What's the truth behind the Khay Rahnajet Story?
Nicolai P. Zwar
bomb, didn't put enough postage on a letter bomb, it was returned (a
terrorist who puts his actual return adress on the envelope of a mail
bomb??) and he opened it up. This story can be found in many places on
the net, e.g. The Darwin Awards, etc.
What is the original source for this story, where did it first show up?
Does anybody know? Is it pure fiction, a pure "urban legend", or is
there any truth to it at all?
Allegedly, this story first appeared in "Firearms News" from South
Africa, whatever that is. Is there as much as a shred of evidence to be
found anywhere that this story is for real?
--
Nicolai Zwar
http://www.nicolaizwar.com
"AHAHAHAHYAYAYAHAHAHAHYAYAYAHAHAH!"
(Tarzan)
David Winsemius
> There is the story of Khay Rahnajet, the Iraqi terrorist who send a
> mail bomb, didn't put enough postage on a letter bomb, it was returned
> (a terrorist who puts his actual return adress on the envelope of a
> mail bomb??) and he opened it up. This story can be found in many
> places on the net, e.g. The Darwin Awards, etc.
>
> What is the original source for this story, where did it first show
> up? Does anybody know? Is it pure fiction, a pure "urban legend", or
> is there any truth to it at all?
> Allegedly, this story first appeared in "Firearms News" from South
> Africa, whatever that is. Is there as much as a shred of evidence to
> be found anywhere that this story is for real?
>
Snopes has it as circulating in 1998 in that form among a list of false
news stories: http://www.snopes.com/humor/lists/fakenews.htm
"The self-bombing Iraqi tale was reported as a news item in the 27
November 1994 issue of The People. Two things to be kept in mind when
considering the validity of that cite: The People is notorious for
printing tall tales, and no other news agency carried this story."
---------------
The earliest USENET record in google with that name is
from tw.bbs.talk.joke in April 1998:
7. Iraqi terrorist, Khay Rahnajet, didn't pay enough
postage on a letter bomb. It came back with "return
to sender" stamped on it. You've guessed it, he
opened it and said a fond farewell to his face.
Most of the 1998 citings on USENET did not have that named person
specifically killed, but used the facial farewell phrasing.
--------
This is how a former afu participant, Charles Lieberman, admonished a
1998 submitter: "Linda Harden
> I got this list off rec.humor. Some of these stories look a lot
> like UL's to me. What do you think?
I think you can't find your way to http://www.urbanlegends.com or
http://www.snopes.com nor yet http://www.dejanews.com wherein a person
can find more detail about all five of the tales you mention."
--------
So there you have it. It is a well traveled UL that seems to have gotten
separated from its original tabloidal creation and has been seen hanging
out over the years since 1998 in the company of other Internet ULs. We
generally request persons to do their own homework. Times change and
dejanews' archives are now at
http://groups.google.com/advanced_group_search
--
David Winsemius
Nicolai P. Zwar
Thank you very much. I had searched Google quite a bit before I posted
here and found that the earliest newsgroup mentioning dates back to
April 1998; however, what I haven't found is any real evidence to its
origin. I am interested in where this story first appeared. If it is a
tabloid creation, which tabloid first published it? I am particularly
interested to know if anybody has ever seen this story outside of the
Net, e.g. in any printed publication.
Nicolai P. Zwar
> "The self-bombing Iraqi tale was reported as a news item in the 27
> November 1994 issue of The People. Two things to be kept in mind when
> considering the validity of that cite: The People is notorious for
> printing tall tales, and no other news agency carried this story."
I should add that this has been very helpful indeed. Thanks, David.
David Winsemius
> David Winsemius wrote:
>> "The self-bombing Iraqi tale was reported as a news item in the 27
>> November 1994 issue of The People. Two things to be kept in mind when
>> considering the validity of that cite: The People is notorious for
>> printing tall tales, and no other news agency carried this story."
>
> I should add that this has been very helpful indeed. Thanks, David.
>
Thank Snopes. And remember to go there first for this sort of question.
I later tried to see if Rahnajet was a "real" name. As far I can tell,
the name "Rahnajet" appears on the Internet only in connection with this
UL. The first name has morphed at times to Khan, Hay, Khey, Rha, '(hay,
and Khaj. It appears translated into a variety of languages.
The world being a fairly big place, I have not a clue whether there might
be an Iraqi equivalent of 411.com
--
David Winsemius
Nicolai P. Zwar
> Thank Snopes. And remember to go there first for this sort of question.
