How many times did you receive the one about the Klingerman virus? Yeah, me too. And then there was Satan's face in the smoke--did we really need that photo to tell us what was behind it all? I got really suspicious when my friend Nancy forwarded the dire warning from a close (friend of a friend) about going to the mall on Halloween. "Who is this person?" I asked. "I don't know," she answered.

OK, I did place a candle on my front porch, but not necessarily because I thought it would be photographed from space.

There's a desire for all of us to want to be involved and in the know. We want to be a part of the action and we want to feel all of the pain. We want to expose the enemy and we want to protect ourselves. We feel fear, and we perpetuate the excitement that comes with it.

Up until now, hoax e-mails have been primarily tales of unintelligent women of a certain hair color: the one who mistook an exploding can of dough for her brains falling out of her head, the one who tried to drive her boat with the trailer still attached, etc.

E-mails of late could be written off as similar absurd ramblings if the subject matter didn't make them so utterly tasteless. The senders, I'm sure, forwarded them with the best of intentions. But who wrote the things? Who doctored the pictures? Why?

As we know from being members of the wall and ceiling industry, bad information doesn't do anyone any good. We can't possibly compare anything happening in our business to the scope of the recent tragedies, but we have before been victims of myth, rumors and innuendo that are intended to hurt. Issues garnering more and more press in recent months threaten to stir us up and hurt us again.

Walls & Ceilings pledges to keep giving you the truth. And as much as we want to be involved and keep you in the know, we'll also try do our best not to add to the drama. One way you can get more straight facts it is by registering to receive our e-mail newsletter. Sign up on the bottom-right-hand-corner of the Walls & Ceilings Web site home page, www.wconline.com, and receive thoughtful, sincere and truthful e-mails from our very own managing editor, John Wyatt.

After one of my Klingerman virus warnings, I got an e-mail from a friend of a friend (really!) who was on the same mailing list. He summed it all up well. "Dear friends," he wrote, " ... when you promote and forward these types of e-mails without verifying the information, you are being used by a bunch of hatemongers, bullies and maybe even terrorists yourself. Be part of the solution; stop the fear and hate that the enemy love to use against us!"

Sarah Mazure

Editor and Publisher

Happy Holidays

from the Walls & Ceilings staff.