was it all a lie?
I posit that it's just a hoax
And now I'll tell you why!
Tell me, tell me why...
Tell me, tell me why!
It was a hoax that summer's eve
They showed it on TV,
But they control the media
And everything we see!
They filmed on a sound stage
In Area 51,
They thought that you would never know,
They think the public's dumb!
They think the public's dumb...
They think the public's dumb!
A hoax, a hoax,
This man's a joke!
A liar, a lout and a loon!
His argument's hollow,
Eleventh Apollo landed on the moon!
A hoax, a hoax?
It wasn't a joke,
History says that it's so,
I think that you'll find
That you can't change our mind,
All we'll say is no!
Al we'll say is no!
All we'll say is no!
They got some lights and rigged them up
To replicate the sun,
A big mistake two shadows make,
Of suns, there's only one!
Their footprints were formed perfectly,
Old Glory waved with grace,
That's quite a feat upon the moon,
Low gravity in space!
Low gravity in space...
Low gravity in space!
A hoax, a hoax,
This man's a joke!
The facts are black and white!
You cannot proclaim that they falsely exclaimed
'One small step!' That night!
A hoax, a hoax?
It wasn't a joke,
NASA says that it's true,
You must believe us,
They wouldn't deceive us,
We won't agree with you!
We won't agree with you!
Now here's the biggest fact my friends,
The one you can't refuse,
In forty years we've not been back,
Since 1972!
So why is that? Why not return?
What is there to hide?
It's that we never landed there!
It's all a big fat lie!
It's all a big fat lie...
It's all a big fat lie!
A hoax, a hoax,
This man's no joke!
The facts are terribly grey!
You stand at your altar and never did falter!
Opinions start to sway!
A hoax, a hoax,
The biggest of jokes!
Conspiracy runs deep!
We thought you we're lying but now we're denying
Mankind's giant leap!
Mankind's giant leap!
All aboard the truth express!
Next stop, the moon!
What can we believe is true?
Forget my car, I'm never driving again! Only listening
to people I hear on the train! God, I love the CTA!
The moon... The moon...it's all a lie...
I've given you a gift my friends,
A truth I ask you share! (I'll share!)
Enlighten all the people who
Believe without a care! (Right on!)
And as for me I take my leave
Across the nation wide! (Don't go!)
To tell all of the common folk,
The landing was a lie!
The landing was a lie!
The landing was a lie!
Apologies to Neil and Buzz,
I say the landing never was!
You so complete, so much cooler than me, you will be the catch of a lifetime. You in your sleep still could land on your feet. You will be the catch of a lifetime.