>
> I later tried to see if Rahnajet was a "real" name. As far I can tell,
> the name "Rahnajet" appears on the Internet only in connection with this
> UL.
I have noticed that. Another thing I have noticed is that it didn't say
anywhere to whom this mail bomb was supposed to be send, nor where
Rahnajet allegedly lived at the time of this occurence. Two more things
that were pretty much a giveaway that it is a hoax.
Burroughs Guy
> Snopes has it as circulating in 1998 in that form among a list of false
> news stories: http://www.snopes.com/humor/lists/fakenews.htm
>
> "The self-bombing Iraqi tale was reported as a news item in the 27
> November 1994 issue of The People. Two things to be kept in mind when
> considering the validity of that cite: The People is notorious for
> printing tall tales, and no other news agency carried this story."
I recall Paul Harvey telling that story about a Palestinian at least
20 years ago.
--
Burroughs Guy
Vaguer memories available upon request
Nicolai P. Zwar
> David Winsemius wrote:
>
>
>>Snopes has it as circulating in 1998 in that form among a list of false
>>news stories: http://www.snopes.com/humor/lists/fakenews.htm
>>
>>"The self-bombing Iraqi tale was reported as a news item in the 27
>>November 1994 issue of The People. Two things to be kept in mind when
>>considering the validity of that cite: The People is notorious for
>>printing tall tales, and no other news agency carried this story."
>
>
> I recall Paul Harvey telling that story about a Palestinian at least
> 20 years ago.
Really? So that means the story could even date back as far as the
1980s? Would there be any way to find out if and when Paul Harvey told
this story, and in what context? Was it a regular radio broadcast? Would
it make any sense to contact paulharvey.com and ask them about it?
Louise Bremner
> David Winsemius wrote:
>
> > Snopes has it as circulating in 1998 in that form among a list of false
> > news stories: http://www.snopes.com/humor/lists/fakenews.htm
> >
> > "The self-bombing Iraqi tale was reported as a news item in the 27
> > November 1994 issue of The People. Two things to be kept in mind when
> > considering the validity of that cite: The People is notorious for
> > printing tall tales, and no other news agency carried this story."
>
> I recall Paul Harvey telling that story about a Palestinian at least
> 20 years ago.
I think I heard it as an Irish joke in London in the late '70s....
________________________________________________________________________
Louise "didn't find it funny, though" Bremner (log at gol dot com)
If you want a reply by e-mail, don't write to my Yahoo address!
Burroughs Guy
> > I recall Paul Harvey telling that story about a Palestinian at least
> > 20 years ago.
>
> Really? So that means the story could even date back as far as the
> 1980s? Would there be any way to find out if and when Paul Harvey told
> this story, and in what context? Was it a regular radio broadcast?
Would
> it make any sense to contact paulharvey.com and ask them about it?
It was probably a regular noontime show. Now that I think about it I
heard it and read it. I think I read it in National Lampoon True
Facts.[1] I may have heard it more than once. It was a story going
around.
[1] As suseptible to bogus reportage as any newssource, but generally
voracious.
Lee Ayrton
> There is the story of Khay Rahnajet, the Iraqi terrorist who send a mail
> bomb, didn't put enough postage on a letter bomb, it was returned (a
> terrorist who puts his actual return adress on the envelope of a mail
> bomb??) and he opened it up. This story can be found in many places on
> the net, e.g. The Darwin Awards, etc.
The provenance of the story above has already been discussed, but I'd like
for you to consider the phrase "Hoise by his own petard" as a possible
ancient antecedent:
<URL:http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxhoistw.html>
cf Any number of Loonie Tunes animated shorts involving explosives that
come back to the sender for comic effect. Then jump to the WWII era, and
a recitation in joke form:
<URL:http://www.lib.noaa.gov/edocs/schanck.html>
[quote]----------------------
He was on the HYDROGRAPHER when Ensign John Tribble inserted a
radio-acoustic ranging bomb down a shark's mouth, released the shark,
and then watched in horror as the shark circled back to the ship and
exploded next to the hull. The concussion woke up Captain Parker who
stormed up on deck to determine the cause of the explosion. Ensign
Tribble was forcefully reminded of the necessity to maintain proper
safety procedures when handling explosives.
