The fact of the matter?

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Dear Readers,

Whom to believe, what to believe, when to believe... it's seemingly a never-ending struggle no matter who you are.

The ongoing issues of deceptive advertising, claims, politics, viral rumors and plain old- fashioned malicious publication won't go away soon but in our world of electronic media more and more reliable ways for John Q. Public to tell what's what and what's not are now surfacing.

No matter what the topic, it's crucial to possess reliable, factual information for informed decisions and discussions.

Here are 6 dependable sites that will help to simplify that decision-making process; who tells the truth; who doesn't and how to separate facts from fiction from consumer issues to politics.

http://factcheck.org/

Operated by the University of Pennsylvania, Fact Check provides careful analysis of claims made by politicians and other news-makers.

http://politifact.com/

Run by the Tampa Bay Times, Politi Fact won a Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for its "Truth-O-Meter" ratings of politicians' claims. Links to 11 affiliated state fact checking organizations are also found on the site.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker

Written by veteran Post columnist Glenn Kessler, falsehoods get "Pinnocchios" and truisms "Geppettos". Political in nature.

http://urbanlegends.about.com/

Operated by The New York Times, Urban Legends debunks political and misleading claims, photos, and videos.

http://snopes.com/

Snopes exposes all sorts of myths including those spread by viral email. You can take Snopes' word to the bank... always!

http://votesmart.org/

Vote Smart features an interactive website where issues most important to you and your address (or zip) are entered. An array of candidates for national offices you are eligible to elect displays their photos on campaign posters. The larger the poster, presumably the closer their positions are to your own, but this is unreliable since you never disclose your positions.

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Be smart all the time, not just in time.

Check it out before you shout.

Find the facts before you act.
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