[unquote]--------------------
And then actual events, deadly serious. One for the Germans:
<URL:http://www.pacpubserver.com/new/enter/11-13-98/sub.html>
[quote]----------------------
"Apparently what they did, they fired a torpedo at a target, most
likely a single target, and the torpedo circled back around and struck
the U-boat on the port side," he says. "There are five know instances
of circular-run torpedoes and in every instance, it hit the control
room. If you look at the wreck, the port side is completely blown away
[unquote]--------------------
One for the USN:
<URL:http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/t2/tang-i.htm>
Summary: Tang (SS-306) was a very successful boat in the Pacific war. It
is known that she was sunk when her own torpedo circled back and struck
her.
Lee "There's really nothing new under the sun" Ayrton
Charles Bishop
layrton@panix, UNEXPECTED_DATA_AFTER_ADDRESS@.SYNTAX-ERROR. wrote:
[bomb returned to sender]
>
>The provenance of the story above has already been discussed, but I'd like
>for you to consider the phrase "Hoise by his own petard" as a possible
>ancient antecedent:
>
><URL:http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxhoistw.html>
>
>cf Any number of Loonie Tunes animated shorts involving explosives that
>come back to the sender for comic effect. Then jump to the WWII era, and
>a recitation in joke form:
[bomb and torpedo foo]
>
>
>Lee "There's really nothing new under the sun" Ayrton
You forgot to mention the one where the sub launched a torpedo and the
Captain's dog jumped in, fetched it and brought it back.
charles, "Down sir, down I say"
Lizz Holmans
wrote:
>cf Any number of Loonie Tunes animated shorts involving explosives that
>come back to the sender for comic effect. Then jump to the WWII era, and
>a recitation in joke form:
>
><URL:http://www.lib.noaa.gov/edocs/schanck.html>
The dog/explosive story had a life on film before Looney Tunes or
Merrie Melodies--it was a plot point in a Laurel and Hardy two-reeler
that was, I believe, made when films were still silent.
However, this is not a cite, but handwaving, until I get back to my L
& H reference book tomorrow. Having my cartoon books in one house and
my movie stuff in another is another fine mess I've gotten myself
into.
Lizz 'The little light stays on!' Holmans
--
Ha'ina 'ia mai ana ka puana.
Charles Bishop
<di...@jackalope.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
>The dog/explosive story had a life on film before Looney Tunes or
>Merrie Melodies--it was a plot point in a Laurel and Hardy two-reeler
>that was, I believe, made when films were still silent.
>
>However, this is not a cite, but handwaving, until I get back to my L
>& H reference book tomorrow. Having my cartoon books in one house and
>my movie stuff in another is another fine mess I've gotten myself
>into.
>
>Lizz 'The little light stays on!' Holmans
Personal to Lizz-on NPR (remember them) was a story about a recently
discovered L&H short auf Deutsch. When the lads were making their fillums,
apparently the thing to do was to shoot a scene in English, then reshoot
it in French, reshoot in German, usw.
One of these has come to light and is being shown in a museum, I think, in
Germany. The director said the film is even funnier, beacuse you can see
them read the cue cards, then take their places and say the lines, with a
funny, to him, German accent.
I'd love to see the whole thing.
charles
R H Draney
>
>You forgot to mention the one where the sub launched a torpedo and the
>Captain's dog jumped in, fetched it and brought it back.
From day one, I always thought the one you allude to was a joke that got out of
the lab....
Now I'm not so sure:
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=564522§ion=news
R H "you know how to cut and paste, don't you?" Draney
Lizz Holmans
Bishop) wrote:
>Personal to Lizz-on NPR (remember them) was a story about a recently
>discovered L&H short auf Deutsch. When the lads were making their fillums,
>apparently the thing to do was to shoot a scene in English, then reshoot
>it in French, reshoot in German, usw.
>
>One of these has come to light and is being shown in a museum, I think, in
>Germany. The director said the film is even funnier, beacuse you can see
>them read the cue cards, then take their places and say the lines, with a
>funny, to him, German accent.
>
>I'd love to see the whole thing.
Laurel and Hardy did their own French dubbing, but other languages
were dubbed by other actors.
It's not easy for folks nowadays to know how very, very popular Stan
and Babe were worldwide--they caused riots during personal appearances
in Glasgow and London, and had to cancel a scheduled stop in Paris to
avoid same. Only Charlie Chaplin was more recognized.
Lizz 'that's my story and I'm stuck with it' Holmans
Charles Bishop
<di...@jackalope.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 01:09:48 GMT, ctbi...@earthlink.netttt (Charles
>Bishop) wrote:
>
>
>>Personal to Lizz-on NPR (remember them) was a story about a recently
>>discovered L&H short auf Deutsch. When the lads were making their fillums,
>>apparently the thing to do was to shoot a scene in English, then reshoot
>>it in French, reshoot in German, usw.
>>
>>One of these has come to light and is being shown in a museum, I think, in
>>Germany. The director said the film is even funnier, beacuse you can see
>>them read the cue cards, then take their places and say the lines, with a
>>funny, to him, German accent.
>>
>>I'd love to see the whole thing.
>
>Laurel and Hardy did their own French dubbing, but other languages
>were dubbed by other actors.
Not to disagree with you or anything, but I'm sure the museum director
said it was L&H doing the voices.
A little googling and I have-
http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=3851403
a quote from the site-
"Aug. 14, 2004
Kyle James reports from Berlin on the discovery of a film featuring "Dick
and Doof," or "fat and stupid" -- the American movie stars Laurel and
Hardy speaking and performing entirely in German.Aug. 14, 2004"
He may have been mistaken about the procedure, and this may have been a
one off, but he was sure it was Dick und Doof who were reading the lines.
charles, nicht so Doof, nicht wahr?
Lizz Holmans
Bishop) wrote:.
>
>Not to disagree with you or anything, but I'm sure the museum director
>said it was L&H doing the voices.
>
>
>A little googling and I have-
>
>http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=3851403
>
>a quote from the site-
>
>"Aug. 14, 2004
>Kyle James reports from Berlin on the discovery of a film featuring "Dick
>and Doof," or "fat and stupid" -- the American movie stars Laurel and
>Hardy speaking and performing entirely in German.Aug. 14, 2004"
>
>He may have been mistaken about the procedure, and this may have been a
>one off, but he was sure it was Dick und Doof who were reading the lines.
You are right, of course. When I typed it, the word 'German' was
there, but then I did some cutting and it disapppeared.
Lizz 'I guess that makes me the Dick' Holmans
David Winsemius
> Charles Bishop filted:
>>
>>You forgot to mention the one where the sub launched a torpedo and the
>>Captain's dog jumped in, fetched it and brought it back.
>
> From day one, I always thought the one you allude to was a joke that
> got out of the lab....
>
> Now I'm not so sure:
>
> http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=564522§ion=news
>
There are those who don't follow links. Let the records show that the
headline is "Blazing bunny spreads cricket club fire".
Cry harevoc and let loose the flaming lagomorphs of war.
Lee Ayrton
> In article <2o62i0h86j9s4r805...@4ax.com>, Lizz Holmans
> <di...@jackalope.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>> The dog/explosive story had a life on film before Looney Tunes or
>> Merrie Melodies--it was a plot point in a Laurel and Hardy two-reeler
>> that was, I believe, made when films were still silent.
[snip]
> Personal to Lizz-on NPR (remember them) was a story about a recently
> discovered L&H short auf Deutsch. When the lads were making their fillums,
> apparently the thing to do was to shoot a scene in English, then reshoot
> it in French, reshoot in German, usw.
The TV series-cum-feature movie _Das Boot_ was shot in the same manner.
Shoot the German-language version and then do another take in English.
Those actors unable to speak English spoke a phonetic approximation and
then were over-dubbed in post production. Close observers may have
noticed that the diary entries are version-specific and are in the spoken
language.
Oh, wait. Were these L&H _silents_?
Lee "droning on and on and on about movies until I begin to froth at the
mouth" Ayrton
Lee Ayrton
> [bomb and torpedo foo]
>>
>> Lee "There's really nothing new under the sun" Ayrton
>
> You forgot to mention the one where the sub launched a torpedo and the
> Captain's dog jumped in, fetched it and brought it back.
You're right. Somehow, I never made it to that connection.
Lee "The Captain's dog is dynamite at ice fishing!" Ayrton
Jennifer Hallinan
Not to mention Henry Lawson's loaded dog of 1901.
Jen Hallinan
Marc Reeve
One of our lo cal public television stations, KTEH 54, has been showing the UK
series "Monarch of the Glen" on Tuesday nights. This past Tuesday, as part of
their August beg-a-thon[1], they showed the penultimate episode of Season 3.
One of the ongoing themes of this episode was the family patriarch attempting
to teach a new dog to fetch, without noticeable success. Toward the end of the
episode, he has hatched a plan to dispose of a killer pike in the local loch
using an explosives-laden toy boat. Accompanied by the dog, he goes down to the
shore, lights the fuse, and launches the boat, taking cover behind a nearby
boulder. I leave it to the reader to guess what the dog then does...
Marc "Hector, we hardly knew ye" Reeve
[1] A feature of public television in the USA, in which normal programming is
interrrupted by ten-to-fifteen minute breaks in which the station employees
implore the viewers to send them money in order to keep the station going. This
so they can stay non-commercial. Go figure.
Lee Ayrton
Thanks, I'd forgotten about that one too. Can I offer Mark Twain's Jacob
Blivens from 1875 (itself claimed to be a retelling of a newspaper story),
one that doesn't yet include the wild chase but instead cuts directly from
setup to "boom!", or is that one felt to be lacking a proper link to later
variants?
Marc Reeve
I would say the Blivens story is something else completely, as there is no
fetching involved.
Marc "nota bene: sitting in nitroglycerin not a good idea" Reeve
--
Marc Reeve nam...@oizurc.com
Some guy at a desk somewhere ^reverse^ for email
Jennifer Hallinan
> I would say the Blivens story is something else completely, as there is
> no fetching involved.
Now, if you could train a dog to fetch a flaming rabbit, would that be
thread conflation or conflagration?
Jennifer Hallinan
Lon
Perhaps, if you trained said dog to fetch such exothermic *bunny*, it
would be caninization.
Steve Caskey
> Now, if you could train a dog to fetch a flaming rabbit, would that be
> thread conflation or conflagration?
Flaming rabbit, bleeding weasel, sodding squirrel - hate 'em all.
Steve "SNR=0" Caskey
R H Draney
>
>Jennifer Hallinan <j.hal...@imb.uq.edu.au> wrote:
>> Now, if you could train a dog to fetch a flaming rabbit, would that be
>> thread conflation or conflagration?
I'd call it Fox TV....
>Flaming rabbit, bleeding weasel, sodding squirrel - hate 'em all.
How do you feel about crouching hamster, hidden gerbil?...r
Steve Caskey
> Steve Caskey filted:
>>Flaming rabbit, bleeding weasel, sodding squirrel - hate 'em all.
>
> How do you feel about crouching hamster, hidden gerbil?...r
I've got a gut feeling about this one...
Barbara Mikkelson
> Now, if you could train a dog to fetch a flaming rabbit, would that be
> thread conflation or conflagration?
Make it a flaming bunny and most fellas would forget about the dog and
just go after her themselves.
Barbara "ah, the attraction of hot babes" Mikkelson
--
At the moment I kind of feel like Wile E. Coyote holding up that
little umbrella. - A.R Herring
----------------------------------------------------------------
Urban legends and more --> http://www.snopes.com
Jennifer Hallinan
> Make it a flaming bunny and most fellas would forget about the dog and
> just go after her themselves.
It seemed to work for Jessica Rabbit.
Jennifer "Just drawn that way" Hallinan
Charles A Lieberman
> This is how a former afu participant, Charles Lieberman, admonished a
Not former. Hibernating.
Charles "lifestyle chnges, although I'm a bit young for the Change of
Life" Lieberman
Charles Bishop
cali...@bigfoot.com (Charles A Lieberman) wrote:
>David Winsemius <dwin$emiu$@fnord.comcast.net> wrote in message
news:<Xns954669A493D...@204.127.204.17>...
>
>> This is how a former afu participant, Charles Lieberman, admonished a
>
>Not former. Hibernating.
>
Wot? It's spring already? Glad you're back even if only to let us know
reports of your formerness was greatly exaggerated.
charles, Is Dr. Dimmick still in Tenn?
Mary Shafer
wrote:
> >Flaming rabbit, bleeding weasel, sodding squirrel - hate 'em all.
>
> How do you feel about crouching hamster, hidden gerbil?...r
I just finished a book called "Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon" and
enjoyed it greatly.
Mary "needs the tee shirt"
--
Mary Shafer Retired aerospace research engineer
mil...@qnet.com
Charles Wm. Dimmick
> charles, Is Dr. Dimmick still in Tenn?
Yes, he is, and he has only very limited computer access.
He will return to Connecticut the evening of September 1st.
Looking forward to reunion [even if it is only electronic]
of the three Charles trio.
Charles
Charles Wm. Dimmick
With a St. Bernard?
--
"And some rin up hill and down dale, knapping the
chucky stanes to pieces wi' hammers, like sae mony
road-makers run daft -- they say it is to see how
the warld was made!"
Charles A Lieberman
I should be back within a couple of weeks.
Oh, wait. Well, I should be off Teranews within a couple of weeks.
Charles "Ok, I'm intermittantly back" Lieberman